Change One Side, Change The Story
by Ice Prince Hitsugaya
Summary: AU where Hitsugaya Toshiro grew up in the same generation as Shihoin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke. Follow the entire storyline as one small change has the greatest of impacts.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

This is a story about the white haired captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya. Only he grew up in the same era as Urahara and Yoruichi. How does he end up joining the Gotei 13? What kind of person is he with such a different upbringing? And what goes differently when Aizen's plans come into action?

**FYI: Most of this story is one great big spoiler, so if you haven't seen much of the show...your gonna be in for some major surprises.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except a few of the characters I added and the changes to the canon I made.

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-One hundred and twenty years before the Agent of the Shinigami arc-

In the forest of Rukongai, just a few hundred feet from the village of Junrinan, a young white haired child about eleven to twelve years in age, four feet in height stood with his head lowered to the ground as if in shame. He was standing just a few yards away from his foster parent's home, which was a normal looking Japanese style house. It only being illuminated by the light from the full, bright moon and the millions of stars in the sky. But the look in the child's eye seemed as though he would give anything not to go back.

He began looking around at his surroundings suspiciously, as if someone was hidden somewhere around him. But when he seemed convinced that no one was around, he just closed his eyes and tilted his head down towards the ground once more.

As he breathed in the warm summer air he opened his eyes and looked up at the clear sky, when he let his breath out, it was visibly seen as though it was extremely cold outside. But instead of his breath drifting upwards like a normal breath would, it drifted down to the ground and froze it on contact. The grass under his feet crystallized and turned as stiff as the trees around him, and as the white haired child breathed in once more, he let out another icy cold breath that froze the ground even further.

"Toshiro..." a voice spoke in his mind as he began to drift into his inner world.

But his concentration was broken by a noise coming from within the house. He turned sharply towards the nearest lit room and narrowed his already mostly narrowed eyes. What he saw was a tall, well-built man, with short brown hair and dull brown eyes walking around the room that appeared to be the living area. But as if the man noticed something was missing in the room, he began looking around rather angrily and without warning, he suddenly yelled, "TOSHIRO!" at the top of his lungs.

A few moments later the young child came walking into the house and up to the older man with his head still lowered, but eyes mostly open. The man looked at him in absolute disgust, the same disgust he had been giving him for the last eleven years; 'No matter how many times I look at him, he always seems to annoy me more and more, he's such a damn freak! How did I get stuck with him as a foster son!' the man screamed in his own mind as he grabbed Toshiro by the front of his kimono.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? AND WHERE IS THE BREAD I SENT YOU TO GET?" he demanded loudly in the boy's face, practically spitting in his eyes in the process.

Toshiro closed his eyes and turned away with his nose curling up as the man's breath reeked of alcohol and things he could even discribe. Finally after a few more shakes and demands from the man, Toshiro looked into his eyes and gave his silent yet slightly annoyed reply.

"I was attacked by some of the villagers, they took it from me." the man snarled at Toshiro's words but accepted them all the same.

Then as he released his kimono, he suddenly took a full out swing at Toshiro's face, and as his fist connected with his jaw it sent Toshiro practically flying into the wall almost five feet away. And the moment his back hit the wall the man instantly began yelling once more.

"YOU'RE WORTHLESS! YOU PATHETIC WEAKLING! AND YOU BETTER NOT MESS UP MY AUDIENCE WITH THE SHIHOIN FAMILY OR SO HELP ME I'LL-!" he began but was cut off by a knock at the door.

The man instantly froze with slightly widened eyes and walked over to the door. But as he put his hand on the knob he took a quick glance back at Toshiro; whose jaw was now out of place and already beginning to swell. "You better behave or else!" he growled silently, giving Toshiro one last severe glare before he finally opened the door, immediately being welcomed with a wave and a hug from one of the three people from outside.

The first was a fairly tall male; about five foot ten in height with short black hair, somewhat tanned skin, and silver colored eyes. The next was a slightly shorter female with purple hair, rather dark skin, and golden eyes. And the last was another female, about the same age and height as Toshiro, and seemingly like a child replica of the first female. Them sharing exact traits in hair, eyes, skin and even personality. They are: Tenkesho, Yorie, and Yoruichi; The Shihoin family.

"Ah Kansoyue, how are you my friend?" Tenkesho said breaking their hug, but still keeping one of their hands on the other's shoulders.

"I am well Tenkesho Shihoin, and yourself?" Kansoyue asked, gesturing for the rest of the members to come in.

"I've been well...I see that you brought your daughter." Kansoyue said nodding at the younger girl, but then turned his attention to Toshiro, who was trying to put his jaw back into place.

Toshiro looked up at him, nodded in understanding of what he wanted him to do, and started walking away down the hall that lead to the bedrooms. But just before he walked around one of the corners he finally managed to put his jaw back into place, everyone heard the loud snapping sound that followed afterwards and turned in the direction that the young man was walking.

"Um...yeah, I figured that...she'd be able to hang out with...I'm sorry... but what in the world happened to him? How did his jaw get like that? And...What was his name again?" Tenkesho asked looking at Toshiro's leaving figure to Kansoyue.

But realizing how insensitive his last question was, he tilted his head to the side and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. The two women looked at him with scolding looks, while the two men on the other hand were lightly chuckling to themselves. But Tenkesho stopped when Kansoyue started laughing much more then what was called for. They all raised an eyebrow at him in confusion, causing him to stop his fit of laughter immediately.

"My apologies. My wife is working on our meal, you can unwind and relax out here if you'd like." he said smiling going back to his friendly tone.

He then gestured everyone to sit around the table in the living area, but Yoruichi just turned away and looked down the hallway that Toshiro went through. She had a sympathetic look on her face as she thought about his jaw, she quickly glanced back at everyone sitting around the table, then back again and started her way down the hallway. She continued on until she saw a light from inside one of the rooms, she slowly slid the door open which revealed the young boy she saw before, he was sitting in the center of a seemingly empty room with his back turned to her and his head down.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, walking around the room and out in front of him, his eyes snapped open and looked up at her in shock.

Toshiro swiftly turned away but ended up making his bruised jaw begin to throb, he tried to hide his pain but didn't succeed very well, if at all. He glanced back up at her for a moment but turned away once more as he nodded slightly at her question; "Well, you don't look alright; you should have someone take a look at that. How did it happen anyway?" she asked kneeling down to him.

He sent her a slight glare to try and get her to leave him alone, but she just ended up sending him a warm smile, sat down across from him and leaned towards his face. He didn't want to respond but from what he could tell, she was just gonna keep pushing him to answer till she got one. Yoruichi let out a chuckle as she noticed him realizing all this so quickly, she then slowly put her hand up to his swollen jaw and began rubbing it to ease the pain she knew he felt.

Even though the moment she touched his skin it felt as cold as ice, she also noticed that it was just about as smooth as her own skin, so she just ignored the cold and continued rubbing his swollen jaw. At first Toshiro flinched slightly at the contact, but as the pain began subsiding he didn't mind it as much; he then met her golden eyes with his teal ones and for the first time...he felt vulnerable. Her eyes felt as if they were not only looking at him, but through him.

"I...I tripped and hit my jaw on a stone. I don't need medical attention; I'll be fine in a day or two." Toshiro spoke as he looked away from her soul piercing gaze.

She looked at him raising an eye brow, she didn't believe his story, but didn't want to anger him by questioning him too much either; so she just smiled again and removed her hand from his ice cold face and sighed.

"Well my name is Yoruichi Shihoin, but you can just call me by my first name." she said gesturing to herself with her thumb.

Toshiro looked at her with a raised eye brow, but he sighed as well and once again closed his eyes before his response; "Toshiro Hitsugaya."

He stuck out his hand for a shake but she grabbed him by his hand and all but yanked him towards her. She pulled him into a hug and shoved his face in between her still growing yet fairly large for her age breasts. Toshiro was at a loss for words, he was stunned to the point of feeling completely numb, he couldn't even feel any pain from his jaw anymore. Then when she finally let go she noticed his cheeks were slightly red from blushing.

She smirked evilly at her accomplishment; 'I think I should get him some nice sweets, it'll probably get him to loosen up...at least a little.' she thought as she grabbed him by his icy cold hand.

She practically dragged him out of the room, then out the front door and headed out towards the town where she knew she could get some really good candy; "Come on!" Yoruichi said happily, still holding onto his hand.

Toshiro's eyes became wide as he recognized the lights of the town coming clearer into view; he suddenly tore his hand away from her grasp and stopped dead in his tracks. Yoruichi was quite startled by his sudden action and turn to face him with her own slightly wide eyes; "Sorry...I just can't." he said looking out to the town with a very icy glare.

She walked back to him and put a hand on his shoulder; "Why not? What's wrong with the town? I know it smells funky and the people are rather...blah, but still...why don't we go out and get some cand-...what's wrong?" she asked tilting her head as he looked away.

He looked back into her eyes once more and hardened his gaze slightly, but he didn't respond and looked away again; "Toshiro?" she asked with a concerned tone, not understanding why anyone would hate to go into town as much as he was showing.

Toshiro sighed, smoothed his hair back into place with his hand and broke his silence with a bit of an angry tone, "I...get treated like a freak."

He then lowered his gaze to the ground and halfway closed his eyes as Yoruichi's widened even more as she looked over her shoulder to the town that Toshiro seemed to loath so much. Then with a deep sigh, Yoruichi looked back at Toshiro with much sympathy for him and began looking the boy over. She looked from his white hair, to his half lidded eyes, then to his pale hands.

'Well I suppose I might be able to see 'how' some might think that way, but I still don't see 'why'. Just because his outer appearance is different doesn't give them any right to treat him like a freak. So what if his hair is white, or his eyes are teal, or even if his skin is as cold as ice. The only reason I can think of is that; no one understands him or even wants to take time to do so.' she thought as a sudden smile appeared on her face.

Yoruichi slightly tightened her grip on his right shoulder, "Hm, I don't think of you as any different than me." she said positioning herself off to his left side of him and resting her arm around shoulders.  
He followed her movements with his eyes very carefully with a hint of suspicion, due to all the years of not trusting anyone.

"Hmph, I don't know how." he said rather bitterly, still not entirely believing her.

'I've gotta cheer him up...otherwise he'll be nothing but a dud.' she thought as she got a fairly fun idea.

As he continued his icy stare on her, she quickly moved right behind him, not making a sound as she did. And just before he could move or react, she suddenly jumped on his back, wrapped one of her arms around his neck, and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Woohoo, ha ha ha haaaaa!" she laughed swinging one of her arms around in the air.

Toshiro turned his head around to glare at her, but his scowl was met with her smiling face and his glare instantly disappeared; 'What is with this girl? Why is it that I can't even get mad at her? And why is she messing with me like this? It's almost like she is actually trying to become my friend...but why would a Shihoin befriend someone like me?' he questioned himself.

"What are you talking about? How can I see you as anything different? You're sooo much fun!" Yoruichi laughed out as she snaked her other arm around his neck.

She leaned in towards this head and rested her chin on his shoulder, she then noticed that there was no strain in Toshiro's face; 'He's not having even close to a difficult time holding me and himself up. He he, he's definitely stronger then he looks. Hmm, I think I'm starting to like this guy. Maybe me, him, Kisuke, and Tessai...heck maybe even Kukaku can hang out together, we'll have a blast! I think that we've been missing somebody like this in our group. I mean, Tessai is kinda silent too, but he can be almost as bad as Kisuke sometimes, and other times...he can be just plain out weird.' she thought smiling.

"Well you're part of a great noble family, and I'm an adopted son of a middle class man, and the only reason for our meeting is because they were friends at some point, besides...my appearance isn't exactly what people would consider normal." Toshiro said flatly, still not sure if she was being truthful or not.

Yoruichi just slowly shook her head on his shoulder and chuckled silently to herself. Toshiro was still rather confused, he just couldn't figure out her mind set...she had to be up to something, but why would anyone go through this much trouble just to humiliate him? Though he never allowed himself to let his down his guard, he ended up giving her his trust for reasons even unknown to him. Then she sighed into his neck as she prepared to answer him, sending a sudden chill up and down his spine as she did.

'What the hell! Why am I so damn nervous? She just breathed on me and I shuddered! How can she make me feel so self-conscious?' he demanded from himself, with his annoyance and confusion showing in his face.

"Oh please, I don't judge people on how they look; I get to know them first, before I make any sort of assumption about them. Besides, I'm not exactly normal looking either...I mean come on, golden eyes and purple hair? That doesn't seem very normal either. Plus...think you're a nice guy, you seem smart, strong, a bit bashful, but definitely...cute!" she said gesturing to his head, then his arms, then his cheeks for the last two.

Once more he was frozen stiff by her very evident flirting, he never knew people could be like this, he only ever dealt with people's hatred and loathing for him, so he wasn't prepared for any of it.

'This is just getting ridiculous, why can't I do or even say anything to her whenever she does these...strange antics? It's like she casting a spell over me or something. Just how the hell do you do that Yoruichi?' Toshiro thought almost angrily as he sighed deeply in the process.

He looked over towards the town, then back at her expecting smile and lowered his eyes slightly; "Hmph, well at least you look good with your differences...everyone thinks of me as a freak of nature. And in case you haven't noticed, not everyone has those kinds of ideals...most judge first and ask questions never. You must be a rather rare person for believing that way." he said in his chilly voice, but it seemed to be mixed with a certain level of sincerity this time.

Her smile became even wider, "So you think I look good?" she asked as she pressed her chest further onto his back, causing him to blush from not only her action but his realization of his own words.

'Damn it! How in the hell did I let something like that come out of my own mouth? Shit!' Toshiro thought even more angrily.

"Well I suppose I might be a bit of a rare person, I think that when people judge others from their first impression; they are either jealous of that person or they're just a bunch of jerks with no afterlife." Yoruichi said laughing into his shoulder.

Toshiro chuckled slightly in agreement; "Thank you." he said suddenly, with no hint of ice, which took Yoruichi completely by surprise, and in her response she simply said; "Huh?"

"Thank you, for not judging me by my looks, and not being...afraid of me, like everyone else." Toshiro continued in what Yoruichi realized was his 'sincere tone'.

She raised an eyebrow at 'afraid' not understanding of what he meant; "Why would I be afraid? Like I said I think you're a nice guy *looks at him in fake suspicion* unless there's a reason for me to be?" she asked leaning further towards his face, exclaiming an "Hmm?" as she looked at him.

"Well..." Toshiro started but looked at the ground and closed his eyes before he continued; "I have an...odd...curse." he finished, raising his head back up and glaring at a spot in front of him with such intensity that Yoruichi wouldn't be surprised if it burst into flames...or freeze over.

"Curse huh? Well I have one too, only I call it a 'special ability'! Hmm, our abilities are probably quite different though." she said smiling and giggling into his shoulder.

Toshiro raised a brow as he just brushed what her ability could be out of his mind; "Yeah, most likely." he said looking up towards the moon.

Yoruichi followed his gaze and smiled at the night sky, then looked back to him; "So what is 'your'...special ability huh?" she asked stroking his hair with her fingers, and even though it made him feel like a child, he was actually enjoying it, but tried not to let it show.

He looked back at her and smirked slightly at her eager face; "Well, I guess I can show you." he said before closing his eyes and concentrating his spiritual energy outward.

The temperature immediately dropped drastically, causing her to shiver from the sudden cold. She then noticed that the moonlight was no longer present and looked up to see why. Her eyes widened as she saw storm clouds beginning to cover the sky and block out any and all light from the moon and stars; 'Oh my.' she thought watching everything transpire right in front of her.

There was a loud clap of thunder that followed a large flash of lightning, which made Yoruichi flinch and Toshiro to snap back to reality. Then, as fast as it had happened it just disappeared; she looked to him and noticed that he was trembling slightly from what seemed to be exhaustion.

So she slowly slid off his back and leaned him against her body; "Are you okay?" she asked both astounded by his very unique ability and also concerned by the same reason.

He didn't respond just yet, he was still trying to make sure he didn't allow his power to go out of control, for that was why he was tired; "Yeah, I'm fine."

But he suddenly cringed from the buildup of power he had been keeping in over the course of time that suddenly wanted out. Then without any warning he completely collapsed, but Yoruichi caught him in her arms, knelt him down and rested his head on her lap.

"I don't think so...you need to rest for a bit." she said putting her hand gently on his chest to keep him from getting up.

Toshiro looked up at her and gazed into her golden eyes, and slowly but surely his power 'fluctuation' began to cease. His eyes widened slightly in amazement as the effect she had on him seemed to have increased. He couldn't figure out why he felt so at ease just by looking at her, but he didn't seem to mind it at the moment and neither did she. They just sat and laid there for a few minutes staring at one another when all of a sudden...

"TOSHIRO!"

'Ah shit!' Toshiro cursed inwardly, as they both looked in the direction of the voice and saw four figures walking their way.

The first of course was Kansoyue looking angry as ever, the next was Tenkesho looking absolutely confused at his friends reaction to the simple situation. The third was Yorie looking slightly annoyed that she had to get up, and then the last was Kansoyue's wife, Azukie who looed just as annoyed as Yorie. Toshiro had a face of annoyance and anger mixed together, Yoruichi on the other hand was more or less in a state of...huh?

"What the hell are you doing out here Toshiro?" Kansoyue yelled as he walked closer with Azukie right behind him, while the other two just stayed behind them, not wanting to get involved.

Then when the group settled a few feet away from the pair, they noticed that Yoruichi was now pulling Toshiro closer into her arms as if to protect him. "What is going on here?" Yorie asked slyly with a smile now appearing on her face.

Her smile was incredibly similar to the one Toshiro had seen her daughter do so many times within a few minute period. Yoruichi looked at her mother, smiled as wide as her, shrugged her shoulders a little, tilted her head to the side, and then closed her eyes as she readied her response; "Oooh nothin' much, just gettin' to know each other...really well." she said being extremely flirtatious with each word.

This made Toshiro's eyes to widen and frantically try to bring himself back up to his feet, but he was held in place by Yoruichi's arms. Seeing his struggle, both Yoruichi and her mother started laughing, making him start blushing once more, then just before Toshiro was about to free himself, Yoruichi suddenly pulled him into her chest for another hug, which caused his face to turn even redder.

"He he, it seems that my little girl finally has herself a boyfriend." Tenkesho stated happily, which made Kansoyue and Azukie's jaws drop.

'How can they be so calm about this? This Toshiro is a freak, yet their treating him like he's...normal? I can't believe he's actually becoming friends with Yoru-hmm wait a moment here, this might be a good thing, he he.' Kansoyue thought as he began to smirk.

"Well this is great, two young people...having fun, making friends, oh I love it!" Kansoyue exclaimed with a wide smile and an oddly sincere tone.

Everyone present stopped and looked at him with a highly raised brow, especially Azukie who was more in shock then confusion. "H-huh?" she managed to stutter out.

"What do ya mean, 'huh'? I love that Toshiro has found himself a new friend!" he said happily.

But the way he had said Toshiro's name, seemed to hold a hint of venom in it, and the way he said 'new friend' there was some sort of actual happiness there. Even though Toshiro did not have a single friend, his happiness just seemed not to be the kind someone normally would in this scenario. They were all still looking at his smiling face and half closed eyes, everyone knew it was fake, the only differences where that they each thought it was fake for different reasons.

Both Azukie and Toshiro knew it was for some sort of plot to get closer to the Shihoin's money, because that's just the way he was. Tenkesho, Yorie and Yoruichi thought that he was up to something as well, only they weren't sure if they really wanted to know what it was or not. Kansoyue was just looking back at each of their suspicious faces and merely smiled even wider as if it was amusing.

"What?" he asked, now feeling slightly uncomfortable from everyone's 'correct' suspicions.

While most of them just shrugged and tilted their heads away, not bothering with him anymore; Toshiro kept his stone cold face on the man until..."Oh, we're more than just friends, right Toshiro?" Yoruichi said nudging him a bit and giggling in the process.

Toshiro looked at her with pure annoyance, but still slightly blushing without really realizing it, but Yoruichi just held her happy and joyful look at him that suddenly turned to a devious one. "N-no, what are you-." but he was cut off by Yoruichi giving a small kiss on his cheek which made everyone gasp but smile at the same time.  
Toshiro was caught in a state of paralysis; he couldn't speak, move, or even blink. When they saw his unmoving look of shock they all made an 'aww' noise that seemed to bring Toshiro out of his daze and immediately jump up to his feet. He kept his back turned to them as he began straightening out his robes and hair. Yoruichi started chuckling at his shy display, then got up on her feet, walked over to him, put her arms around his neck, and nuzzled herself closer to him.

He didn't seem to react much to it, but he was in fact hiding a deep blush forming on his face, and as she turned him around to everyone's expecting faces they all saw his red dusted cheeks. Once again they let out a few 'aww's' and continued staring at their self-proclaimed couple, and then Yorie decided to calm the obviously embarrassed child. She walked over to them and put a hand on both of their shoulders; "It's alright Toshiro, she's like this with most of her friends." Yorie began with an encouraging smile.

He looked at her with a raised brow as if he wasn't interested, but his shoulders had noticeably slumped down in slight disappointment, then Yorie winked at him as she continued; "But I will admit, she has taken quite a liking to you, even more so then any of her other friends."

Even though he looked away from her still trying not to show interest, he actually did feel a bit better and his shoulders had unconsciously gone back to normal.

"After all she's never given any of them a peck on the cheek before, nor jumped all over them so much, I've never even seen her hold any of their hands." she claimed taking a glance at her daughter, whom was giggling to herself.

"She's usually all look, but no touch. But she doesn't seem to mind with you...hmm...she seems to have put a lot of trust in you, especially for someone she barely knows." she said leaning down closer and winking at the white haired child.

As Toshiro stood there slightly awestruck, Yorie let each of their shoulders go, stood up straight and gave each of them a wide smile before walking back to her husband and nodded to him. He responded with his own nod, then looked over at Toshiro and smiled; "Well young man, my wife believes you really are worthy enough to be our daughter's boyfriend." he said with a smile.

Then he became quite serious, "But I will only allow 'friend' at the moment...no boyfriend till she's older. And if you are to be her friend, then I ask you to promise us that you will protect her no matter what...and you stay by her side till the end. Only then, will I give my blessing to for your friendship." he said with slightly narrowed eyes.

Toshiro looked from Tenkesho to Yorie, then to Yoruichi to his foster parents, and finally back to Tenkesho. He narrowed his eyes even more than the older mans as he responded; "I would...but I don't deserve a friend, especially someone as nice as your daughter." he said rather sadly turning his back to them once again and began walking away aimlessly.

Everyone became wide eyed in shock; they hadn't expected 'that'. Yoruichi stared at him for a few brief seconds with sadness, before snapping out of her shock and running after him, calling his name as she went. Then as she caught up to him, she put a hand on his shoulder and called his name again, but he just kept on walking; "Toshiro! What's wrong? You don't want to be my friend?" she asked sadly and almost desperately, but just silently enough to were only he could hear.

He finally stopped and turned to her, "I said I would...but don't deserve it." he said simply yet coldly.

"Why wouldn't you deserve a friend?" she asked with a slightly raised brow.

"Just look at me, I'm not deserving of anything...they say I'm worthless, pathetic, weak, and above all...a damn freak. What kind of friend would I be if I can't even protect you, besides you don't even know anything about me, how can you trust me so easily?" he asked avoiding eye contact the whole time.

She looked at him with the sadness in her eyes growing by the second; "Toshiro...*sigh*...if there's one thing I know about you is that you are far from any of those things, you have more spirit energy then even I do and that's saying something." she said forming a slight smile.

"And the reason why I trust you is...well...you just have a trustworthy face." she continued smiling wider.  
Toshiro was beginning to feel her sad tone overwhelming him, he finally looked into her eyes and seemed to melt from the inside out.

He then knew that his mind had truly been changed for him; 'Damn it! She is a professional at taking me out of my comfort zone isn't she. I knew I shouldn't have made eye contact.' he thought to himself in annoyance before turning back to the others.

"I swear on my life I will protect her and stand by her till the end." Toshiro claimed even more forcefully than anyone expected, causing Yoruichi's parents to smile and nod at him in acceptance.

A short silence was cast over them until Tenkesho spoke up; "Well this has already been an eventful evening, but I think we should retire back inside, I'm pretty sure I heard some thunder a little while ago, but I don't see any clouds. Though it has gotten a little chilly out here."

Yoruichi stole a glance at Toshiro who was looking away scratching the back of his neck in slight embarrassment, causing her to start giggling once more. As they headed back inside Yoruichi shifted closer to Toshiro, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, but I do have an idea that I think you just might like." she whispered to him.

"What's that?" he asked as the two walked back to the empty room they had officially first met in.

Yoruichi smiled at him once again; "I think you should become a shinigami!"

He looked at her, raising a brow; "What for?"

She tilted her head to the side; "You want to learn how to control that ability of yours don't you? Besides I'm going in a few days myself, we should go together. You can meet some of my other friends! We'll be like our own little group!" she said winking.

Now it was Toshiro's turn to tilt his head to the side; 'Become a shinigami? I suppose I could, but...I'm not sure...eh, why not?.' he thought as he closed his eyes, sighed and readied his reply.

"I know I'm going to regret this, but alright...I'll go. But don't be surprised when no one accepts me there. They've never accepted me anywhere so I doubt that the academy will be any different." Yoruichi giggled slightly at his words and wrapped her arm around his.

"Oh don't worry, as long as you're with me no one will dare bad mouth you." but Toshiro took his arm out from around hers and sighed again.

"Well if I am accepted, I'd prefer to make my own reputation, instead of in the shadow of someone else's...no offense." she just laughed and brought him in for yet another hug.

Only this time Toshiro made sure she could only get her arms around his neck and not around his head to shove his face into her chest, so she ended up giving him an eye level hug. "I doubt you'll have any problem with that, my little 'Ice Prince'." she said laughing over his shoulder.

He slightly tensed up from his odd nickname but decided to shrug it off, 'Ahh...What the hell.' he thought as he gave up and hugged her back, to which she smiled even wider.

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This is the first chapter of a possibly very long fic, but depending on how well the first few chapters do, I may or may not continue. Please leave a review...even if you think it sucked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

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-At the academy-

"Alright, we're here!" Yoruichi exclaimed as she walked with two of her best friends.

Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi whom were wearing their blue school robes, while Yoruichi wore her red; "Yep, it's about time we started our academy years huh?" Kisuke said with a wide grin on his face.

Tessai nodded and turned towards Yoruichi with a raised brow; "Hey, I thought you said you were going to introduce us to your newest friend?" he asked looking around as if to see the person right away.

She looked at him and smirked, "Oh don't worry about that, he'll be here *looks over her shoulder* if he's not here already." she said smiling widely.

-About ten yards away-

Toshiro stood behind a tree while fixing his robes in aggravation, "I can't believe I actually agreed to this, its not like they would actually accept me into the academy in the first place, right? They would have to be really low on their quota for the year. But that would explain why these uniforms are so damn annoying! They're so uncomfortable its unbearable! Maybe I should just turn it in and forget about this." he exclaimed in a sigh, now beginning to walk away.

"Your gonna give up already?" someone asked from behind him.

He turned around to see who it was, but no one was in sight, then he looked up in the tree just behind him and sure enough...Yoruichi was perched on one of the branches. Toshiro turned away from her; "I'm sorry, I thought I could convince myself that I would be able to be normal...but I guess I'm still not over the fact that I'm so different. I just can't fit in Yoruichi, no matter how much I wish I could." he said starting to walk away again.

But he felt a hand on his shoulder and stopped, but did not turn to look at her; "When will you ever learn to forget the past and just move on?" she asked firmly and a slight hint of annoyance in her voice.

Toshiro quickly turned around to face her, and looked at her with a severe glare; "Its easy for you to say! You were never rejected everywhere and anywhere you went because they thought you were a freak! Or avoided you because they feared that you'd kill them just because you acted differently! Your the heir to the Shihoin family for crying out loud! One of the wealthiest and most powerful families in all of the Soul Society! I can't even believe that you would actually want to be seen a hundred feet from me!" he all but yelled at her and turned back around.

Yoruichi looked down with saddened eyes, "I'm sorry Toshiro...I didn't realize that..." but she stopped herself when a small smile formed on her face and she snaked her arms around his neck while resting her cheek on the back of his head.

"It's true...I don't know what that's like, but you shouldn't let that get in the way of doing what you want. I've very rarely thought about what other people think about me, and if I don't...neither should you. This is the perfect opportunity to prove that you can be just as good if not way better then any other shinigami that has ever gone to this academy and if anything...everyone that's excelled in this academy has been far from normal. And I don't care who I am or what family I'm the heir to, I like you for who you are...and besides, I think your unique features make you look irresistibly _cute_." Yoruichi said smiling into his white hair.

Toshiro noticeably growled and closed his eyes, 'I should have known that the second she came over here I would have been going along with whatever she said.' he thought in annoyance.

"Come on Toshiro, do this for me?" she asked with the best pout face she could muster.

He saw her in the corner of his eye and sighed as she continued her very adorably cute look. Toshiro just nodded and allowed Yoruichi to lead him towards her waiting friends. But as they walked, Toshiro decided to voice the biggest question he had been pondering since the moment he met her, "How is it that your able to make me go out of my comfort zone so easily?"

Yoruichi stopped and looked over at him with a slightly surprised look from his sudden inquiry, but it changed to a smile as she replied. "Well it could be for a few reasons actually; one would be that you are just so incredibly bored and don't have anything better to do, so you want to add some excitement in your life. Or two...*smiles deviously*...your just so infatuated with me that you just can't say 'no'."

She finished it all off with a wink which caused Toshiro to growl silently and curse himself inwardly; "I should seen that one coming." he said with much annoyance and a roll of his eyes.

She laughed at his stubbornness and wrapped her arm around his; "Oh Toshiro you know I'm kidding *smiles once more* but I have a feeling that it's the second one." she said as Toshiro's eye started twitching in aggravation.

They finally made their way to Kisuke and Tessai, both of which became fairly wide eyed the moment they saw Toshiro's appearance. Yoruichi kept her arm wrapped around his and gestured to him as she spoke; "Everyone this is Toshiro, Toshiro Hitsugaya; Toshiro this is 'everyone', the blonde is Kisuke Urahara, and the tall one is Tessai Tsukabishi, and of course I'm Yoruichi Shihoin. But you know...we should really think of a cool name to call ourselves, I've been trying to get these two to brain storm with me, but they aren't any help when thinking of cool names. But now that we have you Toshiro, I'm sure we'll think of something way better then The Kisuke Fray." she claimed rolling her eyes at Urahara.

"Oh whatever, I thought it was really clever. Anyway, hi…Toshiro Hitsugaya." Kisuke said turning to said child while attempting to hide his shock, and though not succeeding in the least, he still shook his hand.

"Ehem, yes...nice to meet you Toshiro Hitsugaya!" Tessai said following Kisuke's lead in shaking Toshiro's hand, which caused Yoruichi to smile as if she accomplished something incredibly difficult.

"Alright, now that were all acquainted, lets get a move on! After all we don't want to be late on the first day!" Yoruichi announced gripping Toshiro's arm even tighter and hurrying him into the entrance of the academy, making Kisuke and Tessai to chuckle to themselves.

Yoruichi and Toshiro practically flew past the other students and instructors, who only caught a slight glimpse of them, but it was all they needed to stop and stare at the odd two running by them. But Yoruichi never stopped for anything, she just kept on running with Toshiro, whom was attempting to keep up with her the best he could.

Then without warning, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, and caused Toshiro to run right into her and go tumbling down together, with Toshiro on top. Yoruichi looked almost as shocked as he did at first, but her expression changed from shock to a seductive smirk within a split second.

"Well if you really wanted to be on top...all ya had to do was ask, but I'm afraid your gonna halfta wait *flips him over* for now." she said with a wink before getting off of him and turning to the door she had stopped in front of.

Toshiro got up, brushed himself off and attempted to fix his hair while trying to hide a rising blush on his cheeks. He turned to Yoruichi, then followed her gaze to the door which read 'Class Sorting' on a small wooden plank on the top half of the door. Toshiro raised a brow in slight confusion and looked back at her; "What exactly is...'Class Sorting'?" he asked.

She looked over at him and smiled a bit, "Its were all the students go to have the instructors sort us into certain classes, judging by are level of speed, strength, kido and spirit energy." she explained as her smile became wider, but Toshiro just raised his brow higher.

"I wouldn't worry, once they get a taste of what you can do, they'll want you to be in the advanced classes faster then I got you here. I'm shooting for the advanced classes myself...hey, maybe we'll have our classes together!" she said gleefully, nudging him with her elbow and clapping her hands together at the thought.

Toshiro looked from her to the door, then back again before letting out yet another sigh, "Yeah...that would be something." he said rather sarcasticly.

Yoruichi just ignored him, grabbed his arm with her own once again, slid the door open, and dragged him through; 'I hope to whatever God is out there, that 'this' does not be a trend with her.' Toshiro thought in annoyance as he rolled his eyes.

But he didn't think any further on the issue as he looked around the 'room' they entered. It was the exact definition of 'colossal', it was a massive arena that stretched over a hundred yards long and forty to fifty yards across with mats covering all the walls and floor; "This is perfect for you! Everyone will be able to see what you can do!" Yoruichi exclaimed a little too happily.

'Everyone? Oh great, this is going to be a hell of a time.' he thought to himself as he looked around at the many staring faces.

Yoruichi took him to a long line of students that led to a fairly large stage in the center of the arena, where he could feel multiple students giving off what he thought was rather weak spirit energy. Others that were showing the instructors how well they could fight with and without swords, and even a few students that were shooting kido spells from their hands.

She then pulled him behind her as they stood patiently in line, during of which, Toshiro continued to stare everyone down that decided to look at him. Some of them were even the instructors, but he just held each of their stares until they finally gave up and looked away; 'Hmph, this might not be as bad as I-' but his thoughts were interrupted...

"Hey freak! What the hell are _you_ doing here?" someone yelled from across the field.

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Like I said...much shorter then the first. I hope everyone enjoyed the second chapter. And just to let you all know now...this will not only be a Hitsugaya and a Yoruichi pairing fic, it will more or less imply just about every couple that Hitsugaya could possibly have (with a girl that is, no guys), and a few other couples that I haven't entirely decided on yet, if anyone wants a certain pairing for Hitsugaya or whatever..let me know. Anyway, please review I'd appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

"Hey freak! What the hell are you doing here?" someone yelled from across the field.

Everyone's eyes turned to look at an extremely large man with black hair, really small eyes, with a large kantana at his side, while wearing a set of very large blue school robes that still seemed to look slightly small on him.

Toshiro glared at the approaching man with anger in his eyes, Yoruichi narrowed hers at him but looked back at Toshiro with a bit of a worried look. Kisuke and Tessai were just walking through the door when the large man continued, "I said! What are you doing here you fr-!" but was cut off before he could finish.

"I heard you the first time!" Toshiro yelled back, his words sounded deadly.

Now everyone's attention was turned to Hitsugaya and his 'death' glare at the opposing student, "Well then you should learn to answer your superiors, child!" Toshiro's eyes suddenly became wide with anger at the the word.

'CHILD!' he screamed in his mind, then walked out of line and headed towards the man.

"I'll show you a child!" he all but screamed and suddenly unleashed his spirit energy like a wild fire that made every student on the field cringe.

He didn't care how much he leaked out, he was going to either teach this bastard a lesson...or kill him, 'Which ever comes last!' he said darkly in his mind.

In an instant; storm clouds formed in the sky, loud claps of thunder were heard every few seconds, and it even began to sprinkle rain. Everyone was stunned, especially the man that dared to call him a freak...and a child; "How much of a child am I now huh? How much of a freak am I NOW?" Toshiro yelled just before a huge gust of wind, made from his overwhelming spirit energy, suddenly blew the man straight into a wall, that was well over fifty feet away.

Everyone's eyes were wide at the extreme display of power, and though Yoruichi was the least shocked, it wasn't by much; 'Just how much power does he really have? He was able to blow that big of a man over fifty feet away without even moving a muscle...*looks around at everyone, then back to him* I have to calm him down, otherwise...who knows what he'll do to that jerk, and everyone else.' she thought starting to walk over towards him.

"WELL?" Toshiro yelled as the man painfully got to his feet, despite hitting the soft mats, he hit them with such force that if he was any smaller he would have been knocked out instantly.

He looked from Toshiro to everyone else, then back to Toshiro and started running and screaming at the top of his lungs in fear. But unfortunately for him, Toshiro already knew he would run and before he could get away, another gust of wind lifted him off the ground and sent him straight back into the wall. "You shouldn't start a fight you can't finish!" Toshiro said in an evil voice that sent shivers up everyone's spines.

Yoruichi finally reached him and put a hand on his icy cold shoulder; Toshiro turned around with fury in his eyes as she looked at him with sadness in hers. "Please stop Toshiro." she said gently.

His eyes went from anger to shame in a tenth of a second, and just like before, everything disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Everyone watched as Yoruichi wrapped her arms around Toshiro and started rubbing this back for comfort, the man got back up to his feet, even slower this time, and looked at the two with anger; "Keep your dog on a shorter leash!" he called out just before he started running away as fast as he could.

Yoruichi glared at him as he left, then looked back at Toshiro who had his head lowered in shame, "Come on." she said leading him to one of the benches and sitting him down next to her.

"Well at least you won't have to worry about being in my shadow...if anything I'll end up being in yours." she said trying to lighten his mood.

He turned to her with his rather shameful eyes and gave her a slight smirk, but still spoke with a sad tone; "Hmph, doubtful...but I seriously doubt that they'll accept me anymore."

She just giggled lightly at him and gave him a light nudge; "Oh trust me...I think they'll be putting you in the advanced classes in no time." she said as he raised a brow.

Then before he knew it, he was looking right into her eyes and suddenly seemed to calm down absently, 'And how does she do...that? Its like she's able to convince me of anything just by looking at her, *smirk* Yoruichi you truly are remarkable.' he thought as he glanced over at the other students, only to see Kisuke and Tessai walking closer to them.

"You alright Toshiro?" Kisuke asked stopping in front of them.

Toshiro nodded his head, which 'apparently' gave him permission to sit down right next to him, to which Tessai followed suite and sat down next to Kisuke. "That was an incredible display of power Toshiro...you truly are very gifted." Tessai said reaching across and patted him on the back.

Toshiro looked at Tessai with a raised brow, but Yoruichi turned his head back around to her with her hand, "He's right you know...most students have only dreamed of having as much power as you do, some that have already become shinigami don't even have half that amount of power."

Then Kisuke spoke up again, "Their both right, you are one truly gifted soul Toshiro Hitsugaya." he claimed smiled at him the whole time, which only made Toshiro roll his eyes.

But Toshiro smirked a little bit at all the complements he was receiving, he wasn't used to it so it made him feel...less insignificant, but then..."You four! *they all turned and looked* Would mind coming over here." a female instructor called out silently yet forcefully.

"Ah shi-" but Kisuke was cut off by Tessai covering his mouth, "Shh, you don't want to get into anymore trouble do you!" he hissed silently.

They each got up and headed over towards the instructor, who was slightly taller then them, with short black hair that hung down in the front of her. As they neared, Toshiro noticed that she had blue eyes and an all too gentle smile, she wore a shinigami's uniform with some sort of...haori? That's when it hit them, she was a Captain!

'Oh damn! This is going to really really-' but Toshiro's thoughts were cut short by her suddenly speaking up in very kind manner.

"So what are each of your names?" causing each of them to blink a few times in shock, 'bad?' he finally finished his thought.

"I-I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya." "I'm Yoruichi Shihoin." "Kisuke Urahara." "And I'm Tessai Tsukabishi."

The Captain looked from one to the other, nodding in acceptance; "Well, since I've already seen what Hitsugaya here can do, what about the rest of you?" she asked, once again in a kind manner that for some reason seemed to scare each of them out of their wits.

"Well...I'm really good at shunpo, and hakuda. My parents taught me a lot before they wanted me to come here." Yoruichi said with a smile.

The female captain nodded, "Alright then lets see."

Yoruichi smiled wider, then began shunpoing around each of them, making it up to impossible to be able to even see her, she then started doing different forms of ju-jitsu to show that she could handle herself... very well.

Then she stopped right next to Toshiro and smiled, but a little out of breath at the same time. The captain nodded again and turned her attention to Kisuke, to which he laughed slightly; "Well I'm not sure of how I'm going to follow those acts but..." he said, then he started doing his rather sloppy forms of ju-jitsu, then a few rather sluggish shunpoes and stopped back at his starting point even more out of breath then Yoruichi was.

She slightly smiled, glanced at Yoruichi for a moment, then over to Tessai; "I don't entirely know anything about shunpoes or any sort of hakuda, but I have been a studier of kido since I was young, so I guess I'll show you my best kido attack thus far." he said.

He then started an incantation for a level twenty kido spell and when he finished, a brilliant red light shot from his hands, flew towards a small target on the other side of the arena and hit a small target in the bulls eye. The captain looked back at each of them and smiled a sincere smile, then said; "Hmm, very well done to each of you, I think...I'll put all of you in the advanced classes."

Each of them had a look of surprise and shock, then she glanced at Toshiro; "Especially you. Your power needs more control, otherwise...*glances over at the other three*...you might end up hurting the ones you love the most." she said, ending her sentence with a quick look at Yoruichi.

Even though they all noticed this, none of them said anything, Toshiro just nodded at her; "Alright then, all of you come with me and I'll get each of you your schedules." the female captain said turning around and walking towards one of the exits.

They all made eye contact with each other with questionable looks on their faces, but ended up following her after a brief moment later. Yoruichi made herself and Toshiro take the lead, while Kisuke and Tessai stayed back a few feet. The woman captain led them through a series of hallways and rooms, then finally came up to an office door that had 'Registration' written on it. A few instructors and students were seen around a few small machines which seemed to be printing off sheets of paper that were actually the students schedules.

She then took them towards the back of the office, around one of the machines that no one was using; "Now, since each of you excel in different areas, I'm afraid I might have to split you up for certain classes, but I believe you will all share at least two to three classes with each other." she said still with the strangely gentle smile on her face.

They each looked at her and nodded, then Yoruichi spoke up; "That'll be fine, so...how many classes will we have together?" she questioned as she glanced over to Toshiro, giving him a wink and a smirk.

The Captain smiled, picked up a roster out of no where, checked it over a few times and then looked back at each of them, "Well, all of you will have one class all together, but throughout some of the others...each of you will have at least one other with you." she said now with a more encouraging smile.

She then turned around to the machine, entered in a few names and numbers, then it began to print off a few sheets of paper a split second later. She bent down, retrieved them and handed them out to each of their respectful owners.

They each compared one with the other, and the end result was; First Class: Yoruichi and Tessai | Toshiro and Kisuke; Second Class: All together; Third Class: Yoruichi, Kisuke and Tessai | Toshiro; Fourth Class: Yoruichi and Kisuke | Tessai | Toshiro; Fifth Class: Yoruichi, Kisuke and Tessai | Toshiro; Sixth Class: Yoruichi and Toshiro | Kisuke and Tessai. They once again looked at each other, but all eyes ended at Toshiro, while everyone else was barely separate from one another Toshiro had half of his classes alone.

"Don't worry, time seems to fly most of the time." the black haired woman told them with another encouraging smile, to which Toshiro looked up at her and nodded.

"Alright first class starts in about an hour so each of you better hurry and get your kantana's from the armory, here's a map so you don't get lost." she said handing Kisuke a small rolled up paper that seemed to come out of no where.

"And don't worry about a thing, I'll get the new rosters to each of your instructors before your classes start." she said turning and walking out of the room, but she suddenly stopped in the doorway and looked back at the new students.

"Oh and just so each of you know, I'm Captain Retsu Unohana of the Fourth Division, have a nice day!" she claimed smiling her odd smile and finally walking out.

They each stared dumbfounded for a moment before looking at each other, then slightly smiling and just shrugging it off. Then they all looked over at Kisuke with an expecting look as he unrolled the parchment he received and lead the way to the armory. Each of them got a kantana and went their separate ways to their classes, after much explaining of how to get there on Kisuke's part.

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Alright that's the third chapter, hope you liked it. I couldn't find anything that explained how the academy's classes were broken down so I just went with how we do it here in America...six classes, one after the other with one lunch break. Anyway, till next time...maybe.


	4. Chapter 4

I wanted to say thank you to bookist and the unnamed reviewer, for your reviews. I'll continue this story as long someone likes it. Thanks again.

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Chapter 4:**

-Yoruichi and Tessai-

"You sure Toshiro will be alright by himself?" Tessai asked for about the fifth time, causing her to smile and begin laughing at her friend.

"It's not him being alone that I'm worried about." she said slightly saddened by the fact that they wouldn't have many classes together, but amused at her current thought.

"Then what is it your worried about?" he asked.

Yoruichi glanced over at him with a bit of an evil smirk; "I'm worried about Kisuke. Him hanging out with Toshiro for too long? Its an accident just waiting to happen." she said with a chuckle.

At that, Tessai raised a brow in question, "Toshiro is too clever for Kisuke to try and use his little, smart-aleck banters on. Toshiro will probably get annoyed at them and will probably end up kicking Kisuke's ass." she continued as she began laughing harder.

"Ah, I see. But you do the same thing to people at times. What would be the difference of how he reacts between you and Kisuke?" he asked.

She giggled a little bit more, "Well, me and Toshiro have a certain...understanding and respect for one another." she claimed rather seductively as she thought about how much he blushed whenever they made simple physical contact.

-Toshiro and Kisuke-

"Your were bending the weather to your will! That's soo impressive, you must have a strong connection to your zanpakuto already; he he, you'll probably graduate really fast...I can just see it now, ha ha! Toshiro Hitsugaya! The youngest ever to graduate from the academy!" Kisuke exclaimed in the best announcers voice he could muster.

Then Kisuke tilted his head up in deep thought and glanced at Toshiro with a smirk, but he just returned the smirk with a roll of his eyes; "I don't think that I can 'bend' the weather. I think it just sort of...changes with my emotions."

Toshiro shrugged at his own explanation, not entirely understanding his own power; "Hm, even if that's true...I think it might be better if you tried not to affect the weather too much, otherwise...who knows what'll happen." Kisuke said seemingly rather serious.

Hitsugaya just raised a brow and looked away, slightly smirking to himself, 'I guess he's not too bad, he just likes to talk...a lot.' he thought as he came to terms with Urahara as a friend.

But Kisuke sort of ruined it when he suddenly started talking about how he wasn't sure what his zanpakuto's power would be like, and how he hoped it would be some sort of unique power. Toshiro just closed him out after that because he started ranting on how beautiful he wanted his zanpakuto to be and how he would like for her to look.

Then Toshiro noticed that he had stopped talking and walking as well, Toshiro stopped and looked over at him with a raised brow. But Toshiro looked at the door that Kisuke had stopped in front of and noticed that it was the one that led to their first class. They glance at each other for a moment, nodded and entered the room.

-A few stares and comments later-

"If I were you guys I wouldn't say anything about him...he is not a force that you want to reckon with." Kisuke said firmly, once again completely serious.

Toshiro was a bit surprised at how his mood could change so fast, 'Tch, and he says that I need to work on controlling my moods.' he thought, inwardly rolling his eyes.

Everyone backed off a bit, but only a bit; they weren't all too impressed at a freaky kid with white hair and his friend that seemed to change his mood on the drop of a dime. But none the less, no one said another word on the matter and just left the two of them alone. Then the instructor walked in and stopped in front of his desk; he was a tall and rather large man, with glasses over his brown eyes and absolutely no hair on his head.

He began looking around the classroom, taking in each of the students appearances, and though he briefly stopped at Toshiro with a slightly raised brow, he continued on without another glance; "Good morning class, my name is Gengoro Onabara, I am the a Teacher of Class 1."

There were a few 'Good morning sensei's' and 'Hello sir's' in response, then Gengoro spoke again; "Now, when I call out your names I would like for you say 'Here!' and that is all!" he spoke with much force in his words, making sure to get his point across.

The 'role call' took much longer then what the instructor would have liked, but he began his lesson about how to draw out your spirit energy immediately. Something of which Toshiro paid close attention to, so he would be able to do it himself without flaw. After he had explained that lesson, he continued on about how to 'control' the amount of spirit energy released. another thing that Toshiro listened to as much as he possibly could.

But just as Captain Unohana had said to them, time flew by so fast that just as the instructor was finishing with the last lesson of the day, the class was dismissed. Kisuke looked from the notes he had taken to the ones Toshiro had, and noticed that his were much shorter then Toshiro's.

"What did you do...copy everything he said?" he asked sarcastically, but Toshiro simply answered with; "Yeah, didn't you?" which made Kisuke's eyes go wide and his jaw to drop.

-All together in the next classroom-

"You wrote down everything he said?" Yoruichi asked wide eyed, Toshiro just raised a white brow and shrugged.

"Well, why not? I figured the best way to remember things is to make sure you get in every last detail...am I wrong?" he asked as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Each of them just stared at him in awe, but he just lowered his head and crossed his arms; "Well I suppose writing down everything someone says would be a bit odd, but I still believe what I said." he claimed glancing over at Yoruichi for some sort of answer.

She smirked and nodded, which told him 'Yes, it is indeed a bit odd', but he just slightly sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

Then the instructor walked in, introduced herself as Yushi Shariten, took the role call, and began a lesson about the basics of kido. Tessai was paying just as much attention as Toshiro was and together the both of them wrote down every last thing she said on the subject. During of which both Yoruichi and Kisuke were silently laughing at how the two were so engrossed into the simple lesson.

And just like before, time seemed to fly by so incredibly fast and they were once again saying their 'good bye's', or at least to Toshiro that is. But before he even had a chance to leave, Yoruichi quickly gave him a 'breasts in the face' hug and a wink of good luck. He slightly glared at her for a moment before allowing a small smirk to cross his face and started his way down the hall. Toshiro turned down a few corners and finally arrived at his next classes doorway, he breathed in a deep breath, slid the door open and walked inside.

He saw a few faces he recognized from his previous classes, but none were very friendly to him. Then he noticed two people sitting near the window looking at him with interested, instead of fear or disgust. Toshiro walked past all the staring faces and sat down a few seats away from the two at window, but they suddenly got up from their seats and walked over to him with smiles on their faces; "Hello." one of them said.

"Hey how's it going?" the other asked.

Toshiro looked from one to the other raising a brow in confusion, "What's your name? Mine is Sojiro Kusaka." he said pointing to himself with his thumb.

"And mine is Isshin Kurosaki!" the other claimed following his friends lead.

Toshiro looked at each of them with a rather suspicious look, but slowly closed and reopened his eyes, sighed, and replied silently; "Toshiro Hitsugaya."

The two of them looked at each other and nodded, "You're the one that put that jerk Jirobo Ikkanzaka in his place right?" Isshin asked grinning.

Hitsugaya raised his brow again, "If your talking about the guy from earlier today...then yeah." he said turning his attention to the window.

"Well, good job I must say." Kusaka said smiling just as wide as his friend.

He turned back to face them with a slightly raised brow, "Really, good job! I've been wanting to beat him up for so long, he's such a major jerk! But the instructors were always around and I wasn't able to." Isshin said aggravated, pounding his fist into his palm.

"But I'm just glad someone finally put him in place!" he continued with a smirk.

The instructor walked in with a silent sigh, called for everyone's attention, introduced himself as Sojun Kuchiki, and confirmed that he was indeed part of the Kuchiki family, rather annoyingly at that...as if it had been an all too common question. But he also told them to address him as their instructor, called each students name, and began his lesson on how to properly release large amounts of spirit energy with out completely draining yourself of it.

Once again Toshiro subconsciously took notes of everything that the instructor spoke on the subject and just like every other time, it seemed that the class was over before he knew it had really begun; "Hey Toshiro! What's your next class?" Isshin asked.

Toshiro looked at him, then at his schedule; "I have...Advanced Training." he said, seeming more like a question then a statement.

Then Kusaka spoke up, "Advanced Training? Are you sure?" he said rather amazed at his fellow students response.

Toshiro looked over at him and nodded, Kusaka looked at his schedule then over at Toshiro and Isshin, then smiled. "So do I!" he said with a bit of a wide smile.

Toshiro raised a brow, then he looked at Isshin; "Do you have it too?" he asked with an expecting, yet suspicious look on his face.

Isshin looked over his sheet and nodded his head, 'Hmm, I wonder how many other students have it too?' Toshiro thought as they headed outside for their next class.

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Hope people liked it, please review I'd greatly appreciate it.


	5. Chapter 5

I decided to update twice today, not sure why I just did. But whatever...hope you all enjoy.

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**Chapter 5:**

-Outside in a court yard-

"Alright you three its time you each started your training." the male instructor said forcefully.

Toshiro, Isshin, and Kusaka turned out to be the only ones in the class which only made Toshiro become fairly suspicions of, why. They looked at each other then back at their instructor and nodded to one another, "Okay, now take out your swords and destroy as many targets as possible!" he suddenly yelled out, pointing to the dummy shinigami running at them.

Then they unsheathed their swords and ran forward with determined looks on their faces. The three of them destroyed all the enemies within one minute and twenty seconds precisely, a time that their instructor said was a new record by almost a full minute. Isshin and Kusaka smiled at each other in accomplishment, while Toshiro just slightly smirked and nodded to himself. They went through the same drill over and over again until the end of class, something that they where a bit mad about, but also fairly glad for.

As they sheathed their swords and got themselves ready to go back inside, they checked their schedules to see what was next and noticed that they had most of their classes together. 'It looks like I won't be too alone after all.' Toshiro thought with a small smile appearing on his face.

The three of them hurried to their next class and barely made it inside the room before the instructor closed the door. During the class of the fairly boring subject known as: History of the World of the Living , Isshin had struck up a 'not so friendly' conversation with a large man known as Marenoshin Omaeda. Though he did seem rather annoying at first, Toshiro discovered that he was also quite serious when need be, but most of the time Kusaka and Toshiro had to keep Isshin from beating him to a bloody pulp, because of his annoying nature.

But regardless, the class went quite similar to the rest; Toshiro took his notes to the extreme, with Kusaka actually following his lead. When Toshiro noticed this, they made eye contact for a brief moment, smirked at each other and continued on as if it was normal. Isshin just looked at them like they were insane, but he just shrugged it off and chuckled to himself, while Omaeda merely ignored it. And the class ended before Toshiro knew that it had really begun, but when they realized that their lunch period was up next, they each smiled at one another and headed to the 'cafeteria'.

-In the lunch area-

Toshiro walked with Isshin and Kusaka towards an empty table with their food trays in hand, then they each sat down, with Toshiro at the end on one side, and Isshin next to Kusaka on the other side. Isshin did most of the talking, while Kusaka and Toshiro either nodded, smirked or laughed at something funny. But then..."Looks like you've got company." Isshin said looking over Hitsugaya's shoulder.

Toshiro was about to ask what he was talking about, but he suddenly felt something soft bump into the back of his head. He instantly knew 'what' it was that hit him and he knew 'who' it was that did it, so he tried not to react too much. But he was feeling a little sort tempered at the moment, and apparently the other person knew it as well, so before Toshiro could say or do anything he was suddenly pulled backwards into a hug; "Awww Toshirooo! I missed you soooo much! I haven't seen you aaallllll daaay!" Yoruichi squealed out, loud enough for just about everyone to hear.

"Yoruichi...can you please stop doing that." Toshiro asked as politely as he could.

She smiled, released him and sat down...practically on top of him; "Well I would if you weren't sooo darn cuuuuuute!" she exclaimed, squeezing his arm into her chest.

Toshiro simply sighed, Isshin and Kusaka however were wide eyed and their mouths were hanging open just staring at Yoruichi, then as Kisuke and Tessai walked over to them they sat down next to Yoruichi and waved at the two bewildered students. "Hello again Isshin, long time no see." Kisuke said with a smile.

Isshin finally snapped out of his daze and waved back at Kisuke; "Yeah no kidding, how long has it been, three years?" he said returning the smile.

They sat there in conversation the whole time, eating in between each one until they once again had to go their separate ways, well...for the most part; it was Toshiro, Yoruichi, Isshin and Kusaka all together in one class, with Kisuke and Tessai in another. Yoruichi walked next to Toshiro, while Isshin and Kusaka walked a few feet behind; "So it looks like you've done well in finding some friends huh?" she asked looking over at him with a genuine smile.

Toshiro looked at her then glanced over his shoulder at the following two and then back at her, "Yeah, I guess so." he said shrugging.

When they arrived at their last class, Toshiro slid the door open and allowed Yoruichi to go through first, which made her smile very widely at him; "Oh Toshiro, you just get cuter and cuter don't you...your so polite." she said winking at him.

This class also went by incredibly fast, though Toshiro felt it could have been faster, due to Yoruichi constantly flirting, winking, hugging, and every once in a while blowing him a kiss whenever he happened to look over at her next to him. But regardless of this, in truth Toshiro didn't really mind much, he only glared, rolled his eyes, sighed, and smirked the whole time she 'interacted' with him.

Then after everyone was released from their last class they all went to their separate dorms to get familiarized with them, although most of the dorms where quite separate from each other, Yoruichi had deliberately gotten hers just close enough to Toshiro's, Kisuke's and Tessai's, whom were oddly enough quite close to Isshin's and Kusaka's.

Since the day was still fairly early, Yoruichi decided to introduce Toshiro to another friend of hers, "Hey, Toshiro!" she called out as he walked out of his dorm with his different change of clothes, which was a light blue kimono and a dark blue obi.

He looked at her and sighed, "Yes, Yoruichi?" he asked starting to walk over towards her, almost unwillingly.

"You wanna come with me, Kisuke, and Tessai? We're going to go visit a friend of ours?" she asked as they reached each other.

At first he just raised a brow at her, but then he sighed deeply and shrugged, "Whatever." he said, seemingly uninterested in every way.

But despite this, Yoruichi still remained cheerful, grabbed his hand, and dragged him away. A few yards away Isshin stood in the shadows between a tree and his dorm; "What do you think, Ryuken? Do you think they'll ever become more then friends?" he asked a figure standing a few feet away from him.

"I don't know...what _I_ want to know is why you never seem to care about me? I'm a Quincy, I'm not even supposed to be here, if I was to be caught they'd-"

But Isshin cut him off by waving his hand out in front of him; "Come, come now Ryuken, you don't think that I'd bring you out here if I didn't know for sure that you'd be safe, do you?" he asked confidently.

Ryuken sighed, "Yeah, actually I think you would." he said with a raised brow and a small smirk on his face.

Isshin faked a sniffle; "That hurt my feelings! *another fake sniffle* I would never endanger my friends just for my own entertainment." he claimed still faking a depressed tone.

"Really?" Ryuken said in a mocking voice and rolling his eyes.

"Oh come on you know that I didn't really mean for that to happen...I really did think she liked you!" Isshin said nervously.

"Hmm, well whatever...and by the way, I think just by looking at Hitsugaya...he'd be rather difficult to get 'intimate' with, even for someone like her. It won't be very easy, but...if anyone can break that kids ice, it'll be her...or someone like her." he said smirking, making Isshin nod and smirk as well.

* * *

Oh, btw; the reason why Yoruichi is the way she is, is cause in the show she acts rather childish despite begin over a hundred years old, so I figured that she would probably be even worse when she was younger. Please review. Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

-Back with Toshiro-

They had arrived at their destination at last, it turned out to be a relatively large mansion, with a large stone fist holding up a flag pole that read, 'Shiba Family' right out in the front of the house; "And exactly who is this friend of yours?" Toshiro asked as he raised his brow at the odd sight in front of him.

Yoruichi turned to him with a smile, "She's a good friend of mine...though I must warn you, she is a bit short tempered and can take some things a bit too far. And she has...well, you'll find out. Just so long as you don't upset her, she'll be your best friend." she said with a hint of uncertainty, but still with a smile on her face.

Toshiro raised his brow even higher looking from Kisuke to Tessai, who both nodded to confirm Yoruichi's explanation of her friend. But Toshiro just sighed; "Alright then I'll try not to do anything to upset her. Just make sure you tell her the same for me." he said, in a bit of an annoyed tone, looking away from them to further emphasis it.

"Right, lets go say hello!" Yoruichi said gleefully, once again grabbing Toshiro's hand and running towards the door.

Kisuke and Tessai chuckled to each other and slowly followed them. Yoruichi came up to the door and began knocking on it repeatedly, Toshiro just turned his back to the door, crossed his arms and watched Kisuke and Tessai take their time walking up.

'Why does she insist on dragging _me_ around and not them? Probably because she knows that the first chance I get, I'm out of here...but wait...am I that predictable? She couldn't know me that well already!' he thought, but was suddenly taken out of his thoughts by a sudden..."YORUICHI!"

He turned his head to see who it was and saw a girl with black hair, gray eyes, a red and white shirt, and a white set of kimono pants; she seemed around the same age as him or Yoruichi. But the thing...or things that caught his eye were her fairly large breasts, and though he snapped his head away, it seemed as though the image had burned itself in the back of his mind. But he quickly got rid of it by literally shaking it out of his head.

"Its been ages since I've seen you! Where in the hell have you been? I've been so damn bored!" the black haired woman exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kukaku, I've just been busy...I joined the academy today, and they set us up with classes in just a few minutes so...I never got the chance to get over here till now. Besides, I just saw you the other day." Yoruichi explained with a smile.

Kukaku smirked and nodded, then turned to Toshiro; "So, it still gets really boring out here. *looks at Toshiro* Who's the freak? Your new body guard or somethin'?" she asked, not noticing the sudden temperature drop when she said, 'freak'.

"Kukaku!" Yoruichi said, grabbing her friend by the shoulder.

Toshiro was grinding his teeth, trying to calm down, but then..."When did you guys start hiring freakish kids?" she continued on, ignoring Yoruichi's warning.

Clouds began covering the sky above their heads, catching Kisuke and Tessai attention and made both of them start running towards the house; "Freakish kid huh? You really think you can say anything you want to people, don't you?" Toshiro said angrily yet calmly as he turned around, glaring at Kukaku like he had with the man at the academy.

Kukaku had finally noticed the changes in the weather and looked at Toshiro wide eyed, "W-what are you?" she questioned as she began to back away.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on Toshiro...calm down, she's just a little rude to people she doesn't know, please...just calm down." Yoruichi said frantically as she came between Toshiro and Kukaku.

Toshiro looked at her, then to Kukaku, and closed his eyes; "Fine." he said turning back around as Kisuke and Tessai arrived rather out of breath.

"Who in the Soul Society is he, Yoruichi?" Kukaku demanded, as the weather returned to normal.

Yoruichi turned from her to him, then she grabbed him by his shoulders, spun him around and held on; "Kukaku...this is Toshiro Hitsugaya, Toshiro...this is Kukaku Shiba." she said a bit cheerfully, once again trying to lighten the mood.

"Now Kukaku...I know its not in your nature but I believe you do owe him an apolo-" but she was cut off, "I'm sorry!" Kukaku said immediately, shocking everyone present.

"W-what?" Yoruichi piped out in just as much confusion as everyone was feeling.

"Well, I really shouldn't have said those things so its only fair that I should apologize to him, and besides I've never seen anyone with that much power before. And that is definitely H..O..T, hot Hot HOT!" she exclaimed rather loudly, now smiling at Toshiro, whom had widened eyes.

They each looked at her with a raised brow, but then Yoruichi nudged Toshiro's ribs; "You really are quite the charmer, aren't you Toshiro?" she said seductively.

Toshiro was in a bit of shock, he was beyond confused; 'What the hell! Just a moment ago she was insulting me! And now she's...hitting on me? This is just too weird, what in the hell have I gotten myself into?' he thought as Kisuke and Tessai began to chuckle.

"What? I can't help it. Me and Yoruichi have similar taste in guys." Kukaku said smiling even wider.

Yoruichi raised her hand up and Kukaku slapped it with her own in a high-five, "You got that right!" Yoruichi exclaimed happily.

Toshiro rubbed his temples, 'Oh great, Yoruichi is bad enough, but having another girl just like her?...That would be...' he thought, shivering from even the simple thought of two Yoruichi's.

But when he began to really think about it, he figured that it would be pretty bad most of the time, but for the rest...it would actually be rather interesting and possibly kind of fun. After all Yoruichi was the first person to ever except him the way he looked in the first place, "Well how 'bout we move on inside? I was about to eat some lunch if you guys would like some, you can help yourselves!" Kukaku said happily, still with a smile.

They each nodded and headed inside; "Just so long as I can sit next to Toshiro too!" she added as she warped her arm around Toshiro's, while Yoruichi warped hers around his other arm, and together they made their way through the house.

-In the dinning room-

"So...Toshiro, you joined the academy as well?" a young man asked as they sat eating a large assortment of sandwiches.

Toshiro nodded at him; "Yes, and although it was merely my first day there, it was quite...interesting. I was able to learn much about how control my spirit energy, among many other things as well."

The young man smiled at him and nodded. "You know Kaien, you could join the academy as well...after all you've shown that you have an adequate amount of spirit energy, so why not? Heck you might get lucky enough to be in the same classes as..._Toshiro_." Kukaku said with dreamy eyes as she said his name.

Toshiro raised a brow at her, then looked at Yoruichi for support, but she held nothing but a smirk, so he just rolled his eyes and sighed. "Anyways...yeah I think it would be pretty cool if I got into the same classes as you." Kaien said smiling, trying to help Hitsugaya out.

Toshiro nodded and shrugged; "That would be a good aim, even though I got into the advanced classes by accident, you might be able to do it on purpose." he said with a slight smirk.

Then Yoruichi stood up; "Thanks for lunch Kukaku...but we gotta get goin' before it gets too late, I want to show Toshiro here one last thing before we head back to our dorms ya know." she said with a wink.

Kukaku nodded, "Well alright, just make sure to come back soon, and if you happen to see Ganju, try to head in the opposite direction, he's getting even more annoying then Kaien!" she responded with a thumbs up and a wink of her own.

"Hey!" Kaien yelled at his younger sister.

"Will do...see ya later!" Yoruichi said before taking Toshiro's arm...again, and hurried him out the door.

* * *

Alright, that's the end of chapter six. Where's this place Yoruichi wants to take Toshiro? Stick around and find out. Hope you all enjoyed, please review.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

-At Sokyoku Hill hidden training ground-

"And this place is supposed to be what now?" Toshiro questioned as he stared at the vast 'hidden' space underground.

As he looked around he noticed that there was a natural light inside of the cavern; "How exactly do you keep track of time?" he questioned.

Yoruichi turned to Kisuke with a brow raised, "Yeah Kisuke? How do you keep track of time? Oh wait, I'm sorry...genius over here decided that it wasn't important!" she said pointing here thumb at Kisuke, sarcasm very evident in her voice.

"He he he, well I was thinking about making a digital clock of some sort, but...well, I don't have the resources to do so...just yet." he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"WOW, THIS PLACE IS HUGE!" someone behind them said, they all turned to see Isshin and Kusaka standing in 'awe' with there jaws wide open.

"Now aren't you glad you tagged along with me...I knew that Toshiro had some really good connections to awesome places like this!" Isshin said nudging Kusaka.

However the other four were raising their eye brows and crossing their arms, when Isshin noticed them he hid behind Kusaka, but also pointed an accusing finger at him, "It was his idea, I was just sitting around minding my own business, when...BOOM...I'm getting dragged by this mad man telling me; 'You will follow me if you wish to keep your life!' It was horrible I tell you! I've never been so scared in my life! Oh the horror! Oh the humanity! OH THE MUFALAF!" he yelled out, but was muffled by Kusaka's hand covering his mouth.

"Do you really have to go to such great lengths to lie to them?" Kusaka asked releasing his mouth and raising a brow.

Isshin seemed to contemplate the question for a moment, "Yeah." he said with a large smile.

Everyone just sighed and let out a light laugh, "Hey! I just got an idea! How about we have a little three on three?" Yoruichi said snapping her fingers.

They each looked at one another, shrugged, then nodded to her; "What'll be the teams?" Kisuke asked.

Yoruichi smiled deviously, looked at each of them but stopped at Toshiro, "Oh, I think I have the perfect idea in mind." she said with yet another wink.

It ended up as Yoruichi, Kisuke and Tessai vs Toshiro, Isshin and Kusaka, and from anyone's point of view it was going to end in a tie. Both Tessai and Kusaka knocked each other out almost in the beginning of their spar, but after they regained consciousness, they went to the hot spring for a relaxing bath. Then midway through the fight Kisuke and Isshin sent each other flying into two giant boulders, which knocked them out for a few minutes as well, and soon after...they also went to the hot spring.

Yoruichi and Toshiro were still standing, but they were about ready to collapse from exhaustion, neither one of them allowing themselves to fall. Yoruichi had the upper hand on him in speed and agility, he had her beat in power, and they were tied in endurance and after getting in about the same amount of hits on each other, they were both beginning to feel completely numb from over working their bodies.

"Your built pretty tough Toshiro." Yoruichi said with a smile on her face.

Toshiro gave a light smirk; "I guess so, I could say the same thing about you, but I'm not sure how much more either of us can take." he said slightly out of breath.

She smiled wider, "Well if you really want to end this..." she said before shunpoing right in front of him, tackling him to the ground, trapping his arms under her knees, and inching her face closer to his.

Toshiro was wide eyed, and stared into her beautiful golden eyes; "Do you think its over yet?" she asked smiling her very seductive smile; something that Toshiro both hated and loved about her.

"Y-Yoruichi...c-can you please get off me?" he said with a slight stutter.

'Is it even possible to get used to her doing this all the time? Why is it that even though she's done this so much to me...I can't keep my composure? I end up looking like an idiot.' he thought as she grinned wider.

"Are you suuuure you want me off, I think your enjoying yourself." she said rubbing her nose on his.

She chuckled at him, then she slowly got off of him, stuck out her hand out and helped him up, she turned back at everyone else getting out of the water, "Hey guys we won!" she claimed happily, Toshiro raised a brow at her, but she just responded with a smile and a wink.

"You guys better get back to your dorms before anyone finds out we left, we'll be right behind you. We're just gonna take a quick dip!" she said giving Toshiro another wink, to which he slightly blushed in response and turned away.

She lightly giggled at him, "We'll see you guys tomorrow alright!" she called out waving at the leaving figures, to which they waved back and headed to the exit.

"Alright, lets go for a dip!" she exclaimed happily, running towards the hot spring.

Toshiro sighed and slowly followed Yoruichi towards the hot spring, he turned around a large boulder that blocked the eyes view of the water and as he did, he immediately regretted it. Because standing right before him with her back turned and slightly bent over was Yoruichi slowly taking her kimono pants off. He turned deep shades of red and quickly turned around, 'OH SHIT! Now she's gonna think I'm some kind of pervert! I gotta get the hell out of here!' he screamed in his head as he tried to run off holding his nose, while a small drip of blood leaked from it.

But he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, "Where ya goin'?" Yoruichi questioned with a raised brow.

"I...you...I was...I didn't mean to..." was all he could muster as he wiped the red liquid from his nose, 'Great now on top of thinking I'm a pervert...now she's gonna think I'm a stuttering idiot!' he yelled at himself, as he mentally rolled his eyes.

"Hmm, wellllll I suppose I can forgive you under one condition!" she said sounding rather serious, but in truth; she was on the brink of bursting out laughing.

Toshiro looked at her, bowed his head down and closed his eyes; "Whatever you want." he said, but once again regretted it as he heard a slight hit of laughter escape from her lips.

"Alright then...you must bathe with me in the sauna!" she said, finally allowing herself to laugh at him.

Toshiro looked back up and yet again...he regretted it, cause now she was taking off her shirt, Toshiro stood in 'awe' as she took the last of her clothing off, turned around and jumped in the steaming water. Toshiro literally smacked himself out of the trance that she had put him in, "Come on Toshiro! The water is great!" she called out to him with a smile.

But when he still didn't make a move she frowned, "Don't make me come over there and make you get in." she said crossing her arms as she sat down in the water.

At this Toshiro closed his eyes, took off his shirt and started moving towards the water, he quickly took off his kimono pants and jumped into the water in one swift movement.

"Awww, you get to see me naked, but I don't get to see you?" she asked almost whining.

Toshiro looked at her raising a brow, "I didn't mean to see you undressing." he said looking away in embarrassment, but Yoruichi began moving closer to him.

"Yeah, but you never said you didn't _want_ to see me naked." she said smirking deviously.

Toshiro's eyes widened in even more embarrassment, "I...you...I was...I didn't mean to..." he repeated from before as he looked back at her, but she just giggled at him.

"Oh, don't worry, I know you didn't do it on purpose...besides I'm not shy." she said with another wink.

"Hmph, wonder what gave that impression away." Toshiro said as he began regaining his normal composer.

"Well maybe you should have another look? Who knows the next time you'll get to see me like this again." she said smiling seductively.

Toshiro went wide eyed and began blushing even more, he was about to speak but then he heard her beginning to stand up; Toshiro quickly closed his eyes and turned away, but all he heard was a faint treading sound. He looked over to see a black cat treading water out in front of him, "What? Are you disappointed or something Toshiro? You are aren't you...you really are a little pervert." it said with a smile on its face.

Toshiro's eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging down, "Your a..a..a..." "Cat? Yes I am, its my special ability that has been past down throughout my family." she said as Toshiro raised a brow.

But then he sighed and shook his head; "Well I'm glad that you turned into a cat...otherwise I might have-" but he was cut off when he turned back to her, only to see her back in her human form sitting on the edge of the water and not even bothering to cross her legs or cover her chest.

Toshiro fell backwards into the water with a loud yelp, which caused Yoruichi to burst out laughing, Toshiro arose from the water and tried to recompose himself but failed miserably when she suddenly jumped on him and gave him a 'full body hug'; 'Oh...My...G-G-G-God!' he thought going even more wide eyed, while becoming redder then any tomato in history and beginning to bleed from his nose profusely.

And anyone within a hundred foot radius of the training grounds could hear Toshiro screaming, "YORUICHI!" then followed by her enormous laughter.

After a few more minutes of embarrassment, they finally made their way back to their dorms without any more problems; "See you tomorrow, Toshiro!" Yoruichi called to him, widening her smile as she said his name.

"Yeah...see you tomorrow." Toshiro said with a huge sigh.

'The academy will be easy compared to having to deal with being around you, and now that I've seen you...wait...your not going to...?' he shuddered, at the possibility of her telling someone about what had transpired.

But he glanced at her over his shoulder and slightly smirked; 'She says she's not shy...but I doubt that she'll tell anyone about that.' he thought as he began walking again.

* * *

Ok, that's chapter seven. I figured that since Toshiro and Yoruichi are best friends in this, she'd pull that stunt with him too, besides...I think it kind of strengthens their relationship. Anyway...hope you enjoyed. Btw: a certain Bleach movie is gonna come up in the next chapter, so get ready for that...it won't be too much, it'll just be the parts that the movie didn't have. Until next time, and please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Note: I will be including a small or long monologue for Toshiro after a time jump, not every time...but most of the time. Just so you know what more or less transpired during that time.

**

* * *

Chapter 8:**

-Six months at the academy-

'I have been training everyday, since that first day at the academy, and it was beginning to pay off quite a bit. I had achieved contact my zanpakuto a few days after joining, though I could not hear him clear enough to make out actual words at first, after a month of training I had finally begun to fully communicate with him. Ever since, I have begun the most grueling training I had ever under gone in my entire life and within another few more months, I finally obtained my zanpakuto; Hyorinmaru, the most powerful ice/snow zanpakuto in history. And by a strange stroke of fate...Kusaka had also obtained his zanpakuto at the same time I did, and as it turned out; we both wielded the same zanpakuto. I was told that because we had both excelled extremely well in the academy and achieved our zanpakuto's so quickly, we were going to graduate within another six months, the fastest anyone had ever done so. What we didn't know was that Central 46 had discovered that not only Kusaka and I had obtained our zanpakuto, but that they were exactly the same.'

"Oh My God! Really?" Yoruichi asked in both surprise and happiness.

Toshiro nodded, and received yet another hug from her; "Oh Toshiro I knew you were a genius, and this just proves my point!" she said, keeping him in a bone crushing hug.

Kisuke was smiling like a mad man, "So you both are going to graduate this year? I knew you two were smart, but that has never been done before."

Then Kusaka spoke up; "Well I just followed Toshiro's lead, so I guess he's more of the genius here, congratulations Toshiro." Isshin and Tessai nodded.

Toshiro smirked at them, "Thanks, you too Kusaka." he said closing his eyes and starting to actually smile...but then fate came knocking on their doors.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya and Sojiro Kusaka, can you both come with me please!" a female instructor called out suddenly, seeming to come from no where.

Toshiro and Kusaka looked at each other for a moment before they walked over to the waiting instructor, she lead them through a large segment of the Seireitei that neither of them had ever walked through before. After a while of walking, Toshiro began to question the woman of where she was leading them but he only received a 'You'll find out soon enough.' each time.

Both of them were beginning to become very suspicious of the whole thing, then as they continued Toshiro finally recognized one of the buildings from a book that he had read. And it was that building she suddenly turned towards, when both young men realized where she was taking them, their hearts felt like they just leapt into their throats, the building that she was taking them to was; Central 46.

-Most already know what happens, but if not...watch the second Bleach Movie: The Diamond Dust Rebellion to find out. But this is a few minutes afterwards-

"Toshiro?" Yoruichi asked concerned, as Toshiro walked back towards them with a ghostly look on his face and the female instructor looking at him with an apologetic look.

Toshiro was beyond pale, his eyes never seemed to focus on anything and they seemed...void of any and all light, and his movements were so sluggish that it seemed like a miracle in itself that he was standing at all. "Toshiro, what's wrong? *she looked around* What happened to Kusaka?" she asked walking up to him and put her arm around his shoulders trying to comfort him.

She felt his whole body twitching as he moved, and noticed that he was as cold...if not even colder then ice; "Please Toshiro, talk to me!" she pleaded to him.

But he just couldn't form any words, he felt even worse then he looked, and just when he finally managed to focus his eyes on hers, he suddenly closed them and completely collapsed into her arms. Yoruichi went wide eyed in panic, "Toshiro? Toshiro?" she yelled frantically, as she set him down on her lap shaking him over and over again.

No response came, she looked up at the instructor that had lead them away; "What the hell happened?" she screamed angrily as the rest of their friends gathered around them.

The instructor looked from Yoruichi to Toshiro, "He...they..*sad sigh* they were forced to fight to the death...in the Central 46 Chambers." she said sadly yet angrily, causing Yoruichi, Kisuke, Tessai, and Isshin to go completely wide eyed.

"How can they do that?" Isshin yelled not believing her story.

"They both wielded the same zanpakuto, and it was decided that they had to duel in order to determine who the rightful owner of Hyorinmaru should be." she continued as they each looked at her in sadness and anger.

But it was Kisuke that spoke up first, "In order to keep the balance in the Soul Society, they had two friends duel each other just because they wielded the same zanpakuto? How can they make that destination so lightly?" the instructor looked down at the sword on Toshiro's back, they each followed her eyes.

"Why Hyorinmaru? If it would have been a lesser zanpakuto they might have just let it slide. So why did they have to share the most powerful ice/snow zanpakuto in history?" the instructor whispered sadly.

"Was it by some odd stroke of fate? Or a terrible coincidence? Either way...I doubt he'll ever be the same again." she continued, choking on her words.

They all looked at Toshiro's unconscious, ghostly look. He looked like he was in a coma, which seemed to bring everyone on the verge of tears, but none more so then Yoruichi. Her eyes had begun to water the moment he collapsed in her arms, she hadn't cried or really even frowned for so many years that she just didn't know what to do, she was always thinking on the bright side of things in just about any situation, but now...she just felt weak. Her vision began to blur as water filled her eyes, tears were threatening to fall so she closed them, hoping to keep the tears from falling, and just as one tear escaped and started to roll down her cheek, she felt a hand wipe it away.

She opened her eyes instantly and saw that it was Toshiro, he tried to keep his hand on her cheek but his arm fell like a rock back to the ground as her eyes once again became wide. He never said a thing, he just slowly shook his head 'no' and instantly lost consciousness again, going back to his coma state. Yoruichi's eyes were sad at first, but then seemed to change into a happy and proud look, she wrapped her arms around him, bringing him closer to her, and began smiling again; "Thank you Toshiro." she said to him in a whisper.

-Another six months later-

"Congratulations Toshiro Hitsugaya, you have officially graduated from the academy and are now a Shinigami of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads!" the head teacher said happily shaking Toshiro's right hand eagerly while handing a small scroll in his other.

Toshiro on the other hand had a mixed look of happiness...or at least as much as he could have, and depression. He was happy that he finally became a shinigami, ahead of time on top of that, but was depressed for the exact same reason; he had now become what him and Kusaka had always wanted to be. He slowly walked off the stage and went down to meet his friends, all of whom had smiles on their faces, Kisuke shook his hand and then pulled him in for a hug with a fake sob.

"Oh Toshiro! I'm so proud of you, your growing up right in front of my eyes!" he said continuing his fake sob until Toshiro was able to pry himself free.

But he was caught in another hug by Tessai before he was even able to touch his feet on the ground (he's still short after all), "Congratulations Toshiro! You have proven to be the genius we all knew you were!" he said happily as Toshiro also pried himself free of Tessai's hug as well.

Then instantly after his feet were able to touch down, he was suddenly tackled to the ground; "Oh Toshiro, I'm so happy for you, you truly are amazing!" Yoruichi said shoving his face into her well developed chest.

Toshiro sighed; "Thanks Yoruichi, but can you please get off of me." he said though slightly muffled.

When she got off him, Kisuke helped him up while asking him an actual intelligent question; "So what squad are going to?"

Toshiro looked up at him, then looked at the small scroll he was given, he opened it up and scanned it quickly; "Squad 6...with Captain Ginrei Kuchiki."

They each looked at him with smiles, Toshiro noticed all the smiles and couldn't help but ask, "Why? Is that good or bad?"

Yoruichi smiled wider, "Well Captain Kuchiki usually hand picks the people in his squad, so being sent straight into squad six is quite an honor."

Toshiro just raised a brow. 'I know that he's a well respected Captain and the head of the Kuchiki clan, so I suppose it shouldn't be too bad...I think.' he thought.

"But you know...the Shihoin's are on really good terms with the Kuchiki's so he shouldn't give you too much of a hard time." Yoruichi said smiling giving Toshiro one last hug before he left for his new division.

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There's chapter eight, like I said I would just kind of mention what they didn't have; the before and after. And I put him in the Sixth for a reason but not a really big one, mainly cause I want Byakuya to respect him more because he was hand picked by his own grandfather. There's a few other reasons as well, but I'll get to those later. Oh btw; I really have no idea how they tell you what squad your gonna be in so I just went with a small scroll that has that info. I hope you all enjoyed this and please review.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

-The Sixth Division office-

Toshiro had knocked on the door several times, but no response ever came, so he figured that the captain must be out, and decided just to wait for him to return. He didn't know a whole lot about the Sixth Division, but what he did know was that they had no lieutenant, and that there hadn't been one for many years because of Captain Kuchiki's high preferences for who joins his squad. Then as Toshiro contemplated this, he suddenly heard foot steps behind him, he turned around to see the captain walking towards him, to which he kneeled down; "Captain Kuchiki, my name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, I have been assigned to your squad, sir!" he said firmly, after all...first impressions mean a lot.

Captain Kuchiki acknowledged him and nodded, "Well Hitsugaya, I have heard much about you...they say you're a genius, a child prodigy, and...that you had obtained your zanpakuto after a few months at the academy." he halfway asked, halfway stated.

Toshiro nodded, "Yes sir!"

Ginrei seemed to look at him for a few moments then walked through the office doors with Toshiro following a few steps behind, "Very well, due to the taken positions of third and fourth seats, I am going to give you the position of...fifth seat, is that acceptable?" he asked but not very interested in any sort of answer.

"Yes sir!" Toshiro said trying not to show too much shock.

"Good. You are dismissed, I will have my third and fourth seats walk you through your duties." Ginrei said.

Toshiro bowed to him and nodded; "Yes sir! Thank you sir!" he said before walking out of the office and closed the door behind him.

'Fifth seat? Wow, I can't believe that he would promote me just like that...is he testing me? Trying to figure out exactly how well I can handle this job? I better prove myself or everything I worked for will be for nothing.' he thought walking towards the third and fourth seats office.

'I don't recall any paperwork in his office.' he thought thinking back as he walked.

'Does he do the lieutenants paperwork on top of his own? No one person should have to do that much paperwork.' he thought...ironically.

He walked up to the door and knocked on the wooden frame, a split second later, a voice spoke up from the other side; "Come in!"

Toshiro slid the door open, walked in the office and first saw a tall tan man with long blonde hair and purple eyes getting up from his seat. Toshiro noted that it must have been the fourth seat due to fact that the third seat was still at his desk; "Hello, my name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, I was recently assigned to this squad, and the captain told me to come to you two for a 'run through' of what I need to do." he said slightly bowing to them.

The fourth seat waved him over and stuck out his hand; "Nice to meet you Hitsugaya, my name is Rojuro Otoribashi, I'm the fourth seat." he said with a smile.

Toshiro shook his hand as the third seat got up as well and introduced himself as, "Shinji Hirako." and he too shook Toshiro's hand; "So Toshiro, which seats squad did the Captain put you in?" Shinji asked.

Toshiro looked up at him, sighed and slightly lowered his eyes, "Actually he appointed me as the Fifth Seat." he said without any sort of indication that he was bragging, but both men's eyes still widened.

"Fifth? Really?" they both said at the same time, Toshiro just nodded.

They looked at each other and smirked, "Well, being the child prodigy you are...I suppose that he did the right thing putting you in a seated officers position." Rojuro said still smiling.

Shinji nodded in agreement; "Yeah, I mean no one has ever graduated in one year...that's the fastest in history!"

Then they both walked over to him and patted him on the back and saying in unison "Congratulations".

They walked Toshiro through the entire division talking about 'this and that' and though it seemed quite boring, Toshiro tried to pay as much attention as possible, to make sure he would not get lost and have to ask someone else where to go. When the 'tour' ended, they made their way back to the office; "Alright Toshiro, your first assignment is to complete a bunch of paperwork in your new office! Fun right? Well I guess your all set, if you have any questions about anything just go ahead and ask us ok!" Shinji said with a strange smile that showed his top row of teeth.

"Of course, thank you Third Seat Hirako and Fourth Seat Otoribashi, I hope I'll see you both soon." Toshiro said with a nod.

"Oh don't worry about formalities, just call us by our first names." Rojuro said with a smile.

Toshiro looked back at them, gave a slight smirked and nodded; "Alright I'll try to remember that Rojuro and Shinji." he said walking out of the office with a slight bow.

-Later on that night, after completing the first of much paperwork to come-

Toshiro was walking down one of the streets of the sixth heading toward his new barracks, trying to remember exactly where it was, as he had past by it on his little 'tour'. Just when his destination was finally in sight he was suddenly knocked over, arms wrapped around his head, slim fingers curled and gripped his hair and long yet strong legs wrapped around his waist. "Tooooshiiiirooooo!" he heard a voice squeal above his head.

As he immediately distinguished who this person was, he attempted to speak to them, but was met with a pair of breasts in his face, which muffled his speech so what should have been; 'Yoruichi can you please get off me.' ended up sounding like; "Foruichi caf yof flez het ov mef.", to which all she did was laugh.

"Now why would I do that? Your a Fifth Seated officer! I'm sooooo impressed!" she said, tightening her grip around his neck.

He had finally managed to stand back up even with her still 'latched' onto him, then after just standing there for a few moments she finally released his head but still kept her legs around his waist, and just put her hands on his shoulders; "So how does it feel to be a seated officer?" she giggled.

Toshiro smirked at her, "Hmph, it actually feels pretty good, like my work has actually paid off." he said as his smirk turned into a smile.

Yoruichi smiled wider at this and wrapped her arms around him again, but it was in a more gentle way then before; "I really am proud of you Toshiro, I hope that we both end up as captains, then we can spend all the time we want together right?" she said sincerely.

They...well, _he_ stood there for a few moments, then sighed and returned her hug, causing her to secretly smile even wider and hug him tighter; "Thank you Yoruichi." he said sneaking his own smile.

She broke the hug but she kept her arms loosely around his neck, "For what?" she asked tilting her head and raising a brow.

His smile was still slightly visible in the setting sun and it only seemed to become even wider; "Everything." he said contently.

Yoruichi looked at him with slightly widened eyes, and just hugged even more before dropping her legs from his waist, yet still keeping the hug going. "Your very welcome!" she said finally releasing their hug.

Toshiro once again looked into her eyes and smiled wider; "Well, goodnight Toshiro...see you soon." Yoruichi said with a wink.

"Yeah, see you later." he said closing his eyes and sighing.

She smiled deviously then snuck in a quick kiss on his lips, his eyes instantly went wide and his mouth started gaping. She smiled rather seductively at him, "That was my first kiss by the way. Sweet dreams." she said with another wink and walked away.

Toshiro was frozen for a brief second, but a small grin creeped up on his face and he closed his eyes once more; "Yeah...you too." he said as he started walking again.

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Yes, Yoruichi gave Toshiro her first kiss, even though it was just a quick one...it was still on the lips. Hope you all liked this chapter as well, comment and review.


	10. Chapter 10

Just to warn everyone, this is a slightly longer chapter then the previous. Not as long as the first but longer then the rest.

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Chapter 10:**

-Two years later-

'After that night, I hadn't been able to see Yoruichi at all, nor any of the others. I tried to make time...but it seems that every opportunity I got to see them, there was always something that kept us apart. But now its graduation day for all of them and I finally got the time to see them. Though as I look at them...it seems that they're a bit...different. Ever since Shinji and Rojuro have been promoted to their captains positions, I haven't been able to actually talk to anyone because of all the work I've had to do, I have probably not said more then six words to anyone for almost an entire year.'

"Congratulations Yoruichi Shihoin, you have officially graduated from the academy and and are now a Shinigami of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads!" the head teacher said happily shaking her right hand eagerly and hand her a small scroll in her other.

Yoruichi smiled at him and headed off the 'stage.' She was met by not only her graduation friends but the new Third Seat of the Sixth Division, she ran up and gave each of her friends a hug, and though Toshiro noticed that she had given Kisuke a longer hug then him this time, he just ignored it. "Congrats Yoruichi, so what division are you going to?" Toshiro asked.

She looked over at him and smiled; "I'm going to the Onmitsukido, I was told that I'll be starting off as the Seventh Seat, but will end up working mostly at the Second Division." she said happily glancing at Kisuke.

"I'm going into the Onmitsukido as well, as the Ninth Seat." Kisuke said with a smile.

"Unfortunately, I'm going to the Kido Corps. so I won't be seeing you guys very often." Tessai said sadly.

They all turned to him and sighed sadly; "Don't worry Tessai, your a talented shinigami, you'll be the captain of the Kido Corps. in no time, then you can come back to visit any time you feel like." Toshiro said encouraging.

Tessai smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Thanks Toshiro, and good luck to you for the promotion of Third Seat."

Toshiro tilted his head away and lightly smirked; "Actually, I already won the position." they each looked at him and smiled once again.

"Mainly because I-" he started but was cut off by Yoruichi.

"Well I've gotta go, see you guys later!" she called out as she grabbed Kisuke by the hand and dragged him off.

Just before Toshiro turned away he noticed that even after they started walking at an even pace, they were still holding each others hands. Kisuke did seem to glance at her then over his shoulder at him, before asking her some sort of question, but all she did was just yank his hand and continued walking. Toshiro felt a sudden pain in his chest as if he had trouble breathing, he quickly looked away from them but the image didn't go away.

He slowly made his way back to his division, still thinking about Yoruichi and Kisuke, 'When did they...why did she...but what about...I thought...' yet he could never finish any of his thoughts.

As he continued walking, the 'pain' in his chest increased the further he went, but then he noticed that the summer sun was no longer shining, he looked up and widened his eyes, "Oh shi-" but was cut off by a clap of thunder.

'Damn! I didn't even realize that my spirit energy was leaking out!' he thought as the clouds began to disperse and make way for the sun once again.

"Third Seat Hitsugaya?" a voice asked a few yards away, causing Toshiro to stop very abruptly.

He turned to the source of the voice, only to see Captain Kuchiki himself, 'Shit! he was probably watching me the whole time!' he thought as he formally bowed to him.

"Sorry Captain Kuchiki, I was not paying attention to my spirit energy, I was just deep in thought, I apologize. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." Toshiro said hoping that he wouldn't say anything about it, or deem him unfit to be the Third Seat anymore.

Captain Kuchiki stared at him for a long while, but in the end simply nodded, turned around; "I know your troubled by something Hitsugaya, its completely normal, just be sure to control your emotions and not allow them to control you." he said and then walked away.

'Damn it, he did know...but he's right, I have really got to keep my self in check when I'm dealing with...those kinds of things .' Toshiro sighed deeply and walked to his office.

'The Sixth Division still hasn't appointed a Lieutenant yet, so in order to make my captain's job easier, I took it upon myself to do most if not all of the duties and responsibilities for being the Lieutenant and that includes doing the paperwork. I have never taken any of it lightly of course, I always make sure to complete every task on time and with the utmost efficiency, to make sure that no one would doubt that I am worthy of the position. But I still feel the same as when I first arrived here; no one person should have to fill out this much paperwork.' Toshiro thought as he walked into his barracks.

He sighed deeply and thought about Captain Kuchiki's words, _'Just be sure to control your emotions and not allow them to control you.'_

"He's right. I won't let my emotions get in the way of what I want. I'm going to be a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads." he promised himself, forgetting all together whom he had already made the promise to.

-Another two years later-

'Once again, I hadn't seen Yoruichi or most of my other friends since their graduation, except for Isshin Kurosaki, who was promoted to the Lieutenant of the Third Division under my former Fourth Seat, Rojuro Otoribashi, about a month ago. I had received the Sixth Division Lieutenants spot almost a month after I had been promoted to the Third Seat, so it was still a year and a half between our promotions. Isshin had told me about how he was doing during a Lieutenants meeting which ended up being one of the longest conversations of my life, it was also there that I had met a man called Sosuke Aizen a new lieutenant that had just been promoted along side Isshin. And no matter how he portrayed himself, I couldn't help but feel a sense of caution around him. But aside from that...I was now receiving a captains position just a few weeks after I achieved Bankai, though only a select few knew about it, I could only imagine that none of my friends knew. Although I doubt that _she _would care much; we became quite...distant, from each other, but I never dwelled on it, in fact I rarely dwell on the past at all anymore. I couldn't help but to be at all of her promotions throughout the years, including her becoming the Lieutenant of the Second just a few days ago; but I can't imagine that she actually noticed that I was there, I disappeared after every ceremony so I wouldn't get in _their _way; any time I had thought about the past...it was usually about those two. I had formed a few suspicions about them, but I would refused to dwell on them for very long, and over time...I began to change, and not just my personality, but my outer appearance as well.'

"Welcome Captains and Lieutenants of the 13 Court Guard Squads, I have some great news, the position for the Tenth Division Captain's slot is finally being filled." the Captain-Commander said with his normal demanding voice.

Then he slightly opened his eyes and called out, "Please enter!"

Instantly, the doors opened and all eyes were on a young looking 'boy' that looked only about 12 to 13 years old, he wore a standard sleeveless haori with a dark green coating on the inside, he also had a green sash with a silver clip draped over one shoulder and across his chest to hold his zanpakuto in place. But the main things that caught everyone's attention was not just his white hair, and narrowed teal eyes, it was that his hands and feet were completely covered in a thin layer of ice, forming dragon-like claws over them, and on top of all that, he had a thick layer of ice encircling his neck almost like a neck guard. (Note: His look is similar to Hyorinmaru's human form; from the Zanpakuto arc.)

All but the Captain-Commander and Captain Kuchiki were shocked at his...odd appearance, but none more so then Yoruichi; she was completely wide eyed like never before. With every step he took, you could hear the ice hitting the floor like...well, ice hitting the floor, yet none of the ice ever broke off or left a wet spot on the floor. "Congratulations Toshiro Hitsugaya, you are the new Captain of the Tenth Division, unfortunately there is no Lieutenant assigned in your squad, but I trust you will be able to find someone worthy of the title?" the Head Captain said.

Toshiro nodded; "Yes Head Captain, I will be sure to find someone that will be best suited for the position." he said with ice in his voice, as if he was freezing the very air with his words, which sent a chill up everyones spine...even the Head Captain himself.

But the Captain-Commander just nodded, then Toshiro walked over to his spot and stood in exactly the spot he was supposed to be in, not a single centimeter out of place, and the way his face showed absolutely nothing, not happiness for his promotion nor joy when he glanced over at her for a brief second, he was actually started to scare Yoruichi. He seemed like a younger version of Ginrei, only he seemed even colder then the elder captain.

Yoruichi never paid any attention to the meeting and therefore didn't realize when it was over until everyone started leaving; "Heeey! Toshiroo!" she yelled as she ran to catch up with him.

Everyone turned to her as she ran past. "Hey, Toshiro?" she said as she walked up beside him.

He only slightly glanced at her, but then turned away; "Toshiro, I was calling you." she said in a slight whimper, but he still didn't respond nor did he stop walking and when she looked into his eyes an saw...nothing, just ice.

'What happened to you Toshiro? I can't leave you alone for one minute.' she said to herself as she walked up in front of him.

He came to a stop, and at first he seemed to look straight through her; "Toshiro?" she asked.

Toshiro finally focused his eyes on her, but tilted his head down and closed his eyes; "Can I help you with something Lieutenant Shihoin?" he asked not sparing any of the ice in his cold voice.

She once again went wide eyed, 'He called me by my title? What the...what happened to him? Where did that loveable guy I used to know go?' she thought as she tried to wrap her mind around why he would be giving her 'cold shoulder' even though she knew he always had a cold shoulder, she also knew that deep down he was a really nice guy and always had a soft spot for her.

"Wha-Why did you...Toshiro? Why are you like this? I thought we were friends?" she said with apparent sadness in her voice.

He brought his head back up, opened his icy cold eyes, stared at her for a moment and slightly raised a brow; "I would prefer it if you would call me Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant." he said far too cold for Yoruichi's liking.

She actually stepped away from him, as if she'd just been slapped; "T-Toshiro." she whispered his name in complete and utter shock and fear.

Toshiro continued to stare at her with a hardened glare, which was all but permanent on his face, but as he looked into her scared eyes, his expression seemed to suddenly soften. He then sighed deep; "I suppose our friendship has not diminished."

At that, she raised a brow in confusion, "Well, why did you call me by my title? Why were you talking to me like you hated me? And where did that ice come from?" she asked, once again with sadness in her voice.

Toshiro sighed once more, only this time in slight annoyance; "Well, I call everyone by their title. Hmph, I forgot you don't use formalities." he said as if he truly just remembered about that, but still not sparring any ice.

"If it seemed like I hate you then I apologize, this is just the way I have been talking to everyone. And the ice...*glances down at a frozen hand*...it started forming all on its own, the same day I was promoted to the Third Seat to be exact." he said literally chilling the air with his voice, her eyes went slightly wide as she began remembered that day.

'That was my graduation day! Why would it start forming then? I know I hadn't talked to him for a while...but Kukaku told me to...oh shit! Kukaku told me to try and make him jealous by hanging out with Kisuke a lot, then to get them both together to make it seem like I would choose one or the other. And I actually tried it! But I forgot about the whole thing mid-way through cause I got wrapped up into my work...wait! Does that mean...that...I made him like this? But...I...I didn't...oh no...I'm so sorry Toshiro. Hold on one second! If that's true, then Toshiro really did get jealous! Does that mean that he actually does li-...no, but he never...well I suppose that's cause he's a bit-' but she stopped her thoughts as she noticed Toshiro looking over at someone.

She followed his gaze and saw the fifth divisions Lieutenant Sosuke Aizen walking by; she looked from one to the other, 'What's wrong with Aizen Toshiro? Why are you giving him such a cold stare, he doesn't seem too bad. So what don't you like about him?' she wondered.

"Well, that means your not too different from before, right?" she asked with a slight smile, gaining his attention.

He looked over at her; "Actually I am quite different then I was before, even more so from two years ago...*her head and shoulders drop, and he sighs deeply*...just remember you have to fulfill your part of the agreement." he said closing eyes and crossing his arms.

She raised her head and a brow, and couldn't think of anything better to say then "Huh?"

As he uncrossed his arms, he opened his eyes and stared into hers, sighed once more and even allowed a rare smirk; "We were both supposed to become Captains, remember? I've held up my part." he said forming a slightly wider smirk on his face.

She went wide eyed all over again, only this time with joy. She smiled really wide, jumped up, and just how she used to...latched onto him with her arms and legs, only instead of her arms being around his neck they were mostly around the ice covering his neck; "Oh Toshiro! I knew you still had a soft spot for me!" she squealed.

He just sighed again; "Maybe...but don't go thinking that I'll treat you any differently then everyone else." he said sounding firm, but not as firm as he had spoken before, she had caught on to this and continued the hug while widening her smile.

"Oh, I wouldn't dreeeeeeaaaaam of it." she said snuggling herself as close to him as possible, as if he would disappear forever if she let go.

Toshiro sighed yet again and finally embraced her hug, and although she felt the ice on her skin it didn't actually seem cold like real ice would; it felt...warm, somehow. She was surprised at this realization and pulled her arms away, but left one hand around his neck and put the other on his shoulder, 'Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when ice can feel warm...you really are a wonder Toshiro.' she thought happily.

"You may say you changed but I think deep down, you will always be a softy...I'm glad you didn't change that part of yourself, when I first saw you, I thought...you had really become someone completely different." she said a bit sadly at the end.

His gaze seemed to soften even further and put a frozen hand on her shoulder, and even now it still felt warm somehow; "Well, just for your sake...I'll try not to change too much." he said allowing another smirk, and even though he was sincere, his voice still held some sort of natural chill to it.

Yoruichi put her hand over his, nodded then grabbed him for another hug; "You've got yourself a deal!" she said as a happy smile crossed her lips.

Toshiro closed his eyes and once again embraced her hug, 'I suppose, but you never really promised me anything in return, looks like I'll be doing most of the work...again.' he thought smiling inwardly.

'Once again Yoruichi...you seemed to have changed me within the first few minutes of our meeting, I don't know how you do it...its almost annoying.' he continued with another sigh, which he seemed to do more within the last few minutes then the last few years.

After a few more moments of talking, they once again had to say their goodbyes, and go back to their own divisions. Toshiro, now being a Captain had to make sure that he was forceful with his words, strict with everyone, and in the end had to pick someone out of 'the lot' to become his Lieutenant. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, nor was it going to be anytime soon, he had to be sure to pick someone with the necessary skills and abilities, they had to be a hard worker, and have a compatible personality with his; "Hmm, maybe my expectations are a bit too high." he said to himself as he walked past the Fourth Division.

He then shrugged a bit, "Well they at least have to fit two out of three, for me to even think about accepting them." he said, nodding to himself...not realizing just how much of a difference two out of three could really make.

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Alright! Chapter Ten is done! Yay, Toshiro's back! For the most part anyway. But he is still the youngest Captain ever and even though he looks differently, his skills are even more heightened then what they are in the show. I hope you all enjoyed this and you'll press that incredible button just below the text and leave at least a little comment of what you think. Till next time!


	11. Chapter 11

Before I start, I would like to say thanks to Tuliharja, the Unnamed reviewer, and 10th Squad 3rd Seat. Thanks for your support.

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Chapter 11:**

-The Tenth Division-

Toshiro walked up to the Tenth Division doors, which automatically opened for him, and as he stepped through he noticed everyone in the division was standing around waiting for him to arrive. Toshiro sighed and readied himself for his introduction, and when everyone realized that he was walking towards them, they gave him a very confused look.

"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, I have been appointed as the new Captain of Squad Ten. I don't know any of you, and you do not know me, but during each of our interactions I'm sure that we'll get to know each other. But for now, I need to know exactly how strong and skilled each of you are, therefore tomorrow I will hold a sparing session for the whole division. As long as all goes well, it should only last no more then an hour or so, and after your finished you may have the rest of the day to yourselves. It will be at eight in the morning so you better rest yourselves up." Toshiro said silently, but with force and then turned towards the Tenth's office.

They all just stood there for a while, still with their confused looks, "He's a...kid?" a male member said as Toshiro disappeared.

"I thought that was just a joke." said another in utter disbelief.

"And now he wants us to spar? Just to figure out what level we're at?" the first said with an annoyed look on his face.

"Well I don't know, I think he seems rather mature for his age." a female claimed, and while most nodded in agreement, others shook their heads and all but laughed at the notion.

"Are you guys crazy? He's too young to be in a Captains position, no matter how mature he tries to look." the first man practically yelled.

A few feet away Toshiro slightly smirked; "I'll admit myself..." everyone turned around and went wide eyed as they saw the white haired Captain himself once again standing before them with his arms crossed.

"I'm not exactly the most intimidating person you could meet, nor am I the tallest." he continued, as his smirk disappeared and was replaced by his normal icy glare.

"But I do have every qualification for being a Captain, and that includes achieving Bankai." he said increasing his glare and beginning to radiate a very icy and dangerous spiritual pressure, which made everyone's doubts of him instantly disappear, just from the intensity of it.

"Y-you've achieved B-Bankai? At such a young age?" the man asked, with his voice slightly cracking from the sudden temperature drop.

Toshiro nodded, "I graduated the academy in one year, I mastered Shikai five months afterwards, and achieved Bankai three years right after that, I have yet to perfect it completely, but I definitely have enough experience to be a Captain." he said focusing not only his glare but his spirit energy at the man that had the most doubt.

He instantly bowed down, not only out of respect, but out of the sheer strength of Toshiro's spirit energy; "My apologies Captain...I meant not to offend you!" Toshiro never released his glare but ceased leaking his spiritual pressure.

"See you all tomorrow." he said right before he shunpoed away, leaving the shocked and rather cold shinigami to slightly relax once more.

-The next day at the Tenth's training grounds-

Toshiro stood about twenty feet away from all of his sparing squad members, glancing over to each of them to check their progress, but he never seemed to look at one specific person. As they were finally beginning to finish up their sessions, there was a sudden loud 'boom' and a large shake of the ground. And when they all turned to see what had happened, they that it was some sort of masked figure had shattered the ground that their Captain had been standing a moment before.

They looked around to find their somehow missing Captain, but to no avail and apparently neither did the attacker. But when they heard a 'clang' of two swords hitting together, they looked back at the attacker and saw their Captain clashing swords with them. Toshiro locked blades with the mystery person over and over again, then he swung his sword up, which sent the other persons sword up as well, and just as Toshiro was about to slice his opponent through their waist, they brought their sword back to their side to block, but the force of Toshiro's swing sent his opponent sliding backwards.

Then as the masked person came to a halt, Toshiro used shunpo to get right out in front of them, but before Toshiro could do anything further the person took off their mask, revealing it to be...Yoruichi, of course. But Toshiro was taken off guard, not because it was her; in fact he had known it was her since the beginning; he was caught off guard because she instantly jumped on him, knocking him to the ground, with his arms pinned beneath her legs and her blade stuck in the ground next to his head; "Ha ha! I win!" she exclaimed happily.

But then Toshiro lightly grinned, lifted her up with just his arms, knocked her back, flipped his sword around in a reverse grip, and stuck it six inches above her neck. She was shocked by the turn of events, but she smiled regardless, "Awwww, no fair! You cheated!" she whined.

He just lightly smirked, got up, and helped her to her feet; "Well you should have seen that coming." he said sheathing his zanpakuto.

She crossed her arms, turned her head away from him, stuck out her bottom lip, and closed her eyes; "You still cheated." she pouted.

His smirk became wider and he closed his eyes as well, "Hmph, well if I did...only you would know, since you always had to cheat to beat me."

She looked back at him with a devious smile, but then looked away again, "I don't know whaaaaaat your talking about!" she said continued to pout, trying not to laugh, but eventually not able to help it anymore and busted out into a fit of laughter, then she ran up and gave him yet another hug.

Toshiro raised a brow to this, "You just saw me yesterday, you do remember that don't you?" he questioned silently as his squad members started to walk over with a bit of confusion.

Even though Toshiro had grown over the years Yoruichi had grown a just a little bit more then him, she was about five foot tall and he was four foot four inches, so most of the members thought it looked kind of funny watching a girl that looked about 16 to 17 hugging a 12 to 13 year old as if she 'liked' him; 'Hmmm, could they be..?' most of then thought.

"Wellllll, my dad retired his position as the Captain of the Second Division, Commander of the Onmitsukido, and the Head of the Shihoin Family...now it all more less falls onto my shoulders to take care of all those things, I haven't even started my Bankai training and...I guess I just needed some comfort." she said sounding pretty overwhelmed by her situation.

Toshiro glanced over to the approaching squad members, broke their hug and slightly narrowed his eyes on hers; "Why didn't you just go to Kisuke? He's been working on that device that is supposed to be able help develop Bankai." he questioned a little bitterly, while mentioning going to Kisuke.

Yoruichi looked at him slightly widened eyes, then her eye lids dropped halfway, along with her head, "I...I wanted to come to you." she said with an attempted smile.

Toshiro nodded, a bit ashamed at his cold manner towards her, he sighed deeply as he thought of his response; "Well, I suppose I could help you train for your bankai, but I don't know how else I can help with the rest of your problems." he said with a slight shrug.

She looked deep into his eyes and gave a light smile. "Thanks Toshiro! *looks up in thought* Oh I know! I just thought of another way you can help me out!" she said snapping her fingers as she got a 'brilliant' idea.

'Why do I get the feeling that it'll be something that I'll have to do most of the work for...again.' he thought to himself, inwardly rolling his eyes.

"How about you join the Onmitsukido and become the Second in Command? Or maybe we can arrange a duel Command for it! I'm sure I can work something out, I'll be the Commander soon, so I shouldn't have a problem getting you in...besides it'll make it much easier for me, so what do ya say?" she asked with large eyes, hands folded in front of her as if praying, and her bottom lip puffed out; it was the cutest look she could muster, and it was also something that she knew no one could say 'no' to...including Toshiro.

He just sighed looked over at his squad members again, which had come up to form a large half circle shape around them, he sighed again, looked back at Yoruichi and her cute 'kitty-cat' face; "Alright fine, just don't try dumping me with all of your work." he said sincerely but also firmly.

She immediately squealed and latched herself on him., "Yaaaaaay! Thank You Toshiro! Your The Best!"

Toshiro slowly sighed, and returned her hug, but then pried her off when he heard a few snickers from his squad members, but she kept her arms around his neck regardless; "Alright, I need to get back to my squad Yoruichi, I think you should go see Kisuke and tell him to get his experiment ready."

Yoruichi let go of him and smiled, "Ok, your still gonna come with me for my Bankai training right? After all you've already achieved yours." she asked with a slight pleading smile.

He just sighed at her once more, but nodded all the same, "Thank you again Toshiro, I'll see you later!" she said giving him a quick peck on his cheek before walking away.

She waved to him and disappeared with a shunpo, "Alright, sorry about that. Since I watched most of the session I'll make my assumptions and act accordingly, thank you for participating; your all dismissed." he said regaining his ice-like manner.

They all left the training grounds as quickly as possible, but as they did, Toshiro heard a few side conversations about what had transpired between himself and his friend; "Wow Lieutenant Shihoin really likes our Captain, he he, he really has it good." was the over all most common statement said.

At first Toshiro had glared at these people for such conclusions, but after they all looked away, he allowed a smirk to come up on his face.

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There's chapter eleven, hope you all enjoyed. Don't forget to R &R.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

-A few days later at Sokyoku Hill hidden training grounds-

"OH MY GOD! YOUR ZANPAKUTO IS BEAUTIFUL!" Kisuke said for about the fifth time to Yoruichi's zanpakuto.

Both Yoruichi and Toshiro, and even their zanpakuto's sighed and shook their heads in annoyance, Hyorinmaru had taken his human form, so he looked very similar to his master; brow raised, arms crossed, and serious face expression. If no one knew better, someone would probably mistake them for father and son or possibly older and younger brothers.

Yoruichi's zanpakuto was also standing much like her master; raised brow, arms crossed, and a wide smirk on her face; these two also looked like they could be related in some way, she looked like a slightly older and taller version of her master, only with an all black outfit that clung to her every curve and a long black coat that also clung to her curves. She was a very well endowed women, her hair was also a purple color just like Yoruichi's, only it was worn high in a pony tail, and her eyes were also the same as her master; her name is Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior), a very powerful zanpakuto with the ability to create a limitless amount of ninja stars made from her own shadow. Of course that was just her shikai's power, her bankai...is a bit of a different story.

"Can you please stop saying that? It is really becoming annoying." Toshiro said rubbing his temples.

Kagemusha looked over at Toshiro, smiled, then looked over at her master; "He he, I can see why you li-" "So how exactly does this whole thing work?" Yoruichi interrupted.

However her zanpakuto just smirked, "It actually depends on me...once you complete my test, then you will be able to use Bankai." Kagemusha said smirking wider.

"That's correct, I had decided to test Toshiro by fighting him in my dragon form...to prove that he was worthy to be a dragon himself." Hyorinmaru said in a strangely quiet yet strong, cold yet sincere voice.

They each turned from Hyorinmaru to Toshiro with slightly wide eyes; "You defeated Hyorinmaru?" "In his dragon form?" "But how?" they all questioned in unison.

Toshiro just looked at them and sighed deeply, "With difficulty." he responded simply.

"Now I really see why you li-" "So what's my test?" Yoruichi quickly questioned.

Kagemusha smiled at her and shook her head, "Well, your gonna have to fight me, but...in a minute." she then turned her attention to Hyorinmaru.

"I've got to meet my future husband." she said pretending to straighten out her hair and walking over to him.

Hyorinmaru raised a brow, glanced at his master who had the same look he did, 'Don't worry her master is the same way.' Toshiro said to him through his mind.

Hyorinmaru nodded and turned to Kagemusha, but she was gone. He briefly looked around before...she tackled him to the ground just like how Yoruichi had done to Toshiro so many times; "Ohhh My! You are one HOT ice dragon!" she said giggling much like her master.

Yoruichi slightly smiled at the sight; 'Is that what its gonna look like, when we're older?' she asked herself as she began to giggle at the thought.

"Kagemusha, I would appreciate it if you allowed me to stand back up, you have to help your master train for Bankai." Hyorinmaru said calmly.

As they all looked at the scene in front of them, both Yoruichi and Toshiro saw themselves in their zanpakuto, 'Wow, this feels way too weird...it really looks like looking into the future.' Toshiro thought shaking his head.

"Awwww, do I really have to? I would be more then willing to forget the training if you and I could go out somewhere for lunch." she asked happily.

Hyorinmaru just sighed, "I'm afraid that it is not a good time for something like that, your master needs to achieve Bankai as quickly as possible, so I'm afraid that her training must come first for now." he said slowly closing and reopening his eyes.

"Oh alright, 'for now' anyway." she said smiling deviously at him, then giving him a small kiss on his icy cold lips.

"But you owe me a date, ok?" she more or less demanded.

He raised a brow at her, then once again glanced at his master, whom sighed and shrugged, so Hyorinmaru just simply nodded at her, to which she smiled wider, got up, and walked to her master. "Alright, are you ready for this?" she asked, holding out her hand and her shadow suddenly materializing her sword into her hand.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Yoruichi said with a smirk, readying her own sword. They both nodded to each other, then leapt forward, clashed swords and the fight began.

-A month later, in the First Division-

"You have not only just started in this position Captain Shihoin, but you have also recently achieved Bankai. And yet you wish for Captain Hitsugaya to become part of the Onmitsukido, to be the other duel commander?" the Head Captain asked raising a brow and slightly opening his eyes.

Yoruichi nodded, "Well, yeah. I had spoke to Hitsugaya a while back and he said he would agree if it was allowed." she responded as the Head Captain sighed.

"Since you are now in command of the group, it is your choice of whom you wish to have serve...*Glances over at Toshiro*...or command with you, is that what you wish to do?" he asked.

Toshiro looked at Yoruichi then back at the older man and nodded, "Yes Head Captain, I believe it would not only benefit both squads, but I believe that I can benefit the Onmitsukido in many ways."

The Head Captain nodded again; "Very well, I will have the Second and Tenth Divisions joined together, and you will both have Command over the Onmitsukido, is that agreed?" they both nodded their agreement.

"Then you are both dismissed." he said, they both bowed then turned around, walked out, and were greeted by Kisuke just outside the doors.

"Hey guys, how'd it go?" he asked, Toshiro nodded with a slight smirk.

"So, you two are now the duel owners of the Onmitsukido, eh?" they looked at each other, Yoruichi smiled widely while Toshiro kept his slight smirk.

"Yep, and now that you've got two Captain friends, you'll be able to become a Captain in no time, after all...you've not only achieved Bankai, but your the head of the Onmitsukido's Third Division!" Yoruichi said cheerfully.

Kisuke smiled, waved his hand out in front of himself, "Oh your giving me too much credit, your too kind Yoruichi!" he said with his odd laugh.

Yoruichi smiled wider, "Oh please, besides, once we're all Captains then we'll finally have reached our goal." they each nodded and smiled...in their own way.

"Well we better inform our squads of the changes we're going to make." Toshiro said.

Yoruichi turned to him and nodded with a smile, "Yeah I guess so, see you later right?" she asked Toshiro, he nodded as well and then he turned towards the Tenth Division, while Yoruichi and Kisuke went to the Second.

They each had their own way of telling their squad members the news. Yoruichi: "Hey guys we're going to be joining together with the Tenth, for the dual Command of the Onmitsukido, congratulations, now you'll have another great Captain to take orders from."

Toshiro: "Listen up, the Tenth Division is going to be combined with the Second for the dual Command of the Onmitsukido, that means that you will also be taking orders from Captain Yoruichi Shihoin, is that understood?"

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Hope you all like the thought of Toshiro being in the Onmitsukido, I thought it would be a good idea if he was not only a zanjutsu master like in the show, but a hukuda master as well, like Yoruichi and Soifon are. Sorry if this chapter is a bit short. Please comment and review.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

-A few days later inside the Second Division-

"Just wait till you meet her Toshiro, she's a really good fighter, she even stood her ground against me...a little bit. But still, she'll be a great contribution!" Yoruichi exclaimed as she sat in her Commander's chair.

Toshiro just stood off to the left of her and sighed; "I trust your judgment Yoruichi...its just when it comes to doing your actual work that I'm not so sure about." he said with a slight smirk.

Yoruichi smiled and giggled a bit; "Oh come on Toshiro, your soo mean! I do my share of work." she claimed, but didn't sound very convincing to anyone.

"Tch, yeah...just not the paperwork side." he said back widening his smirk.

She was about to say something about his comment but was interrupted when a small raven haired girl walked up and kneeled in the doorway; "Soifon reporting, Your Excellency Madam Commander and Sir Commander Hitsugaya!"

Yoruichi and Toshiro looked at the extraordinarily formal girl; "Oh, your here. Have they explained everything?" Yoruichi asked tilting her head to the side in question.

"Yes, I, Soifon will give my mind and my body to protect Your Excellency and Sir-" "Don't be so formal." Yoruichi interrupted, causing Soifon to look up at her in slight shock.

"Quit that 'Your Excellency.' You can can address me more familiarly. Like just 'Yoruichi-san' or something." she said leaning back in her chair.

"I-I dare not think it! Speaking so..to Your Excellency would..." she spoke in utter shock, but when she saw Yoruichi frown a little sadly, she decided to restart her sentence.

"W-Well then, may I call you Yoruichi-sama?" Soifon asked with nervousness in her voice.

"Phew, you sure are a stuffed shirt. Well fine, call me what you like. I called you here because I recognized your strength. What you call me doesn't matter. I'm expecting good things from you, Soifon." Yoruichi said throwing her head back, then looking right at her with a smile.

"Yes, ma'am!" the black haired girl said leaning up on her knees and smiled.

But when Soifon turned to Hitsugaya, she instantly lowered her head back to the ground; "I hope that I may earn your respect as well...Sir Commander Hitsugaya!"

Yoruichi turned to said icy Captain and smiled; "You don't have to be so formal with him either, just call him Captain Hitsugaya or something. Toshiro might let you call him by his first name eventually too."

Soifon barely looked back up at them before lowering it once again; "As long as Sir Commander wishes it as well!"

Toshiro just sighed and began walking over towards her, which frightened Soifon out of her wits. If it wasn't for the fact that Yoruichi was present, she would have thought for sure that he was going to kill her. So she was not prepared for when he stopped right in front of her, knelt down, grabbed her right hand with his own ice covered one and helped her to her feet; "That would be fine, I don't mind." he said still rather coldly, letting her hand go of her hand and walking out of the room.

Soifon was caught in complete shock and was blushing fiercely; "Th-Th-Th-Th-Thank...y-you, Captain Hitsu..gaya." she studdered out just before he disappeared around the corner.

"Tch, you always have a way with women...don't you Toshiro." Yoruichi whispered to herself and giggling all the while.

"Yoruichi-sama, I have a question...regarding Sir Comman-I mean Captain Hitsugaya." Soifon spoke up after she found her voice once more.

"I figured as much. So what is it?" Yoruichi asked stifling a giggle, but allowing herself to smile.

"Please do not take this question offensive to him in any manner shape or form, I completely respect him as a man, Captain, and Commander, but...how old is he?"

The moment those words left her lips, Yoruichi began laughing hysterically, Soifon on the other hand was blushing even more and looking around frantically as if Hitsugaya would come back any second. "Y-Yoruichi-sama...I-I didn't mean to make it sound like a joke." Soifon said waving her hands in front of herself frantically.

"Oh, I know! Don't worry a lot of people have asked me questions about him and his age. But in fact he's the same age as me!" Yoruichi said pointing to herself with her thumb after she had stopped her fit of laughter.

"H-He is?" Soifon asked in almost disbelief.

"Yep! And don't worry about it, he's gotten used to people asking him that question as well. He doesn't take it personally." Yoruichi said with a reassuring smile.

The black haired girl lightly smiled and nodded; "Alright, but I still meant no offense to him at all."

Yoruichi smiled wider and gestured her to come closer, and as Soifon came up to the chair, Yoruichi leaned in close to her ear; "Don't worry he has that effect on everyone...especially the girls."

Soifon became wide eyed and began blushing once more; "But...I...he...I was just...I-" "Don't even sweet it, cause just between you and me...*Looks around the room*...me too." Yoruichi interrupted.

"Huh?" was all Soifon managed to say as she stared at her commander in disbelief.

"Oh, nothing." was her response before she began giggling and leaning back in her seat; "Well, since its your first day here...how about you just take the time to make yourself at home." she continued with a smile.

The younger girl nodded and bowed; "Thank you Your Excellen-I mean...Yoruichi-sama." Soifon said before getting up and leaving.

* * *

I know that this is a very short chapter, but this was all I really wanted for this one. I'll try and make it up to you for one of the later chapters. And Toshiro wasn't flirting with her, he was just trying to encourage her so she wouldn't be so nervous around him...but they will kind of have a bit of a relationship later on in this story, but it all started here lol. Please comment and review. :)


	14. Chapter 14

I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed again, and the people that have favored this story. I appreciate all the support.

* * *

**Chapter14:**

-Five years later, just outside the Seireitei-

"Our mission is going be over in the forests of Rukongai, there have been reports of about 30 to 40 deserters out in that area, we're going to go...take care of them." Yoruichi said as she and Toshiro stood in front of the Onmitsukido and their own squad members behind each other.

Toshiro looked over at her, nodded, then looked back at everyone else with a very serious expression, "Alright, we're going to split up into five teams; Team 1: will be Captain Shihoin and I, we will be engaging the enemy head on, Team 2: will be squad 1, you will bring up the rear, to close them into a pincer, Team 3: will be squad 6, you will be coming from the left, but hanging back just to make sure that no one escapes, Team 4: will be squad 9, you will be coming form the right but also hanging back, and Team 5: will be squad 11, you will surround the area to be double sure no one gets away; while the rest of you will stay here." he explained loudly.

"Yes sir!" they all said in unison.

Toshiro nodded, briefly closed his eyes, opened them back up again and said; "Now, Move out!" he commanded, and they all went running to their correct positions.

"You really are a good Captain, Toshiro." Yoruichi said happily giving him a pat on the back.

He gave her a light smirked, "You ready, Yoruichi?" he asked, she nodded and they both shunpoed away towards there destination.

They arrived within moments, Toshiro looked around and noticed that everyone was in their positions, 'As long as we can just take care of them quickly, there won't even be a need for them to interfere.' he thought as he and Yoruichi came up to the entrance of the building.

And just as Toshiro had hoped, he and Yoruichi took care of all 35 of them within seconds, they were all relatively weak ex-shinigami and didn't put up much of a fight against two Captain level. As Toshiro walked out he asked some of the squad members if they had seen anyone leave besides them, and they each responded with a "No sir!"

Yoruichi came up behind him, patted him on the back again and smiled widely, "Good job Toshiro, I think we were born for this." she said.

He lightly smirked at her remark, "Thanks but I think that you might of got one more then I did."

She giggled lightly at him, "Well if I did, that's a record for most, I usually I get almost all of them!"

"Well I did have a good teacher for hakuda." he said with a smirk.

Yoruichi smiled back at him, "Lets head back." he suggested with closed eyes, she nodded, "Yeah mission accomplished, lets go."

On the way back to the Seireitei Toshiro suddenly stopped walking and turned to a small hut off to his left, Yoruichi stopped as well and followed his gaze; "What is it Toshiro?" she asked looking back at him.

"Nothing..." he said shaking his head, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up in a second." Toshiro continued glancing over at her with a confident look, assuring her that it was alright.

"Ok, just hurry up." she said with a light smile before disappearing in a shunpo.

Toshiro turned back to the hut and started making his way to the entrance, he knocked on the door lightly and waited for a response; "Is anyone there?" he asked as he listened closely for any hint of movement from inside.

"G-Gin? Is that you?" a somewhat small female voice spoke up from beyond the door, "No, my name is Toshiro Hitsugaya." he responded as the door slowly slid open.

"T-Toshiro?" a strawberry blonde haired girl asked as she opened the door and looked at the young captain with a raised brow.

"Yeah, I'm a shinigami, Captain of the Tenth Division, what about you? What's your name?" he asked trying not to look at her with his normal icy stare.

She was about to respond, but when she looked at the ice covering his neck, hands, and feet; she backed away in fear. "Don't worry I'm not here to hurt you...I just want to know who you are." Toshiro said with a slight smirk.

She walked forward again and looked him over once more; "Rangiku, Rangiku Matsumoto." she said quietly and sounding rather shy.

Toshiro nodded and smirked wider, "It's nice to meet you Rangiku Matsumoto, are you here living by yourself?" he asked looking inside the hut, but already knew that no one else was around just by searching for spiritual energy.

"You look a lot like my friend Gin...he lives here with me, but...he comes and goes." Rangiku said sadly lowering her eyes; "Do you know where he goes?" Toshiro asked, beginning to feel bad for this girl that he has just met.

She looked back up into his eyes, "You both have the same color hair, just differently designed...I think yours is kinda cute. Even your eyes are a bit similar, both of you seem much older then you look, but yours look even older then his and they seem even prettier too." she said to the young captain that looked not much older then her.

"I am much older then I look, it's because of the amount of spirit energy I possess. You seem to have some yourself, how do you feel about possibly becoming a shinigami?" he asked with a slight blush rising on his cheeks from her words.

"A..shinigami? I..I don't know." Rangiku responded with a sad shrug.

Toshiro nodded a bit, "You don't need to make your decision now, just know that its always an option." he said with a rare smile as he turned his body away, but kept his eyes on her.

Rangiku felt like she almost melted from the inside out at that smile, she looked into his eyes and smiled back at him; "Thank you, Toshiro. I hope I'll see you again." she said smiling even wider.

"I'm sure you will...see around." Toshiro said as he turned away, but took one last glance at her and waved, to which she waved back happily. And for the first time in quite a while...she smiled for the rest of that whole day without any tears at all.

-Two months later-

"Soifon, job well done...its exactly as you described!" Yoruichi said as she and Kisuke read through Soifon's notes.

Soifon nodded happily; "Right." but then she went from a grin to an embarrassed scowl.

"I can feel your passion overflowing from this love letter!" she laughed.

Soifon started blushing, "As I've said, I don't like-!" but she was cut off by Yoruichi's uncontrolled laughter.

"Fine, whatever; don't be such a stiff Soifon, loosen up! Geez your as bad as Toshiro!" she said smiling as a member of the Detention Unit suddenly appeared.

"Excuse me, Unit Captain!" he called out.

Kisuke looked over to the man, "Did you find them?" he asked suddenly quite serious.

"Yes!" was the man's response.

Yoruichi stood up; "What is this about?" she questioned, Kisuke turned around and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, they've found the people I've been searching for." he said about ready to leave.

"Would you mind going on without me?" he asked over his shoulder.

Yoruichi nodded; "I've got to." she said with a sigh, then followed up with, "I guess I'll go ahead to the testing grounds and set everything up."

Kisuke nodded, "Alright."

But then Soifon spoke up; "Yoruichi-sama, please wait a moment!" catching both of their attention.

"If he doesn't come back in time for the test, he'll soil not only the Second Squad's name, but yours as well Yoruichi-sama!" she said with a demanding voice.

But Kisuke spoke up, returning to his care free attitude; "Oh it'll be okay!" he said with a smile.

Soifon turned to him, "Do you think I can trust you?" she practically yelled.

Then Yoruichi intervened; "Kisuke, leave immediately." and with that he disappeared.

"Wait!" Soifon shouted but was too late, she turned to her commander; "Yoruichi-sama?" she questioned trying to understand what she was thinking.

"Come on Soifon, begin preparing." she said leaving the room.

But Soifon decided to follow Kisuke which made Yoruichi start laughing again; "Wow, I only half-way guessed that she'd do that." someone said off to the side.

Yoruichi didn't even turn around, she knew who it was, "Yeah, I almost didn't think she would, but then again she is really determined to get him kicked out, huh Toshiro." she started laughing again.

"Yeah, so Kisuke is finally going in for the exam, its about time. _Our_ Captaincy was only about a month apart." he said crossing his arms.

She nodded, "It seems like its taken forever though, but in reality it really didn't take any of us too long to get to this point." she said proudly.

Toshiro nodded, "True. Normally...it would take close to a hundred years to reach what we accomplished within ten." he said nodding in agreement.

"You have an amazing talent for this...you know that?" she said turning to him with a playful smile.

He just raised a brow at her; "Talent for what?" he asked.

She smiled wider; "Stealth and assassinations, I never realized you were there until you said something, I couldn't sense you at all." she said walking over to him.

"Well being taught by many of the Onmitsukido members and yourself, I would think I would become some sort of expert...but guess I do have a bit of talent for it." he said sounding slightly proud of himself.

When Yoruichi came within a few feet of him, she smiled even further and poked him in the chest, "Yeah, and I'm sure its not the only thing you've got a talent for...eh?" she asked seductively, but he just raised a brow, glanced away and growled quietly in irritation; making her start giggling.

* * *

Hope you guys liked it, and the fact that I reversed the roles for Toshiro and Rangiku. I thought it was kind of clever to have Toshiro convincing her to join the academy, it'll also add to their relationship in the future, after all its because they met each other so many years previous that they are able to get along so well...or at least it contributes to it. And btw, keep some of these time skips in mind, there'll be references to some of them later on in the story. Anyway, hope you enjoyed...please comment and review.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

-A few days later in the Second Division-

"Kisuke?" Yoruichi asked inquisitively at one of the many Onmitsukido members whom was kneeling before her.

"Yes, he claimed he had already gotten permission from you, Yoruichi-sama." he said nodding.

"Hmm, what was it about again?" she asked stirring her drink around with a large spoon, not entirely interested in the subject.

"What shall we do? Should I ask him to leave if you don't remember giving him permission?" he asked slightly looking up at her.

"No, it's okay. Let him go wherever he wants." she said with a slight shrug, making a little bit of her drink fly off the spoon.

"Do you remember now?" the man asked now fully looking up at her, as she began chugging her drink down.

"Nope." she claimed looking into her cup to make sure she drank it all.

"Yoruichi-sama!" Soifon spoke up with a bit of a frantic voice.

"What is it Soifon? Your being kind of annoying ya know." Yoruichi said in a bit of a sigh.

"But..." Soifon started, but never finished.

"Don't worry. It's Kisuke! I'm sure he's got some sort of plan." she said as if knowing what he was up to.

Just a few feet away from where Yoruichi was sitting, Toshiro stood staring out the window; "Yeah...like usual." he mumbled as he suddenly disappeared with a shunpo.

Yoruichi heard this and looked over just as he vanished, "Look out Kisuke. Toshiro's on your trail." she whispered to her self with a smirk.

-Out in the Second Division grounds-

"Weren't we going ta some place called the Maggot's Nest? We're on the Second Division's grounds!" Hiyori yelled in annoyance.

"You already know about the Onmitsukido?" Kisuke asked in a rather serious tone, but not bothering to turn to her.

"Onmitsukido? 'Course I do, they're your older division stupid! You trying to change the subject?" she demanded hardening her gaze on him as they continued walking.

"Onmitsukido; its a completely separate organization from the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. As shinigami, the four Noble Houses hold unimaginable power, and the head of the Shihoin family has always inherited the position of Onmitsukido Commander, except only recently...a second but equal commander has been appointed. I assume you know who that is?" Kisuke continued glancing back at her.

"Yeah...Captain Hitsugaya." she responded with a little nervousness in her voice.

"Correct, and should the commander also become a captain in the Thirteen Protection Squads, the two organizations become an incredibly powerful combined entity." he said looking up at the sky in deep thought.

Then he was brought out of it by; "So? What's that mean?" Hiyori asked now rather interested in their conversation.

"The current Commanders, Yoruichi and Hitsugaya; are also captains of the second and tenth, so in other words, the Onmitsukido essentially reports only to either the second or the tenth. Though it is divided into five different divisions they both command each with equal power over the other, I was the chief of the Third Division, the detention unit." he said with a light smirk as he remembered the old days.

"You're a jailer." she said raising a brow as if it was no big deal.

"No, I'm a baby-sitter. My main job is to take people who have committed crimes in Seireitei, throw them in prison and watch over them." he explained widening his smirk to a smile.

"So you're a jailer." she pushed with slight annoyance.

"I'm a baby-sitter." Kisuke shrugged.

"They're the same! All ya do is strut around in front of the criminals, right?" Hiyori asked but not entirely interested in an answer.

"The detention unit has one special type of criminal we watch over." Kisuke said as he stopped walking and suddenly becoming very serious.

"Huh? Special detention?" she asked quite confused about his statement.

"Those who have joined the Court Guard Squads, but are thrown in detention after an investigation determines they might injure other shinigami because of their ideals or through their actions. Or if they have a high probability of interfering with their squads mission." Kisuke explained further.

"I don't get it! You're talking too much! Keep it simple, stupid!" she said to him in even more annoyance then before, but still held some interest of what he was talking about.

"In other words, the job entails capturing people dangerous to the Court Guard Squads and throwing them in detention. That facility is located on the Second Division's grounds, it's to the Northwest of their area, beyond a thirty meter long moat." he said as they came up to a long bridge that led to a small building.

"An underground detention spire, also called the Maggots Nest." he continued as they neared the entrance which had two members of the Onmitsukido in front of it.

"Only one other person has ever set foot in here that was from an entirely different division, I assume you know who that someone could be...right?" he asked glancing over at her with a smirk.

"C-Captain Hitsugaya." she said again as a certain icy shinigami came to mind once more, which seemed to fill her with fear and dread.

Kisuke noticed this and waved his hand in front of himself, "Oh come come now, he isn't all that scary is he?" he asked as if he was just talking about the weather.

She looked at him with a raised brow and shook her head, "I never said I was scared...I just respect him more then some of the others is all." she claimed looking away in slight embarrassment.

-Twenty feet away-

"Tch, what are you taking her _there _for?" Toshiro asked himself as he stood on a high up branch with his arms crossed.

"Not sure, but I'm sure he has a good reason." a sudden voice said behind him, but it never seemed faze him at all.

"Probably...so why'd you follow me here for?" he asked turning to the source of the other voice.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me to go see a friend?" Toshiro raised a brow, took one last glance at Kisuke and Hiyori as they entered the Maggots Nest, then nodded his head.

-Kuchiki Manor-

"Impressive, impressive; you're working hard, Byakuya." Ginrei said to a young looking Byakuya as he swung a wooden sword up and down for his practice.

Byakuya stopped for a moment, turned to face his grandfather, wiped some gathering sweat off his chin and smiled. "Grandfather, I see you're visiting the manor. Will you be staying here today instead of with your squad?" he asked walking up to the older man.

"Yes." he responded with a nod.

"That's great! It's been a while since we talked last, so I'm very happy your here." Byakuya said with a wider smile.

Ginrei nodded, "By the way Byakuya, could you finish up today's training? You've got guests." he said.

"Guests?" Byakuya asked with a questionable look just before he got his answer by something soft bumping into his head.

His look went from a questionable one to an annoyed one in a tenth of a second, "It's you! You damn were-cat!" he swore as he swung his wooden sword at the offender, but they had already back flipped away and laughed at him as they did so.

"Calling me were-cat's not a very nice greeting, Lil Byakuya! And here I came to play with you!" Yoruichi answered as she landed next to Toshiro, whom had his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Silence! When did I ask you to come and 'play'? Besides, I'm the next head of the Kuchiki family, I don't need to play!" he yelled narrowing his eyes on her.

"Really?" she asked before shunpoing just off to his right side and took the red band that held his hair up in its pony tail.

"Bitch!" he screamed as he once again swung his sword at her, but to no avail.

"I fear for the future of the Kuchiki family if a little girl can steal your hair band while just playing!" Yoruichi called out laughing and waving at him from one of the nearby roof tops.

"Don't you dare move, Yoruichi Shihoin! Or I'll use my shunpo to-" he started with an extremely annoyed voice.

"Byakuya Kuchiki! You've lost!" she cut him off and suddenly shunpoing away.

"I see, so you really want to tick me off." he started as his right eye began twitching; "Very well then, I will have to show you...that my shunpo surpassed yours a long time ago!" he called out angrily as he too disappeared with a shunpo.

"My, my; Byakuya would improve greatly if he didn't get worked up so easily." Ginrei said looking in the direction the two went.

"Yeah, I think he would excel quite far." Toshiro said in agreement as he walked over to the older man.

"How have you been Hitsugaya?" he asked now turning to the younger captain.

"Quite well...yourself?" Toshiro said with a slight shrug.

"I am doing fine, but I do have a request to make of you." Ginrei said with a quick glance at the direction his grandson and Yoruichi went; "I was wondering if you would be will to help him out with his training when he joins the Court Guard Squads."

Toshiro stared at him for a few moments with narrowed eyes, "I suppose I could...but why are you asking me as if you won't be here for it?" he asked somewhat suspiciously.

"No reason, I just wish to make sure that he will be in good hands." the old man said closing his eyes and turning his head away.

"Get back here Yoruichi!" Byakuya screamed as said woman appeared right in front of her fellow captains and hid behind Toshiro.

Then as Byakuya came up to them he froze when he saw Toshiro standing in his way; "C-Captain..Hitsugaya.." he stuttered out.

"Yes?" Toshiro asked the eye level Byakuya.

"N-Nothing...sorry for interrupting your talk with my grandfather." he said with a slight bow.

Toshiro raised his brow for a moment and sighed; "Your fine." he said turning to Yoruichi and taking the hair tie from her grasp and handing it over to the young black haired child, "Here you are."

"Tha..Thank you Captain." Byakuya said taking the hair tie and giving another slight bow.

"Now then, let's go drink some tea." Ginrei spoke up with a gesture for everyone to move inside.

"Alright." everyone responded in unison.

As they walked inside, Yoruichi put her hand on Toshiro's shoulder and made him wait for a few extra seconds; "You know you were supposed to protect me from him getting his hair tie back." she whispered to him with a smile on her face.

"Tch, like you really needed it." he said rolling his eyes, to which she grabbed his arm, hugged it into her chest and giggled at him as they walked inside.

-Thirteenth Division-

"Thank you." Ukitake said smiling to one of the female division members that brought him a cup of tea, to which she blushed and walked away with a slight bow.

"That smile of yours is as devastating as ever." Kaien Shiba said as he picked up his cup and blew on it, making steam flow into the air and disappear.

"So?" Ukitake asked with his strangely gentle tone.

"I'll say it again, I'm not gonna become your Lieutenant." he said taking a sip of his drink.

"Don't say it again, you'll just make me feel worse." Ukitake said looking down and sounding rather depressed.

"There's plenty of other people who are already at captain level." Kaien said with a slight shrug.

"Putting duty first? Well, I suppose that's like you. By the way, have you heard?" the white haired man asked looking back up at the younger man.

"About what?" he asked raising a brow and tilting his head slightly in question.

"Another genius, other then yourself, joined us this year." Jushiro said with a smile.

"I'm not a genius, if anyone's a genius...it would be Captain Hitsugaya, he became a Captain no more then five years after I met him." Kaien said as he thought back to their first meeting.

"True, he definitely is a genius, but you also graduated early so you too are one; though this new kid did the same as Hitsugaya...he graduated within one year." Ukitake said a little surprised at his own words.

"Really? That's amazing! Looks like Captain Hitsugaya might get a little competition...in another three hundred years, if he happens to slack of during that time." he said laughing at his own joke.

Ukitake laughed as well and nodded his agreement, "Perhaps, but if I remember correctly, this newbie is about as old as Hitsugaya was when he joined as well. They also set up a seat for him when he joined his squad."

"Well, looks like another Hitsugaya! I see my position as Lieutenant flying farther and farther away!" Kaien exclaimed rather gladly.

"You don't have to sound so happy about it." Jushiro said once again looking down.

"So, who got their hands on this new guy?" he asked raising a brow in question.

"I believe...it was the fifth squad." was the white haired captain's reply.

* * *

How was that? And if you noticed that most of the dialogue was exactly what they say in the show, it is because I wanted to be as close to the show as possible...I actually took notes of it so I wouldn't have to remember, but I still changed quite a bit of it around so it won't be entirely the same. I hope you all enjoyed...please review.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

-Five years later in the Tenth Division office-

A knock came at the door, "Captain Hitsugaya?" someone said from the other side, "Come in." Toshiro said with little interest, the door slid open to reveal his seventh seat kneeling at the opening and bowing his head.

"What is it?" Toshiro asked looking at him with a annoyed glare; "My apologies Captain...I was just told that our newest recruits are here, do you wish for them to be tested?" he asked.

Hitsugaya sighed and stood up from his seat, "I suppose a test should be in order...I should probably conduct it myself, just so then there's no mistakes." he said walking out the door.

"Yes, Sir!" his subordinate said before following his captain outside.

"So what do 'you' think of the new recruits?" Hitsugaya asked as if it was a normal question, but his most of his subordinates knew better; if Captain Hitsugaya asks you a question it's always a test to see if your answer is up to his expectations.

"I believe that a few may be qualified for a seated position, but most of them are far from ready." he replied with as much confidence as possible, Toshiro merely nodded as the new recruits came into view.

-With the recruits-

"Man this sucks...why do we have to wait for the 'Captain' to get here...its not like Captains necessarily care about new recruits anyway!" one of the male members said as most of them nodded in agreement.

"Tch, like you know what it's like to be a captain." a familiar strawberry-blonde haired teenage girl, whom was only two inches taller then Hitsugaya himself said as she crossed her arms over her already large chest.

"Well I would if they noticed talent when they see it. And just to punish you I hope that this Toshiro Hitsugaya is a perverted old man!" he said pointing at her, but then began smirking, making her feel very uncomfortable.

"But I'll be willing to protect you if you go out on a-" but he was cut off by Rangiku putting a hand out in front of her, "As, if!" she said with her own smirk.

He looked at her with a slight glare, "Ha, well when I become the Lieutenant of this Division, I'll let you come to me for the chance to become a seated officer!" he said laughing at his own witt.

"Ha, you..a..lieutenant? What a laugh!" she countered also laughing, but the man just smirked; "You'll see, I have the talent, power and skill. And when I do...I'll be waiting!" he said smiling wider.

"Should I come by some other time?" a cold voice suddenly said off to the side, everyone looked to see Toshiro standing there with crossed arms, and an icy glare on his face.

They all stood there shocked, until..."HA HA HA HA HA!" the man started laughing and everyone looked to him; "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS, HA HA HA HA HAAAA!" he continued as he bent over with his hands around his waist, from laughing so hard.

"THERE IS NOOO WAY THAT A LITTLE SHRIMP LIKE HIM!...HA HA HA HA!...COULD BE A..A..A...CAPTAIN! HA HA HA HA HA!"

They all looked from the man to their Captain multiple times, but Toshiro did nothing except for hold his glare, then as the man began to calm down, Toshiro decided to speak up; "Are you finished yet?" he said abnormally calm.

Everyone including the laughing man went completely wide eyed, "H-Huh?" the man asked really surprised, Toshiro merely sighed; "I want to know if your done, so I can see who of you are truly worthy of the Lieutenants position." he said, still far too calm.

The man blinked a few times, then smirked, "Ha, I have more qualifications then any of them, you should just give it to me now, ha ha!" he said with an even bigger smirk on his face.

"Is that so?" Toshiro asked, forming his own smirk. The man raised a brow, opened his mouth to speak but he suddenly had an ice covered hand right in his face, and as if in slow motion, Toshiro threw the man over a hundred feet away with just a mere flick of his wrist.

All the recruits gasped, and just as the man was about to hit the ground he was caught by one of the Onmitsukido members. They all looked from him to Toshiro with widened eyes; "If you had any of the qualifications...you wouldn't be way over there right now...now would you?" Toshiro asked with as much ice in his voice as possible.

Then he turned back to face the rest of the new recruits; "My name is Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, I will be your Captain until a time that you move on to another division. But right now I am going to test each of you." he said looking from one to another, then he took a quick glance over his shoulder.

"And don't worry...your tests won't be like his." he said pointing his thumb/claw behind him.

Some of them slightly giggled or chuckled, but others were too afraid to do anything at the moment, then Toshiro started walking towards the training grounds twenty yards away; "I will test all of you in: Strength, Endurance, Speed, and Spirit Energy; so I want each of you to show me your power to its fullest, otherwise...you'll end up just like him." he said continuing on.

All of them glanced back at the man being carried away, then back to there destination, and quickly caught up to their captain with nervousness. None of them even thought about speaking until; "So in what way will you administrate these tests to us?" Rangiku asked as she walked along side Toshiro.

Toshiro had to look up at her, but not much, being only two inches shorter then her, but he raised a brow at her as he remembered who she was; 'Hmph, talk about odd coincidence.' he thought with a slight smirk.

"You will find out soon enough." he said as they finally arrived at the training grounds.

Matsumoto looked slightly disappointed at his non-answer, 'He he, I may not have known him very well back then, but he doesn't seem to be any different then what I imagined. I think I might like this guy as a Captain. He looks much cuter then any of the others, and even though he seems pretty cold towards most people...I bet that deep down...he's nothing but a big softy.' she thought smiling to herself.

"Alright, each of you pair up with someone of similar strength and begin sparring, I will be watching each of you, carefully." Toshiro said sending each of them a glare, then turned around and walked to his 'observation' spot.

It took close to three minutes for almost everyone to get paired up, but a problem arose when two men were trying to get Rangiku as their partner; "No way! She can't be your partner! Your way too weak!" one said.

"Ha, that's a laugh when you were the one who lost to Genso...you remember him right? The one that the Captain just sent flying!" the other said throwing his arm off to one side, to gesture how fast it had happened.

Toshiro sighed and walked over, "Is there a problem over here?" he asked giving each of the immature men an icy glare, to which they both looked wide eyed at him and shook their heads vigorously.

"N-no s-sir, w-we were just making a decision of who should be Rangiku's partner...she's one of the strongest new recruits among us, so we-!" but he was cut off by Toshiro raising a hand.

"If it is truly that much of a problem then you two will be partners and I will choose someone from my squad to be her partner...is that acceptable?" he said more as statement then a question, making them nod frantically in agreement.

"Very well then, begin your spar." he said now turning to Matsumoto, "I will find someone for you to spar with." he said starting to walk away; "Wait!" she spoke up, regaining his attention.

"Why don't 'you' be my sparing partner?" she said with a slight smile, Toshiro merely raised a brow; "I don't think that 'I' should be your partner, I'm the Captain...and would be inappropriate for me to spar with a recruit, a female one at that." he said a little less cold then he normally would have.

She noticed this and shrugged, "Don't worry about me, you just have to be on the defense in order to test me...right?" she said smiling even wider.

Toshiro sighed in defeat, she did have a point after all; "Fine, I'll be your partner for now, it'll give me an idea of how strong the strongest is." he said closing his eyes.

Rangiku clapped her hands together and giggled; "Oh Captain your so sweet! Besides...I wouldn't want anyone else to be _my _partner!" she exclaimed giggling even more.

Toshiro opened his eyes and raised a brow, "Whatever, lets just see what you can do." he said sighing once again, and moved his feet apart and turned his body to the side but kept his arms and hands down his sides.

Rangiku nodded at him, drew her zanpakuto, and readied it in front of her, "Alright then...lets do this!" she said before jumping at him sword at the ready, Toshiro just closed his eyes, shunpoed out of the way, and appeared to her right.

"Don't be so eager to take the fight to your opponent...you should take it slow, and observe them before engaging, even if its just a spar." he said as she looked over at him in slight surprise.

"Now...try again." he said moving back in front of her, she nodded and gazed at him for a good long while with her eyes narrowed.

"Why do you leave yourself so open?" she asked as she raised a brow.

"I do it so my opponent will be willing to make the first move...of course I highly discourage many from doing so." he said finally opening his eyes.

She nodded, "Yeah, I don't think I'm entirely ready for that yet!" she said with a slight smirk.

"Well, you do have potential, but it will take some time for you to get to that point, so until then...go ahead and show me what you've got." he said giving her a nod and gesturing her with his hand to continue.

She nodded back and leaped forward once again, she swung her sword horizontally at him, to which he blocked with one of his fingers/claws, surprising her even more; 'Incredible!...He stopped it with just a finger!...Or claw...or whatever he calls them!' she thought slightly wide eyed.

"Don't be surprised, eventually...you'll be able to do that too." he said looking up at her, she smiled and swung at him again, but just like before he stopped it with a finger.

Over and over again she tried to get him, yet every single time he would stop it like it was nothing, and as she continued to swing, she began to tire out and pant heavily; 'Wow I'm already tired out...he he, and he hasn't even broken a sweat, I guess captains really are as tough as they say, and there's no doubt that _he _is definitely one. Plus he's been one since we first met so that just makes him even more powerful. Wait! He's still a man right! He he he.' she thought deviously, as a large smile appeared on her face.

Toshiro raised a brow to her sudden change of mood but just shrugged it off, then...she lowered her sword, which caused Toshiro to raise his brow even higher; 'Why is she lowering her guard? She was actually doing fairly well, has she given up?' he questioned himself.

But then Rangiku slowly started walking over towards him, and as she did, she deliberately swayed her hips more then normal. Now Toshiro was caught in a bit of a shocked state, but instantly knew what she was going to do. 'She's gonna be just like Yoruichi, I know it.' he thought slightly rolling his eyes.

"Sooo Captain, would you like to see _one_ of my best fighting moves?" she asked seductively, he merely sighed deeply and prepared himself for what she was about to do.

"If it actually has something to do with fighting then yes, but if not then no." he said firmly, though not as much as he would have liked, but still hoping that she would take the hint.

But despite noticing this, she focused more on the fact that his voice wasn't as forceful as it had been before, so she just continued to move closer; "Oh don't worry, it does have a slight connection to fighting...but you'll only find out at the end." she claimed, smiling deviously as she moved even closer to him.

Then when she was within two feet of him she jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist which ended up knocking him over onto his back. She giggled when she noticed he didn't resist any of her actions and brought her sword up to make a pin. But before she could do anything further, she was suddenly lifted off the ground, pushed onto her back and before she knew it, Toshiro was kneeling over her with his blade six inches above her neck.

She was wide eyed, 'Holy shit! He really is good! I guess he really isn't like other guys. He he, now I know for sure that he's not a pervert!' she thought giggling and smiling up at him.

"I guess you saw right thought that one...huh?" she asked sheepishly, Toshiro closed his eyes, lightly smirked, and got back to his feet.

"Yeah well...your not the first to try and pull that one on me." he said opening his eyes and smirking a bit wider.

Rangiku giggled a bit more and was about to get up when she noticed Toshiro was holding out his hand for her, she smiled wider, took his hand, and he helped her back to her feet. "And did she have any better luck?" Rangiku asked still smiling widely.

He looked up at her; "No, in fact it was the exact same outcome."

She giggled once again, "Oh Captain, your such the ladies man!" she laughed, which made him slightly glare at her.

But then he raised a brow, and his light smirk reappeared; "I'm not entirely sure about that." he sighed, but she smiled at him, "Oh trust me, you are defiantly a charmer!" she said with another laugh.

* * *

Alright, that's how their first day in the same squad went. XD

And btw, this was not the second time they met, its the third. You'll find out when their second time meeting was and what happened later on in the story.

I don't have any right now, but I'll be holding a few polls for this story. I'll let you all know when I post one, so just make sure to check them out. :)

Hope you all liked this, remember to R&R. Come on...you know you wanna. XD


	17. Chapter 17

Before I begin, I'd like to give another thanks to all my reviewers; Tuliharja (of course), my Unnamed reviewer, Sylus D Wolfe (thanks for the extra ideas), 10th Squad 3rd Seat, hitsugaya80, drinker (who ever you may be, and the chapters are getting a bit longer), and last but not least Melina Hites. Thanks to all of you.

Ok that's enough of the sappiness, on with the story...

* * *

**Chapter 17:**

-One year later-

"Do you really think that I deserve the Fifth Seat?" Rangiku asked Toshiro, whom was sitting at his desk; he looked over at her and nodded.

"But the highest ranking officer besides you...is the Seventh Seat, that would make me the next highest officer, I've only been here for about a year, are you really sure about this?" she continued with slightly wide eyes, still not entirely believing that he was promoting her so fast.

"I know this, and I have come to the conclusion that you have surpassed all of my previous officers, and therefore should be promoted to the position that fits your talent and skills...don't you?" he asked, without a single shred of doubt.

Her eyes became even wider then before, but now it was from excitement. Rangiku smiled widely, ran over to him, grabbed his shoulders and pulled his head into her chest, Toshiro unnoticeably blushed, but he managed to pull away without much difficulty; "Congratulations Rangiku, but can you try not to always include me in your celebration?" he actually asked as a question, instead of a statement.

Rangiku noticed this and giggled, "Aww, but your the best person to celebrate with!" she said with another giggle.

Toshiro rolled his eyes and sighed; "Well, whatever just make sure you keep up on your paperwork." he said getting back to his own stack of work.

Matsumoto sighed at him, "Tisk tisk Captain, you need to get out a little more ya know!" she said gesturing her hand towards the open window.

The young looking captain just sighed back at her; "Perhaps...but work must come first...Matsumoto." he said with another slight roll of his eyes.

She sighed again in 'getting the hint' and nodded, "Alright, but after I'm finished I'm coming right back here to-" "Actually I _do _need you to come by later...I have a proposition for you, but...after you finish your work." Toshiro interrupted giving her a bit of an icy glare to emphasize that he was serious.

Though most people would have been frightened by this look, Matsumoto knew better, and though she only knew him for a year, she knew that it was mostly just to get people to take him seriously. And that...she couldn't blame him for at all; "Oh, ok...see ya then!" she said with a bit of a flirty tone.

-Later on, after much paperwork-

"Sooo Captaaaiin, what's the proposition you'd like to ask me?" she asked inquisitively with a large smile on her face.

He looked up at her and slightly sighed, "Well, it is completely your decision, but...I would be honored if you would become my Fifth Seat in the Onmitsukido as well." he asked sitting back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest.

Rangiku was slightly shocked at the question; 'Me? In the Onmitsukido? I don't know...I never thought about it...what do I do?' she asked herself.

"Like I said...its your decision to make, you won't be forced in any way." he said with encouragement in his voice, but this seemed to only make it even more difficult for her to say 'no'.

'I guess I could...but I never imagined myself in 'that' organization, what if they don't except me and my position? How do I know that I can actually trust those people? Their incredibly 'shifty' and they...Wait! _My _Captain is one of their Commanders, so why should I be worried? He's got my back, he he, besides...Fifth Seat in the Tenth? And in the Onmitsukido? I doubt there will be many people who will want to mess with me then!' she thought, now giving him a smile and a nod.

"I would be honored to be the Fifth Seat of the Onmitsukido!" she stated happily, Toshiro approved and nod.

"Very well then, but I must warn you, you'll be dealing with things that most shinigami wouldn't even think of having to...or want to for that matter." he said giving her a hard stare.

She just smiled; "Don't worry, anything they can do...I can do it too, if not better!" she proclaimed confidently.

"Alright then, welcome aboard." Hitsugaya said standing up and bringing his hand up to shake hers, but when she connected with his hand, she dragged him forward and into her chest...again.

"Ha ha ha, I bet you've always wanted to say that!" she said with a loud laugh, and as she released him she noticed him slightly glaring at her. "Aww, you mean that you don't like my hugs?" she asked with a very 'Yoruichi looking' pout.

Toshiro just sighed and shook his his head in annoyance; "Whatever, just don't make too much of a habit of it." he said turning back to his desk.

Rangiku giggled at him and smiled, "Do you mind if I take off from here Captain?" she asked, to which he raised a brow at her and shrugged, "Oh thank you Captain!" she said happily before hugging him once more before running off.

'She's such an odd girl, hmm she reminds me a bit too much of Yoruichi, but they are quite different from each other despite their _many _similarities.' he thought with a smirk.

-At the Second Division, Three years later-

"People have been disappearing in the forests of Rukongai? Hmm, wonder what Kisuke plans to do, he's probably already got most of it figured out already knowing him." Yoruichi said confidently.

Soifon just shrugged at her, while Toshiro silently nodded and crossed his arms; "Why do you have so much trust for that man?" Soifon asked as both Yoruichi and Toshiro looked at each other.

Yoruichi smiled, shrugged and looked at her, while Toshiro just lightly smirked and looked away; "Well I've been friends with him for a very long time, same with Toshiro, I have all the trust in the world for them!" she said with a smile and giving Toshiro a wink.

Soifon sighed, "Captain Hitsugaya, I can understand, he's much more powerful, formal, mature and a better person to protect you then any other shinigami, but Captain Urahara is just...none of those things!" she said with much confidence.

Toshiro actually chuckled a bit, slightly shocking Soifon a bit, and caused Yoruichi to giggle; "Y-Yoruichi-sama I really think you shou-!" but she was cut off by Kisuke suddenly arriving.

"Hey guys, how's everything going on this side of things?" he asked happily.

"Oh not bad Kisuke, not too bad at all." Yoruichi said with a smile, while Soifon sighed angrily, and Toshiro merely glancing at him.

"How about on your side?" Yoruichi asked him.

Kisuke smiled; "Well I sent my Lieutenant to help with the inspection at the latest sighting of the disappearances, she should be leaving any minute!" he said confidently.

They all nodded, but then Toshiro's head snapped towards the doorway, the ice around his neck, hands and feet made a slight hissing noise, and he started making his way out; "Hey where ya going Toshiro?" Yoruichi asked noticing his leaving.

Toshiro turned back around with his eyes narrowed. "I'm going to go to find out why their sounding the alarm." he said glancing back at door.

Each of them raised a brow; "Alarm? What alar-" but Yoruichi was cut off by the sudden alarm sounding, and people running and yelling out side.

Toshiro looked at Kisuke who had a horrified look; "Your Lieutenant." he said tilting his head to the door to which Kisuke nodded, then disappeared.

Toshiro and Yoruichi looked at each other and as if they already knew, headed off towards the first division, and a moment later a sudden message came up telling all the captains to go to the first division for an emergency meeting. And informing everyone that the spiritual energies of Kensei Muguruma and all of his squad members had vanished.

-At the meeting, all the captains except for Kisuke were present-

"This is an emergency, according to the report I just received from the Ninth Squad reserves, we have lost spirit energy-reception from both Captain Kensei and Lieutenant Kuna Mashiro, and all who were out in the field; the cause is unknown. We've entered a worst-case scenario; up until yesterday, these strange events occurred only in Rukongai. But now we must solve this matter in order to protect our honor as the Thirteen Protection Squads!" the Head Captain stated firmly.

Then he slammed his cane on the ground; "In response, I shall select four Captains to investigate the area of the incident!" he continued.

Then the large doors suddenly swung open and revealed Kisuke out of breath and looking rather frantic; "Your late Kisuke Urahara!" the Head Captain said a bit angrily.

"Please let _me_ go!" Kisuke asked him desperately.

But the Head Captain shook his head; "You may not!" he all but yelled.

"My Lieutenant is heading over there right now! I-!" but he was cut off by Yoruichi, "Kisuke! Your embarrassing yourself! Get yourself together! You ordered your Lieutenant to go. Don't you see that by acting this way your insulting her?" Kisuke looked shocked and looked at the ground.

Then; "Come on don't just stand there. Get in line." Kyoraku said putting a hand on his shoulder and lead him to his position, right next to Hitsugaya, who had yet to open his eyes or uncross his arms.

"As I was saying..." the Head Captain began; "Captain Rojuro Otoribashi from the Third Squad, Captain Shinji Hirako from the Fifth Squad, and Captain Love Aikawa from the Seventh Squad...the three of you shall go investigate the area." he said looking at each person called.

"Captain Yoruichi Shihoin from the Second Squad and Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya of the Tenth Squad shall stay on standby until further orders are issued. Captain Ginrei from the Sixth Squad, Captain Shunsui Kyoraku from the Eighth Squad, and Captain Jushiro Ukitake from the Thirteenth Squad shall protect the Seireitei! Captain Retsu Unohana from the Fourth Squad shall prepare to heal the wounded and wait at the infirmary." he continued, once again looking at each person called.

"Just one moment Captain Commander." Unohana spoke up suddenly.

"If I am to heal the injured, wouldn't it be best if I went out on the field as well?" she asked him.

"Since we do not know what is happening, we cannot afford to send out the head of the medical corps out; I will be sending someone else...Enter!" he said turning to the door.

Then on queue, the door opened; revealing Captain Tessai Tsukabishi and Lieutenant Hachigen Ushoda of the Kido Corps, everyone with the exception of Hitsugaya, who still had his eyes closed and arms crossed; had looked at the two new comers with interest. "Tessai Tsukabishi? Its been a while since he's made a public appearance." Jushiro said to mostly himself.

"So this is gonna be a pretty big deal, isn't it? Hoo boy..." Kyoraku said with a bit of a grin on his face.

"I believe you already know the situation. I want you both to go out and investigate!" the Head Captain commanded.

"Very well." Tessai said nodding, "Understood!" his Lieutenant said nodding as well.

But then Kyoraku spoke up after taking a glance at the sad look on Kisuke's face, "Hey, old-man Yama! Sorry, but don't you think its kind of a bad idea to send out the Captain and Lieutenant of the Kido Corps when we don't know what's out there?"

The Head Captain looked over at him slightly raising a brow, "Then what would you do?" he questioned.

"I'll send out my Lieutenant." he said glancing behind him to the window, still with the grin on his face.

"Are you going to go get her now?" Jushiro asked raising a brow, but only made Kyoraku's grin become wider.

"Sure am!...Hey Lisa!" he called out over his shoulder.

"What?" Lisa said suddenly popping up from behind the window.

"See?" he said happily to Jushiro then he turned back around, "I've told you not to spy on us during meetings haven't I?" he asked her, tilting his hat down.

"I can't help it, I'm curious...its human nature, get over it." she said slightly looking away.

"You heard?" he asked tilting his hat back up and looking right at her; "Sure did." she said a bit sadly, but nodding nonetheless.

"Can you handle it?" he asked with a light smile; "You bet!" she said much more confidently, to which he nodded to her.

"Then please do." she gave him a thumbs up and instantly took off running.

"I can't believe you!" the Head Captain said to Kyoraku who was still smiling widely.

"Hey, big happenings like this only come along once in a blue moon. As her superior, I want her to experience this first-hand; you know what I mean, right? She'll be fine, despite her appearance, Lisa is actually pretty strong. So would you let her go in your stead...Captain of the Kido Corps?" he asked looking at Tessai.

Tessai shrugged, "I don't mind, I'm going to take you up on this offer and go back to bed." he said taking one last glance at Toshiro, Kisuke and Yoruichi, before he turned and left.

Then a loud slam on the ground made everyone's attention turn back to the Head Captain, "As such, Rojuro Otoribashi, Shinji Hirako, Love Aikawa, Hachigen Ushoda and Lisa Yadomaru, you are now part of a special squad tasked with discovering the cause of the vanishing souls!" he said firmly, and everyone bowed.

"Everyone is dismissed!" he said once again slamming his staff on the ground and all of the chosen people vanished in a series of shunpoes, everyone else started heading out.

Yoruichi walked out not looking at anyone in particular, Toshiro stayed behind for a brief moment, finally opening his eyes, he glanced at Kisuke's saddened face, nodded to himself and walked out. Only Kisuke and Kyoraku remained; "Don't worry, Hiyori's pretty strong." he said placing his hand on Kisuke's shoulder.

"But of course she's not as strong as my Lisa, don't worry so much; believe in your subordinates and waiting for them is part of our job as captains." he said walking out as well.

Kisuke looked at him walking away, sighed then headed out himself, as Kisuke made a left at the "T" heading out of the first, he didn't notice the shadowed figure standing a few yards way behind him, "Hmph, see you there Kisuke." it said turning around and heading in the opposite direction but was stopped.

"And where do you think your going, Toshiro? And without me?" he turned around to see Yoruichi standing a few feet behind him.

"Don't follow me Yoruichi, I don't want you getting involved just yet." he said continuing to walk past her.

"What you think I'm that helpless?" she asked, with a slight pout.

"No, it's just that I need someone to keep an eye on my ice clone." he said with a slight smirk, she raised a brow at him, but then another 'Toshiro' walked out from in front of 'the real Toshiro' and made her smile at him wider.

"Well if you really insist Toshiro, I only ask that you don't go get yourself killed, ok?" she asked, almost like she was pleading with him.

Toshiro nodded at her, and waved one of his ice covered hands then disappeared; "So your a clone, eh?" she asked turning to 'Toshiro' which slightly nodded.

"Yes, but as a clone I have limitations of what I can do...that is why he needs you to accompany me, so no one will be able to see any of my flaws." he said.

She just nodded her head, "Oh, alright then...lets head to the Second, no one really disturbs me anyway; so it'll be perfect for you...or him...or...what should I call you?" she asked scratching her head in confusion.

"It matters not what you call me...I understand what your reference is to." he said, causing her to smile widely; "Yep, your his clone alright." she said with a laugh.

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I think that he would be able to use that technique without using Bankai if he was more experienced like he is in this story. I hope you guys liked and don't mind that idea. So...are you all wondering what's gonna happen when he gets there? I know I would be if i didn't already know. And if you wanna find out soon, press that magic button below and I might be persuaded to tell you faster, if enough reviews come in. XD


	18. Chapter 18

Btw, to answer your question of how he heard the alarm 'Unnamed'...the answer is something I can't mention just yet, but once you know, you'll be like "oh." Anyway, on with the story...

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Chapter 18:**

-Out in the field-

"Your...Tosen! Why? You...betrayed Kensai...your own captain?" Shinji asked in anger as he looked upon one of the traitors of the Soul Society.

"He didn't betray anyone." a sudden voice said making Shinji turn his attention to he familiar sound.

Shinji looked upon the source of the voice and found...his Lieutenant, Sosuke Aizen; "He's quite loyal, in fact he obeyed every order that I gave him. Please don't be angry with him, Captain Hirako." he continued.

Shinji looked shocked at first, but then turned to anger as he took everything in; "Aizen...I knew it. You started all this!" he yelled out.

Aizen smirked, "Then you noticed? I'm not surprised." Shinji stirred on the ground; "Of course I did!" he spat out.

"Since when?" Aizen questioned, Shinji slightly smirked; "Since you were kickin' around in your mama's womb."

Aizen slightly glared, "I see." but Shinji wasn't done yet; "I always knew you were dangerous, that ya weren't a man to be trusted. That's why I choose you to be my Lieutenant; it was so I could watch you, Aizen!" he said angrily, once again seeming to spit the words out at him.

"Yes, and I'm most grateful, Captain Hirako. Thanks to your constantly doubting me, you never realized." Aizen said with a slight smirk crossing his face.

"I just said that I did!" Shinji said glaring at his former Lieutenant, "No, you didn't see a thing, for this whole month, I wasn't the one walking behind you." he said confidently making Shinji's eyes go wide.

"I can make my enemies believe anything I want them to, that's my zanpakuto's Kyoka Suigetsu's, true ability. I refer to it's power as...absolute hypnosis." he said with a smug look.

"Absolute hypnosis?" Shinji repeated, once more going slightly wide eyed.

"Your a clever man, Captain Hirako; if you had treated me the same way the other captains treat their lieutenants, you might have seen through it. But you never tried; since you never trusted me, you always kept me at arms length. You never opened up to me, never shared any information, you never tried to get know me...and that's why you never noticed when I had someone else take my place. I had my substitute memorize my behavioral patterns and the way I interacted with the other captains; if you had truly tried to know me, you would have noticed slight differences in our ticks and mannerisms. The reason why you're down on the ground right now is all because you never bothered to get to know me, did you understand all that...Captain Hirako?" he said in a complete mock and taunt.

"Aizen..." Shinji said in pure anger, "And one more thing, you said that you selected me as your lieutenant so you could keep an eye on me. But that's incorrect." he started up, again with a smug look on his face.

"What?" was the only reply, "Just as captains have the right to appoint their own lieutenants, the candidate has the right to reject the offer. Of course, that's hardly ever happened, but nevertheless, I had the option of not becoming your lieutenant; so why did I take it? Because you were perfect, your suspicious nature and caution around me created the ideal environment for my plans. Now do you understand? You didn't choose me...I chose you, Captain Hirako. You should take the chance to apologize to your friends...their on the ground bleeding because I chose you." he finished with his natural mocking voice.

Shinji suddenly stood up, readied his blade; "Aizen!" he screamed just before his face was suddenly engulfed in some sort of pale-white liquid that hardened over one side of his face forming a mask.

"Thank you for allowing my little taunts anger you." Aizen said, continuing to taunt in him, "Damn it! Me too? Aizen! What's going on?" Shinji demanded as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"It seems that the Hollowfication proceeds quicker if the subject is agitated." Aizen said as if he was observing an experiment.

Shinji's eyes went wide, "Hollowfication? What...is that?" he questioned, still with an angry voice. Aizen smirked; "You don't need to know."

A few yards away Hiyori finally stood herself up and looked through her hollow masks eye holes at what was transpiring; "Shin...ji" she barely got out.

Aizen noticed her, looked to Tosen and nodded; "Kaname." he said as if it was an order, "Yes, sir!" Tosen said nodding his head.

He suddenly disappeared in a shunpo, came right up to Hiyori, and swung his sword down at her..."Don't!" Shinji yelled in desperation, then just before Tosen's blade hit her, it was stopped by an ice covered hand, "Impossi-" but Tosen was cut off by a fist colliding with his stomach from Hitsugaya and was sent flying towards Aizen.

"Captain Hitsugaya?" Shinji asked wide eyed, "What are you doing here?" he continued, but Toshiro didn't respond to him.

"Hmm, I don't know what's going on...but it seems that not all has gone according to plan, am I correct? Aizen?" Hitsugaya asked narrowing his eyes at said man.

But he just smirked, "Another test subject for my experiment? And what a subject it is." he said once more with his smug attitude.

"What would you like me to do?" Tosen asked, "You may proceed, although...I would like to include him as my next subject." he said smirking.

"Subject, huh? What an interesting choice of words." Toshiro said darkly as he walked forward to attack Aizen but was stopped by Tosen.

But Toshiro merely grabbed him by the face with a frozen hand and pushed him fifty feet away, Aizen was taken back by Toshiro's display of raw strength, but he wasn't able to do anything before he saw a frozen foot coming straight for his face. He managed to dodge out of the way, but barely; "Impressive, Captain Hitsugaya." he said trying to goad the captain into making a mistake.

Toshiro raised his brow, he wasn't about to make a mistake, not even the slightest bit. Then Tosen came up swinging his blade at him, but every one of them seemed futile, as Toshiro either dodged or parried the attacks with his bare hands; "Looks like he's holdin' back." a young Gin spoke up.

Aizen looked over at him then back at Toshiro, "Yes, it does indeed." he said slightly frowning, 'It seems Tosen is to far out matched, I'm going to have to do this myself.' Aizen thought as he disappeared in a shunpo.

He came up to Toshiro and was about to swing his sword at him but was stopped by Shinji, "Not so fast, I'm not finished with you yet!" Hirako claimed giving Aizen a slight smirk.

Toshiro pushed Tosen away then followed right after him, too quick for him to react and delivered another punch to his stomach. Tosen gasped for air, but was cut short when Toshiro spun around and sent a heel kick into his face; "Hmm, looks like this coul' be qui' interestin'." Gin said with a smile as he stared at Toshiro with slightly opened eyes.

On the other side of the field, Shinji parried Aizen's sword and went to slice him but Aizen dodged, Aizen used another shunpo to get behind him, but Shinji once again parried his sword, back flipped over his head and smirked as he got behind Aizen. Shinji sliced Aizen deeply on his back, then followed it up by stabbing him through the back and out through his chest; 'That seemed too easy, but...what gives? This doesn't make any sense, I can't tell if I'm hurtin' or not; It's kinda like being in someone else's body...no wonder Kensei mopped the floor with us.' he thought as he watched Aizen's body drop to the ground.

But then...his body just shattered, as if it was made of glass, Shinji went wide eyed; "W-What?" he demanded, then he looked in Toshiro's direction and saw Aizen making his approach on the young captain.

"Damn!" he said as he tried to hurry to stop him, but then another explosion of the masks liquid bursted out of his mouth and eyes; "S-Shit!".

Toshiro was easily taking care of Tosen, even though he was holding back quite a bit, he did not wanting to kill anyone...just yet. Then just as he turned to run Tosen threw with his free hand, he felt a sword stab him in his heart from behind. He instantly went wide eyed; 'But...how? I never sensed anything coming towards me, how didn't I-' he turned around to see Aizen suddenly appear behind him as if the space had shattered like glass, 'His shikai! Shit! How didn't I remember that!' he thought before Aizen pulled his sword out of Toshiro's heart.

Toshiro slowly staggered, but stayed on his feet; "Hmm, I'm rather disappointed...I only meant to stab your back, why did you have to turn so suddenly? But I am quite impressed that your still standing." Aizen said smirking.

Toshiro then moved his hand over the wound, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were glowing a brilliant blue; "If you think that's good...then you'll love this." Toshiro said as he froze the area that was stabbed which stopped the bleeding, both internally and externally.

Aizen's eyes widened for a moment, but then he regained his smirk, "I'd expect no less from the Tenth Division Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya; after all...it would be a shame if you died before the Hollowfication process began." he chuckled.

Toshiro glared; "Let's see what I can accomplish before it does." he said as he disappeared then reappeared behind Aizen readying a round house kick to the side of his face.

Aizen was once again just barely able to dodged it and got out of the way for Tosen to have enough room to attack, Toshiro blocked his strike, swept it aside, and once again charged at Aizen. But he was gone, Toshiro sensed his opponent just behind him, gripped Hyorinmaru and blocked the strike with his sheath. He turned to see a narrowed eyed Aizen, swept the sword a side and followed through with an icy fist to Aizen's face, causing him to go flying back twenty feet. Tosen replaced him and came up on Toshiro's left side to take a swing at his exposed ribs, but Toshiro brought his hand back, just quick enough to catch Tosen's blade with his hand and throw it aside.

Tosen had a look of surprised, and before he could react, Toshiro grabbed him by the face again and threw him in the same direction he sent Aizen in, he crashed into the ground only six feet from were Aizen currently stood slightly panting. As Tosen stood himself up he turned to Aizen; "My...greatest apologies, I will...kill him...shortly." he said completely out of breath.

Aizen turned to him and shook his head; "No...you won't, he out matches both of us in every way possible, but don't worry...the effects should be hitting him in a few moments, then he'll be too weak to stand...and as for you *looks at Shinji* I have no further use for you, but I do have one last thing to tell you both: There is no fear when one expects to be betrayed, what is truly terrifying is when betrayal is unexpected, Captain Hirako, Captain Hitsugaya...Farewell." he said as he shunpoed to where Shinji was kneeling, raised his blade to finish him, but was stopped by Toshiro.

"The process still has not begun?" Aizen asked glancing at him with a slight glare, 'The ice! When he froze his wound, he somehow slowed the process down...he's either smarter then I thought or he just got lucky by a mere fluke.' he thought glaring further at Toshiro.

"Are you disappointed that your experiment isn't working as well as you want it to...or is it because I figured out a way to slow the Hollowfication down?" Toshiro asked with his own icy glare.

Aizen's eyes slightly widened, then went back to a glare, Toshiro quickly unsheathed his sword and swung it at his mid section, making Aizen slide back once again as he blocked the swing with his own sword. Then Toshiro followed it up with swift kick to Aizen's chest, making him slide back even more, he suddenly shunpoed behind him and delivered a knee into Aizen's back, then the white haired captain shunpoed to Aizen's left side and sent an elbow to his ribs, making him cough violently and breathe in an extremely strained breath.

Toshiro shunpoed yet again and kicked Aizen in the back of the head, causing him to do a face plant into the ground before he even finished coughing. Toshiro then raised his sword to finish him off once and for all, but as his blade was mere inches away...the same mask liquid that was covering Shinji's face and chest, shot out of Toshiro's mouth, and eyes, "D-Damn..." he said in pain, as Aizen got up painfully, rubbing his ribs and the back of his head.

He looked at Toshiro and formed a look of satisfaction on his now bleeding face, "At last...it has finally begun, now I can observe the latest subject in my experiment." he said smirking.

But just as the mask began to take shape around Toshiro's face, his eyes began to glow again, brought one of his hands and gripped the mask. The liquid slowly froze over, and Toshiro pulled it swiftly off his face, causing Aizen to once again become wide eyed; "Hmm, so it appears you also found a way to stall the mask from forming." he said as he started smirking again, "Most intriguing." he added.

"You seem to be quite the 'case' Captain Hitsugaya, you are perfect for this experiment...I am most impressed." he continued with a smile.

Toshiro was breathing rather heavily, and was obviously tired out by merely breaking the mask once, 'I don't know how many times I'll be able manage to do that...it was hard enough just doing it that one time, but I think I should be able to kill at least one of them before Kis-' but his thoughts were cut short by another mask starting to take shape on his face.

"W-What?" he said in surprise, and without even thinking he grabbed the edge of it, concentrated his power into his hand, and after it froze, he once again broke it off.

Now the young looking captain was really beginning to feel weak, he was barely able to stand, and ended up falling to his knees. Toshiro looked at Aizen's damned smug face, and as he became even angrier, the temperature began to drop further and further, then as he had finally found the strength to stand once more, the mask suddenly exploded out of him all over again, knocking him back to the ground. 'Shit! I can't even stand up...I either have to spend up my energy breaking off these damn masks or I have to spend it killing Aizen!' he thought to himself.

'I don't think I can do either anymore!' he continued as the mask quickly started covering his face, so no one noticed when his face began to contort into uncontrolled rage.

'It might be possible to stop the Hollowfication process though. But its a long shot that I don't see even working. Yet its the only thing I've got and I better do something now, before I become like them...I just hope that I still have enough spirit energy to even attempt this, Kisuke and Tessai will be able to handle them.' he thought as he slowly stood himself back up.

He put his sword in his right hand, and turned it so his palm was showing, he spread his feet apart, and closed his eyes; "You want something to study? I'll give you something to study." he said as he opened his once again glowing eyes.

Then his entire body was engulfed in a brilliant blue light and stretched all the way up to the sky, which caused the sky to fill with storm clouds in seconds, Aizen's eyes widened in intrigue and a slight hint of fear, but he started to smile nonetheless; 'Is he attempting to stop the process by over powering it with his spiritual pressure? How very interesting...yet futile.' he thought, as Toshiro's spiritual pressure continued to grow, and was beginning to make everyone nearby very uncomfortable...including Aizen.

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I know I cut this off but don't worry, you'll be able to see what happens next in a few days. And it'll take off right where I left off. But if I get enough reviews I might publish the next chapter tomorrow. Hope to see lots of 'em. XD


	19. Chapter 19

I was so close in posting this chapter yesterday, I figured I'd do it if I reached 55 reviews, missed it by one. Anyway, on with the story...

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Chapter 19:**

"Most impressive." Aizen said, slightly beginning to cringe at the amount of pressure he was beginning to feel radiating from Hitsugaya.

'Its smothering me...I don't know how much more I can take!' Tosen thought falling to his knees.

'I can't move...or really breath for that matter!' Gin thought as he was forced completely to the ground.

Toshiro's mask had already formed on his face, it had the look of a white dragon (similar to Hyorinmaru's dragon face) with thin horns swept back on either side of his head. Their were bluish-green markings on it; one of which was the symbol of the four point star that makes up the hilt of his zanpakuto located just above the left eye opening. And the others were long 'tear' shaped markings going from below the eye openings to the bottom of the jaw. The mask itself covered his whole face and reached back towards his ears and followed along his jaw line; but because of Toshiro's rising spirit energy, the mask was now beginning to break apart a little bit at a time, but the fragments were floating just above his head, not seeming to go anywhere. Aizen's eyes became even wider in shock as he noticed this.

'Impossible! He can't be actually stopping the process with his spiritual pressure! He would need more power then-! Although I do wonder...if he is able to stop it before the hollow hole appears he'll remain mostly shinigami, but if he stops it after the hollow hole appears...could he become an arrancar? Is it really be possible for a shinigami to become an arrancar? Hmm, but is that what he would really be? Or would he become something completely new?' he laughed to himself.

Then within moments, the pressure from Toshiro's spirit energy had now become too much for anyone to stand or breathe, "This...can't be happening...I...can't..die..from someone's...spiritual pressure!" Aizen screamed at himself as he was finally forced all the way to the ground.

Suddenly...it just stopped, they all looked at each other with surprise on their faces, and then glanced over to Toshiro. His mask had broken most of the way, only a small part on the top left side of his forehead was remaining; it went from his eye brow to the side of his head, still containing the horn on that side, and the symbol of the four-point star. And the sections that broke off seemed to become small black colored spirit fragments and streamed into the piece on his forehead, disappearing entirely.

But Toshiro was not concerned about it, he was looking down at his chest, because right were he had been stabbed in the heart, there was no longer an ice patched wound, there was a two inch wide hollow hole. "No! It can't... be." he barely got out as he swayed on his feet.

Aizen looked at him seemingly very pleased and stood himself back to his feet; "Congratulations, Captain Hitsugaya...you are the very first shinigami born, arrancar." he said smiling at his success, 'But is that really what he is?' he added mentally.

Toshiro glared at the man, but he had no energy left, he couldn't even stand anymore; "Damn...I...failed." he struggled to speak as he fell face first into the ground, causing the weather and temperature to return to normal a brief second later.

Aizen walked over to him and raised his blade, "Though it is quite a shame to kill a subject as...extraordinary as you, I'm afraid that in order for my plans to go unnoticed I must do what needs to be done." he said raising his sword higher.

"Goodbye Captain Hitsugaya, you truly were remarkable...and the only one that I actually feared." he said whispering at the end, and just as he was about to swing his blade, he saw a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye and without warning, his Lieutenant's patch was cut off his arm.

He turned to the newest new comers; "I see, we have even more interesting guests. How may I help you, Captain Urahara, Captain Tsukabishi?" he asked as if he was merely inviting them for tea.

"Uh-oh, they found us." Gin said steadying himself on his feet once more, "I'll kill them!" Tosen claimed as he readied his sword.

"No, there's no need." Aizen said calmly shaking his head.

"But-!" he tried to argue but cut himself short as Aizen turned to look at him.

"Kaname, I said that there is no need." he said narrowing his eyes at the blind man, causing him to begin trembling in fear and quickly kneeling down.

"Yes, sir! Please forgive my impudence!" Tosen all but begged him.

Then a sudden movement caught everyone's eyes, "K-Kisuke! Why...are you here? You jackass!" Shinji spoke as he made his way over to them.

"What's with that horrific mask?" Kisuke asked in slight shock.

"Tch, tell me about it." Shinji said with a light chuckle.

Kisuke smiled at him for a moment, then turned his attention at Aizen, "Lieutenant Aizen!" he called as he began narrowing his eyes on the man.

"Sir!" Aizen called back as if he was still answering to anyone of higher rank.

"What are you doing here?" Kisuke asked in a very serious tone, "Why nothing. As you can see, I just so happened to have stumbled upon the investigation teams, which were apparently injured in battle. I was going to try to heal their wounds." Aizen replied almost as if it were true.

"You two-faced sack of shit-!" Shinji started but began coughing as more of the mask liquid came out of his mouth and eyes.

Kisuke sighed and shook his head, "Why are you lying to me?" he questioned, "Lying? Is there something wrong with a lieutenant attempting to help save his captain's life?" Aizen asked in fake confusion.

"No, that's not what I meant. They were injured in battle? You call that injured? There's no lying your way out of this, they've been Hollowfied." Kisuke claimed causing almost everyone's eyes to become wide.

"The case of the vanishing souls, several subordinates vanished one after the next, all leading up to this; the only possible cause of this is Hollowfication research. Someone was conducting experiments, but considering our current situation, there's no longer any doubt who that someone was." he continued.

Aizen seemed to smile at him, "I see. You truly are...the type of man I believed you to be. I'm happy that you came by here this evening; Gin, Kaname, we've accomplished enough for now. Let's go." he said turning and walking away with the other two following close behind.

"Wait, Aizen! I'm not done yet!" Kisuke demanded loudly, but then..."Please move, Urahara!" Tessai shouted as he readied his hands for a kido spell, causing Kisuke to jump out of the way.

"Way of Destruction No. 88: Flying Dragon Strike, Heaven Shaking Lightning Cannon!" he commanded as an enormous blast of blue electricity shot out from his hands and hurled toward Aizen, Gin, and Tosen.

"Way of Destruction No. 81: Severing Void." Aizen said with a smile on his face.

And once the blast came with a few feet of them, it was suddenly stopped right in its tracks and blown off to either side of a sudden invisible wall that appeared out of no where. The force of the blast blew most of the trees in the surrounding area to splinters and caused a huge crater at the base of the mirror-like wall; "Impossible! A Lieutenant...skipped the incantation for Splitting Void and still stopped my attack?" Tessai said becoming wide eyed behind his dark glasses.

The wall suddenly shattered into nothing and revealed that Aizen and his followers were long gone, Kisuke stood up with widened eyes; "Tessai, what on earth is he...?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes at the spot Aizen had been a moment before.

But he never answered, because Shinji suddenly screamed out in pain and fell to the ground, "Hirako!" Kisuke called out as both he and Tessai hurried to the mans side.

"We'll deal with Aizen later! Urahara, please help Hirako and the others." Tessai said looking over at his friend.

"It's no good, the Hollowfication process has advanced to far for me to help them here!" Kisuke said taking a quick glance at Toshiro; 'Perhaps that's better...if they had done what he did, they would be the same as him...whatever it is that he has become that is.' he thought looking back down at Shinji.

"Urahara, it seems that you understand what's going on here, I haven't so much as heard of Hollowfication, yet you seem to know all about it. So, you must know how to reverse the process, am I correct in making that assumption?" Tessai asked staring at Kisuke intensely.

"I know a way, but it's a gamble." he spoke up after a few moments.

"I understand, at least it's better then nothing. I'm going to carry all nine of them just as they are to the Twelfth Squad barracks, we'll save them with whatever equipment you have there." Tessai said getting to his feet, spreading them apart, and putting his hands out in front of him.

"Just as they are? But how can you do that?" Kisuke asked becoming wide eyed once again.

"I'll have to freeze time and teleport us." Tessai said as he separated his hands, revealing a glowing rectangular cube of pure kido; "What?" Kisuke asked in surprise.

"Both of these are forbidden techniques, those who use them are severely punished. I insist you close your eyes and plug your ears!" he called out over his shoulder as the entire area around them began to glow a brilliant yellowish-green, then in a flash of light, they were suddenly gone.

-At the Twelfth Division-

They arrived inside the captain's quarters in a flash of light, Tessai let out a few exhausted breaths as he looked around to make sure that everyone was there.

"Hollowfication is one of the answers I stumbled upon while researching how to strengthen shinigami souls. During the course of my research, I created something that can temporarily break the barrier between hollow and shinigami to create a new being. That's what I'll use to heal Hirako and the others." Kisuke said as he walked over to a metal safe and began pressing the correct buttons to open it.

"What is this object?" Tessai asked watching his friend uncovering a small stone in his hand.

"I call it the Hogyoku." Kisuke said holding the glowing object in his open hand.

"Hogyoku?" Tessai repeated in confusion; 'Why is it so over powering? Is it spiritual pressure? No, that's not it. It has a presence! This stone's presence fells like it's trying to stifle my existence! What in the world is that thing? What has Urahara created?' he thought as he examined it.

"Can we save them with this? Will Toshiro and the others really...?" he began but was interrupted by Kisuke.

"No. Remember what I said, this is a gamble. Hirako and the others have a twenty percent chance at best of getting better after we use the Hogyoku." he explained looking at each of the people lying on the ground.

"Twenty percent?" Tessai echoed in slight shock.

"If Lieutenant Aizen was really behind the vanishing souls, he probably didn't anticipate the process might be reversibly. We can't heal them...without this." Kisuke explained further.

"Kisuke...what about Toshiro?" Tessai asked, finally noticing how much Urahara was avoiding his name.

Kisuke looked at him, then over to Toshiro who was laying face down on the ground, which was covering his hollow hole and the small fragment of the mask on his head; "I'm not sure...I'm afraid he probably has a lesser chance of getting better. Because he had already stopped the process, the only thing that we can really do now is to stabilized his hollow powers and his own shinigami powers, so one won't over rule the other." he said trying to sound at least a bit cheerful.

Tessai's eyes became wide, but nodded sadly anyway; "We'll just do the best we can." Kisuke continued, and once more Tessai nodded.

"Do you really think he's become an...arrancar?" Tessai asked sounding almost desperate for an answer.

"We better get to work." Kisuke said holding up the Hogyoku ignoring Tessai's question, not wanting to think of what the answer could be.

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Talk about a turn of events huh? I hope none of you mind this idea, its actually the main base of why I made this story in the first place. And just so everyone knows; he is not a visorad/vizard or an arrancar for that matter...you won't find out what he really is till later, mainly cause no one really had a name for it. Sorry if this chapter is a bit short. R&R like usual.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

-A few hours later-

Toshiro had woke up with a start and practically jumped off the ground as he began remembering the events that had just transpired not so long ago; 'Wait...where the hell am I?' he thought as he focused his eyes in the gloomy room.

Then his eyes settled on eight figures laying around him, intently making his eyes go wide, 'No...they all have...do I?' he thought, bringing his hand to his face.

It had felt normal until he reached the top left part of his fore head, 'No...damn! He wasn't able to reverse it? Shit!' Toshiro thought clenching his fists.

'Wait, how did we get here?' he questioned as he looked around further and settled his eyes on another figure that was sitting in a corner, "Tessai." Toshiro whispered to himself.

But he was only met with a silent snore, to which he lightly smirked and continued looking around but saw no one else. Then he heard a very loud snore; "Tch, figures." he said in a whisper once again.

He followed the sound of the snoring till he found a rather small room, and sure enough...Kisuke was sleeping at his desk, snoring quite loudly; "Hmph, loud as ever Kisuke." he said sarcastically.

Then he lowered his head, "Sorry I couldn't beat him Kisuke, but thank you for saving...all of us." he said in silent thanks, then turned around and walked out of the room.

He came up to the exit but stopped himself before his hand reached the door; 'I got to get this thing off my face.' he thought as he gripped the fragment by the horn.

'This is probably going to hurt...a lot.' he thought as he tugged on it as hard as he could, it held on for a few brief yet agonizing seconds, but it gave way nonetheless.

As it did, blood instantly began running down his face, he held his hand on his wound to try and stop the bleeding, but did next to nothing for it, 'Damn...the stupid thing was attached to my skin...shit that hurt!' he thought angrily.

His hand then began to glow a light green color from his healing kido, and as he did this, he picked up and sheathed Hyorinmaru with his free hand. He began walking to the exit once more; "Should I go to the First and expose Aizen and those other two traders, or should I go to Yoruichi first?" he asked himself.

Just as he finally finished healing his head he suddenly went completely wide eyed remembering the 'other thing' he had almost forgotten. He slowly tilted his head down to his chest, pulled his uniform out of the way and reveled his hollow hole, 'Damn, I guess I really am an...arrancar.' he thought lowering his eyes sadly.

'If anyone finds out I'll be executed on the spot...then who'll inform the Head Captain of Aizen's betrayal, unless Kisuke already did...but knowing him he would have helped us before going to anyone, and by the looks of it he hasn't gone anywhere yet.' he continued.

He looked back at his hollow hole and sighed, 'But how am I going to hide this?'

Then after a few moments, he came up with an idea, but slightly sighed again; "I just hope this works." he said as he brought his hand up to his chest and began to focus his energy into it.

'If I can make an ice clone without using Bankai...I can sure as hell make a replica of a small part of my chest.' he thought as ice began to form inside of the hole, and within moments the the hole seemed to disappear.

He looked himself over and nodded as he seemed satisfied, as the hole now looked to be non existent. He looked completely normal, he sighed in relief; "I think I'll see Yoruichi before I do anything else...she really needs to know what's going on." he said beginning his exit.

'Especially if Kisuke wasn't able to kill Aizen.' he added mentally.

As he stole one last glance around the room, a saddened look coming up on his face; "I'll be back as soon as I can." he said before disappearing in a shunpo.

A few moments later Tessai awoke, and noticed instantly that Toshiro was gone, his eyes went wide immediately; "Where is he? Damn, if he isn't stable then they'll-" but he cut himself short as he noticed all the other figures.

Tessai sighed sadly, "Damn...we failed." he said lowering his head just as Kisuke walked in and noticed everything he did, except in reverse.

"Damn...I guess we were just too late, but I just hope that Toshiro isn't parading around, if we weren't able to stabilize him...it would be very bad for him." he said with a concerned look on his face, as he stared at the door.

But then he slightly smirked, "But he's smart, I'm sure he isn't about to go running around the Seireitei causing an uproar. Then again when has he ever?" he said turning around and heading down a hallway; "I'm gonna go get some air." he said with a sad sigh.

-Second Division-

"AIZEN?" Yoruichi practically yelled loud enough for anyone passing by to hear, but because of the earliness of the morning, no one heard.

Toshiro merely nodded his head, but Yoruichi crossed her arms and put on an angry pout; "This is why I wanted to go with you...at least together we would have stood a better chance in killing him." she demanded rather angrily.

Toshiro sighed, "Sorry Yoruichi, but I didn't want to you to end up like...me." he said lowering his head

She looked at him with a rather confused face; "What do you mean?" she asked raising a brow.

He looked at her with saddened eyes, something she had not seen in many years; "I...I've been turned into a...an...arran...arrancar." he said in such a low voice that she almost didn't catch what he said...almost.

Her eyes went wide, her mouth hung open and she backed away from him as if he just grew an extra head, "A...what?" she managed out in surprise.

Toshiro closed his eyes and turned around; "Sorry...I...I think I should go check on Kisuke and the others." he said as he tried to walk away.

But he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, "I-" he started, but was cut off when Yoruichi spun him around and hugged him, "It doesn't matter _what _you are, cause I know _who _you are Toshiro, and trust me...you are far from anything that could be considered a hollow." she said, tightening her arms wrapped around his neck as if he would slip away from her.

Toshiro smirked from in between her breasts and slowly hugged her back, "We've been friends for how long? And you really think that I'm just going to abandon you? Ha, you know me better then that, Toshiro!" she claimed hugging him even tighter.

Toshiro closed his eyes in content, pulled away from the hug and reopened his eyes, "I forget who I'm dealing with sometimes." he said still with a slight smirk.

She smiled at him, "Yeah well, don't go forgetting it anytime soon, alright?" she said as a demand, but still with a large smile on her face.

Toshiro nodded, "Ok, but right now I think we should go and check on Kisuke, he should be awake by now; then we'll all inform the Head Captain about Aizen's betrayal." he suggested, Yoruichi nodded and they both headed out.

But before they made it all the way to the Twelfth, they saw a group of Onmitsukido leading Kisuke and Tessai towards the Central 46 chambers, "Damn, don't tell me they're blaming them!" Toshiro said as he and Yoruichi ducked behind a roof.

'That can only mean that they failed to kill him as well. Aizen really thought this one through.' he thought with a low growl.

"Looks like we're going to have to bail him out of this, eh?" she said with a smirk, Toshiro looked back at her and nodded in understanding.

"We have to make a quick stop first, so we better move fast...before they sentence them." he said glancing at the doors to the chambers, but then turned his attention towards the Twelfth Division once more.

-Inside the Central 46 Chambers-

"What exactly is this about?" Kisuke asked as he tested his hands in the bind that they had put himself and Tessai in.

"Did we give you permission to speak? You're here to be interrogated, you are not permitted to speak unless it is to answer our questions, now consider the situation your in, Captain of the Twelfth Division!" one of the central members said.

'Interrogated? Are we under suspicion for something?' Kisuke wondered looking around the darkened room, save for the two spot lights shinning on Tessai and himself; "My apologies." he said lowering his head.

"Where were you around midnight last night?" another member asked forcefully; "In the Sixth district forest forest of western Fugai." Kisuke answered.

"Was it for your Hollowfication research?" yet another asked, causing Kisuke's eyes to become wide and his head to snap up; "Whoa, hold on a second! Who told you that I-?" he started but another member interrupted him.

"You went to Fugai to see the results of your evil Hollowfication experiments on eight people of captain-level strength, starting with the Fifth Squads Captain. Is that not accurate?" Kisuke's eyes widened further as he recalled Aizen's words from last night; _"You truly are...the type of man I believed you to be." _

"Who was it?" he questioned with anger in his voice, "You have no right to ask questions!" one of the others shot back at him.

"Was it Lieutenant Aizen?" Kisuke pushed, looking up at each of them for an answer; "This is your second warning, Twelfth Division Captain! Do it again and we'll add it to your list of crimes!" was the only thing he received.

"But he's the one who did all this! We went there to save Hirako and the others!" he declared.

"Your lies are so outlandish that they're almost funny. The Lieutenant of squad Five never left the Seireitei last night." one said, "What?" Kisuke asked wide eyed, in disbelief.

"We have one hundred and twenty four witnesses plus one captain who'll attest to that. There's no way you can place the blame on him." he had continued as Kisuke's eyes became even wider, "That's impossible!" he said as a member of the Reversal Counter Force arrived in a shunpo.

"I'm here to report in! We've found evidence that indicates that he was conducting Hollowfication experiments in the Twelfth Squad's research facilities!" he had told the Central 46 members.

"It's decided then. I shall declare your sentences! Captain of the Kido Corps, Tessai Tsukabishi! For using forbidden techniques; you shall be jailed in the level three underground prison for high felons! Captain of the Twelfth Division, Kisuke Urahara! For researching forbidden material and carrying out experiments on it, deceiving your comrades, and seriously injuring them; you will will your spiritual powers drained from you and be banished to the Human World for all eternity. And finally, the poor Fifth Squad Captain and the rest of the eight victims of your heinous research shall be exterminated as if they were hollow, immediately!" the head of the Central 46 declared.

"No way, just let me explain!" Kisuke begged when suddenly the entrance doors opened and revealed a shadowed figure standing in the door way.

"Who's that?" one demanded, "Who gave you permission to enter the Diet Building during an interrogation?" said another, "And who are you?" many asked angrily as another shadowed figure appeared in the door way.

"Leave right this minute, you low-life's!" the head member demanded, just before both intruders came into the room with extraordinary speed, freed Kisuke and Tessai from their hand restraints, and disappeared within seconds.

"Get them, their bandits...its there anyone out there?" many of them yelled out, not knowing that all the guards outside the door and the surrounding area had already been knocked unconscious.

-At Sokyoku Hill hidden training ground-

"Thank you Yoruichi...Toshiro." Kisuke said looking over at the two with a thankful look.

But he stopped on Toshiro, whom he noticed no longer had the mask fragment on his face, nor any sign of a hollow hole; "But...how did you...?" he asked staring at him in amazement.

"I didn't...I'm still an...I just hid the hole with ice and I ripped the fragment off." he said in a slight sigh.

"And don't worry about the 'thanks' I'll slap you later for not getting me when you guys got back." Yoruichi said with a sigh of her own.

"We brought all eight of them here." Toshiro said pointing to the eight unconscious 'visorads' a few feet away.

"We also brought all of the new giagi's you've been working on. Now start talking...I want whatever strategy you thought up for the worst-case scenario back when you first heard about this whole situation from Hirako." she asked with a somewhat suspicious look on her face.

Now Kisuke was really smiling, "So you've completely seen through me...what a sneaky woman." he said laughing as Toshiro crossed his arms; "Like your one to talk." he said almost seriously.

"Tessai, could you freeze time for Hirako and the others? And then put level two and three barriers around this area. Within the next twenty hours, I'll make giagi's for the two of us and then for the eight of them, ten giagi's that will completely cut off our spirit energy." Kisuke started.

"Yoruichi? Toshiro?" Tessai asked, Yoruichi smiled; "Don't worry about me, I can always get away on my own." she replied in confidence.

As they all looked at Toshiro, they noticed a rare smirk on his face, "I plan on staying." he said without a doubt, causing all of them to look quite shocked.

"But Toshiro, if they-" Yoruichi started, but stopped when he raised his hand; "Someone needs to keep a close eye on Aizen, Tosen, and Gin...they're up to something big...something that involves Hollowfication, and I plan to find out what it is. I'll watch them, and try to figure out what their up to." he said as if he had made up his mind the moment he woke up in the Twelfth, which in fact...he did.

"But what if they tell everyone what you are?...Or if someone figures it out?" Yoruichi questioned almost desperately.

Toshiro just lightly smirked; "Don't worry, if that's what he wanted, he would have mentioned me to the Central 46 and from what I could hear...they didn't say my name at all." he said rather suspiciously of his own words.

They each nodded at his explanation, "Alright, Tessai and I will go to the human world and try to discover a way to reverse the Hollowfication, Toshiro will remain here to figure out what he's planning from this side, and Yoruichi..." he started but stopped when he waited for her answer.

"I'll go back and forth between the worlds, see if I can dig up any useful information for you guys." she said smiling, and then they all nodded in agreement as if they were deciding the future of the all three worlds between themselves.

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Enjoyed it? Hope you all did, and if so...press the button just below. :) Sayonara!


	21. Chapter 21

I went back and changed the last chapter, so the original ending of that one, is now the beginning of this one, sorry if its confusing to anyone.

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Chapter 21:**

-One year later, in the First Division-

"Third Seat Rangiku Matsumoto, do you accept the position of Lieutenant for the Tenth Division?" the Head Captain asked.

The strawberry haired woman raised her head slightly, and nodded; "Yes, Head Captain, I accept!" she said confidently.

The Head Captain nodded, "Very well, I trust that your duties as Lieutenant shall not interrupt with your duties as the Fourth Seat of the Onmitsukido, and visa-versa?" he asked her slightly opening his eyes.

"Actually, I have been promoted to the Third Seat in the Onmitsukido, but no sir, they will not interfere with each other!" she said with much more confidence then she felt; which was only enough to convince mostly herself.

But once again the Head Captain nodded, "Alright then, take your place behind your Captain and we shall commence with the meeting!" he said gesturing her towards Toshiro; she quickly moved to her place and the Captain/Lieutenants meeting took off from there.

After the meeting was over, Rangiku noticed Toshiro was not leaving, but looking fiercely at; Captain Aizen, and his Lieutenant, Ichimaru...'Wait a minute, Gin? Why would he be looking at Gin like that? Gin didn't make Captain angry or untrustworthy in his eyes did he?' she thought as she leaned in close to him.

"Hey Captain, whatcha doin'?" she asked trying to break his icy stare at her childhood friend, he looked over at her, closed his eyes and turned away.

"Nothing, lets head back to the office, your a Lieutenant now so you have more paperwork to fill out." Toshiro replied almost smugly.

Matsumoto went wide eyed at this, 'Boy, that didn't take much did it, but next time...I think I'll just let it go.' she thought glaring at Gin, then turning to Toshiro with a pouting face.

"Aww, even for my first day? Can't we just take off work and celebrate a little? Pleeeeaaaaase?" she pleaded, but Toshiro just raised a brow and started walking out, with Rangiku following close behind and whining at him the whole way.

-Ten years later, in the First Division-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ISSHIN HAS CEASED BEING A SHINIGAMI!" Toshiro demanded from the Head Captain.

"Calm yourself Hitsugaya!" the Head Captain yelled, but Toshiro did not budge, he was going to get answers...whether this man wanted to give them to him or not.

"What where his reasons?" Toshiro demanded with a voice that sounded like a combination of his own and a hollows.

The Head Captain actually opened both his eyes wide at the odd sound of the other captains voice; "Captain Hitsugaya! You will remember your place!" he said angrily.

Toshiro had half a mind to beat the answers out of him, but he stopped himself, 'It would do no good for us if we lost one of the most powerful men in the Soul Society...it would just make that much easier for _his_ plans to go forward.' he thought before bowing his head slightly.

"I still wish to know Head Captain, he was one of my friends and I wish to know why he would do something so radical." he said much calmer then he felt.

The Head Captain accepted Toshiro's statement with a nod; "I'm afraid that even I do not have the answers," he said closing his eyes once more, "He never gave any reasoning behind his actions, he merely wished to go to the human world, for an unspecified amount of time." he continued.

Toshiro looked up at him with slightly widened eyes, but lowered his head once again and narrowed his glaze on the floor before him; "I apologize, but he has chosen his own path...and we must accept it one way or another."

Hitsugaya nodded rather sadly, "Thank you Head Captain, and I apologize for my earlier actions." he said solemnly.

The old man just nodded, "Try to keep your emotions in check!" he said as Toshiro began to leave, whom stopped when he heard this; 'Even after all this time? Am I still unable to control myself? Tch, it looks like even after all my training...I still have yet to control my emotions!' he thought rather angrily before he continued on.

As he walked out of the First, he saw _one_ of the reasons why he hated the fact that Isshin had left, because in his place for Third Division Captain was Gin Ichimaru, speaking with Rangiku.

'Damn, why did she have to be _his_ childhood friend, I wish I could tell her about what happened that night, but...she would probably never believe me or trust me ever again. And I can't afford that, despite searching for eleven years...I've come up completely dry in my investigation; he's covered all of his tracks far too well. So I'm gonna need as many people on our side as possible, besides...she's one of my only friends that I can trust, I can't hurt her with the knowledge of her friends betrayal.' he thought as he stared at Ichimaru with hatred in his eyes.

Then as Gin laughed at something Rangiku said he turned towards the approaching captain and slightly opening his eyes in shock. When Matsumoto saw this she followed his gaze and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Toshiro standing a few feet from her.

"Ahh! Captain!...You almost gave me a heart attack, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" she said with a light laugh.

Toshiro looked from one to the other but stopped at Rangiku; "Do you two need sometime alone, or something?" he said rather bitterly.

Rangiku shook her head lightly, "No no no, that's ok, we were just saying 'hi', I'll see you later Gi...err I mean Captain Ichimaru." she said before walking over next to Toshiro.

"You can go on ahead Matsumoto, I have some...advice for the new Captain here." Toshiro said turning his head to her.

She glanced from her Captain to Gin, 'Well, just so long as neither say anything to upset the other, it shouldn't be too bad...right?' she thought as she nodded, "Ok, see ya back at the office Captain!" she said in a sing-song fashion as she practically skipped down the hallway.

Then the remaining two people locked their gazes; Gin's was a closed eye smile, while Toshiro's was a icy cold glare. "So Cap'n Hitsugaya, what's this 'advice' that ya got for lil old me?" he asked rather smugly.

"First, I advise you to address me properly and second...that you stay away from her, otherwise they'll be picking your body up in ice fragments." Toshiro said continuing his glare.

Gin smiled wider, his teeth now showing, "Oh my, I wouldn't be wantin' that ta be happenin', seems like a pretty awful way ta go...but 'ow am I supposed ta stop her if she comes ta me?" he asked in fake curiosity.

"Alright then, allow me to rephrase...if you make her spill a single drop of blood, I will not hesitate to kill you." he said darkly.

Then Gin actually seemed to frown, "Well I can certainly be makin' that promise, but only unda' one condition." Toshiro narrowed his eyes.

"If _you _spill a single drop of her blood then _I'll_ hafta kill you." he said regaining his smile.

Toshiro slightly smirked at Gin's words, then nodded slightly; "Fine then, we'll have a mutual agreement on _this_." he said very firmly.

Gin nodded his agreement and stuck out his hand, Toshiro stared at him for a moment but shook his hand nonetheless, "But if I see any sign that you hurt her in anyway, I'll kill you." Toshiro said with another glare, Gin just continued his smile; "Likewise, Cap'n" he said.

Toshiro actually smirked wider and broke the hand shake, "I'll still be watching you, Gin." he said now starting to walk away; "I wouldn' expect ya ta stop." Gin said seemingly happy about their conversation.

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Sorry that this chapter is rather short...idk, I'm not sure if I have a lot of people reading this, or maybe I'm being selfish. I know I have enough to continue, but I kind of wish that there were just a few more. Ah never mind me, I'm just going through a bit of a depressing moment, anyway...another thanks to everyone that has been kind enough to review, and thanks to all the people that favored this story, I hope to see some of your reviews. Later.


	22. Chapter 22

Btw, to answer your questions **marc** and **algebraiya**, of why they don't turn them in and why not tell the Head Captain; its because they have no proof, it would be impossible to convict them of something that Central 46 has said to be a closed case. And the Head Captain would require evidence in order to actually believe him. He can't just say something like that without anything to back up his story, it would make him seem like he's just trying to cover for his friends. Thanks for all the reviews from you and everyone else last chapter, they helped. :)

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Chapter 22:**

-Two years later, at the academy-

"Congratulations Momo Hinamori, you have officially graduated from the academy and are now a Shinigami of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads!" the head teacher said happily.

While Momo herself was beyond ecstatic; she couldn't believe that she had finally made it through the academy. "Hey Momo, did you hear? A Captain is supposed to be stopping by to see the new graduates." Kira Izuru said walking over to her as she stepped down from the stage.

Momo turned to him and smiled widely; "Do you know which Captain it is?" she asked. 'Even though I would love to see Captain Aizen again, just seeing any Captain is an honor!' she thought to herself.

Izuru nodded; "I think his name was...Hitsugaya, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya." he said. "I heard that he's a genius, he was some sort of child prodigy and graduated the academy in one year!" Renji Abarai said walking up.

"I think he's the Captain of the...Tenth? And he's also one of two Commanders of the Onmitsukido, although...the newest Captain of the Second, Soifon I think her name was, has just recently taken up the role of the other Commander for the Onmitsukido, after almost thirteen years of having it vacant, he never decided to close that position...even when he had the power to do so." Renji continued.

'Hmm, Captain Hitsugaya, huh? He sounds kind of interesting, I wonder if he's anything like Captain Aizen?' Momo thought to herself, raising her thumb and pointer finger to her chin.

"Look! There he is!" someone yelled as a group of people ran by the trio.

They each looked at each other and immediately started running with everyone else towards the gathering crowd; "All students fall in line! Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto of the Tenth Division are here for an inspection of the academy!" the head teacher yelled, and all the students got themselves into position.

Toshiro came walking through the gate with an annoyed look on his face. 'I can't believe Matsumoto talked me into this...she's too much like Yoruichi when it comes to getting me to do things I really don't want to do. They should have Soifon doing this...even though she isn't anymore of a people person then I am, she's still the new captain.' he thought as Matsumoto walked beside him with a large grin on her face.

"Aww come on Captain, at least give them a little smile!" she whispered as she herself gave all the students a warm smile.

But Toshiro held his icy stare; "Sorry Rangiku, you may have gotten me here but I have no intention of acting any differently then normal." he whispered back.

She giggled at him and gave him a slight nudge with her elbow, to which he just rolled his eyes and looked around at all the staring faces. They walked between the two lines of students while looking back and forth to try and catch all of their faces, halfway through the line they laid their eyes on Momo, Izuru and Renji. 'Wow, those two are like complete opposites, they almost seem like they'd never get along...but then again, opposites do attract.' Momo thought along with every other student staring at the duo.

Then..."Wow talk about 'When Opposites Attract' he he!" Renji said in his best announcers voice as Toshiro and Rangiku looked away, and all of the students within ear shot nodded in agreement.

But unfortunately, Hitsugaya was also in ear shot of him and instantly walked right up to Renji. Whom was now trying, but not succeeding in keeping himself calm due to the icy spirit energy the young captain was pouring on him; "What was that?" Toshiro questioned gazing upward at the tall man.

Even though Renji was looking down at the short Captain, he felt as if he was looking up at him from the bottom of a hundred foot cliff; "Oh come on Captain...he was just commenting on how despite how we seem like opposites, we still work well with each other!" Rangiku said as she caught up with him and nudging him with her elbow again.

Toshiro looked over at her with narrowed eyes, and when he looked back at Renji he narrowed his eyes even further, making the red head shiver in fright. "Was that all?" Toshiro questioned.

Renji quickly and frantically shook his head 'yes', Toshiro nodded and glanced at Izuru and Momo with a low level of interest...but interest nonetheless. He then looked at Rangiku and gestured for them to move on with his head, Renji sighed in relief as they finally walked far enough way for his own comfort.

"That was the scariest experience of my life, it was worse then facing all of those hollows!" Renji said as he wiped away the sweat that had seeped through his head band.

"Yeah, well...maybe you should just keep the comments to yourself!" Izuru said rolling his eyes at him.

"He does have a point, I was thinking the same thing, only I just kept it to myself." Momo said raising a brow at Renji, "What in the world possessed you to say that out loud?" she asked him.

"Well...I just didn't think anything of it, besides...I didn't think they would hear me!" he admitted sheepishly.

Izuru and Momo rolled their eyes, shook their heads, and shrugged in complete unison; 'And those two are just too much alike.' Renji thought smugly.

"So what Division are you two being assigned to?" Momo asked them, to which they both looked at their scrolls, "I'm going to the...Fourth?" Izuru said with a slightly raised brow.

"I'm going to the Eleventh!" Renji said, excitement apparent in his voice, Momo smiled at both of them; "How about you?" Izuru asked.

Momo opened up her scroll, "I'm going to the...Tenth." she said instantly looking over to Captain Hitsugaya's and Lieutenant Matsumoto's leaving figures.

Both men patted her on the back, "Good luck Hinamori!" they said in unison, while she was just stuck in a state of 'awe'.

'You can't be serious...although, if his Lieutenant is his complete opposite and gets along with him that well, I'm sure I'll get along just fine with him.' she thought, forming a small smile.

-A few hours later, at the Tenth Division-

"As all of you already know I am Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, and this is Lieutenant Matsumoto; we are your commanding officers and therefore...if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask!" Toshiro announced to all the staring faces.

"Yes Sir!" was the response from all present to which Toshiro nodded in approval, "Seventh Seat Takezoe!" he called and instantly a slightly tall man with short spiky black hair and brown eyes appeared on one knee; "Sir!".

"Take these new recruits around the barracks, so they can familiarize themselves with the division...we'll put them through the test after the tour." he said turning around towards the office building.

"Yes sir!" he said getting to his feet, and walked over to the new recruits; "If you'll follow me." he said gesturing for all of them to follow.

Momo turned back and watched as Captain Hitsugaya's Lieutenant ran after him calling his name in a sing-song type manner, which caused Momo to giggle slightly.

'He isn't Captain Aizen. But I think that he'll be a great Captain for me nonetheless.' she thought smiling wider.

-A few days later-

A large group of shinigami were gathered on Sokyoku Hill, all of whom were either wearing long white kimonos or normal shinigami outfits with a captains haori or just an ordinary white haori for special ceremonies; "We are gathered here today, to morn the death of Sixth Division Captain and Twenty Seventh Head of the Kuchiki Clan, Ginrei Kuchiki." the Head Captain said looking down at the casket which held said man inside.

"Though he has left from this life, he will once again be reborn into the world of the living. We will be seeing him again, whether it be in this life or the next. Good bye, my old friend." Yamamoto continued, as the slightest hint of a tear rolled down his cheek.

Everyone paid their respects to the Kuchiki family and left white roses on the casket as homage. The only two people that had yet to do so were; Byakuya and Toshiro, both of which stood side-by-side looking at their shared mentor. A few moments passed before they both walked up together, Byakuya laid a white rose on top of the rest and kneeled down with tears streaming down his face, while Toshiro put a hand on the young mans shoulder and closed his eyes.

"He asked me to look after you, and I will...no matter what." Toshiro said opening his eyes at the end.

Byakuya stood up, turned to face the white haired captain, and...smiled; "Thank you, Captain Hitsugaya." he said walking back towards his father and mother.

Toshiro watched him go, then turned back to the casket; "Thank you for everything Captain, and I will do the best of my ability to fulfill my promise. Good bye." he said holding out his hand as an ice flower suddenly appeared between his fingers.

He set it down next to Byakuya's, then rejoined the others as the Kuchiki family members encircled the casket, gripped the handles on the sides and lifted it up off the ground. They began walking across the hill, down the many steps and out towards the Kuchiki's cemetery grounds, with all of the shinigami following close behind.

As they reached the hole in which Ginrei was to be buried, Toshiro walked up closer to it and kneeled down; 'I'm sorry I never told you about Aizen and the other traitors, but at least you can rest at ease without the burden of knowing. I also make you this promise Captain; I will make sure to defeat them, no matter what the cost...I will never let them destroy everything that you strived to protect.' he thought with his eyes closed.

He then stood back up when they began lowering the casket into the ground. As they all watched this, Rangiku came over to Toshiro's side and placed a hand on his shoulder; "You alright Captain?" she asked with a gentle yet encouraging tone.

He looked up at her and nodded; "Yeah, thank you...Rangiku." he said looking away.

"Hmm, for what?" she asked somewhat confused.

"Being here with me." Toshiro said with a level of emotion that she had only heard twice since she had known him.

Rangiku smiled and closed her eyes contently; "There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be." she said dropping her hand from his shoulder and brushed it against his ice covered hand.

They looked at each other once more and smiled, then looked back at the group of people now beginning to fill in the hole with dirt. Rangiku took a quick glance at Toshiro and rested the back of her hand against his; 'This isn't exactly like holding hands...but I'll take whatever I can get.' she thought with a smirk that anyone would miss if they weren't staring.

'Thank you Captain Ginrei. Without you...my Captain may not have been the same way he is now, and heck I may not have even been here if it wasn't for that. So...thank you, very much.' Rangiku continued as the funeral ended and everyone began leaving.

"You can head back to the office if you want." Toshiro spoke up; "I'll be staying here for a little bit longer."

Matsumoto stayed right where she was and even pushed her hand further against his; "I'm staying for as long as you are, Captain." she claimed with a smile.

He looked up at her once more and returned her smile; "Thanks." he said closing his eyes and beginning a short prayer for his past friend.

* * *

Hmm, that was the very first time I ever wrote a funeral scene. I hope it wasn't too bad...and the little moment between Toshiro and Matsumoto wasn't exactly meant to be romantic, just an extra 'umph' for their relationship to take off. Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed...R&R.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23:**

-A few weeks later-

Toshiro was working in his office like usual, until he heard a soft knock on the door; "Come in." he called with a slight sigh.

"E-Excuse me." a small voice said as the door slid open.

Toshiro looked up from his paperwork and raised a brow at the very nervous looking girl holding a small stack of papers in her arms standing before him; 'I never thought I was that intimidating.' he thought with quick smirk that disappeared almost the same moment it came up on his face.

"So what is it you needed?" he asked sitting back in his chair and folding his icy claws together.

"I...I just came here to deliver these reports sir." she replied with a slight studder in the beginning.

"Thank you." Toshiro said with a nod; "So what's your name?" he asked as she walked over and laid the stack on his desk.

At first she looked at him with a shocked expression, but eventually gave a slight smile; "Momo Hinamori."

Toshiro nodded, stood up and stuck out his ice covered hand; "I know that its rather late, but...welcome to the squad." he said with an encouraging smile.

Momo smiled widely, took his hand in her own without even thinking and began shaking it happily; "Thank you sir!" she exclaimed smiling even wider.

"No problem." he said with a light chuckle; 'I'm surprised that she took my hand as quickly as she did. She didn't even hesitate...hmm, I guess she's a nice girl.' he thought with a light smile coming up on his face.

But suddenly she let go and bowed down on the ground to him; "I'm...I'm so sorry Captain! I got a little carried away!" she said without looking up at him.

Toshiro raised a brow, gave a very light laugh, walked over to her and helped her back to her feet; "Don't worry about it, your quite alright." he said with a slightly more gentle voice then normally used.

Momo looked slightly down at him and smiled widely once more; "Thank you sir. I suppose I'd better get-" "Captaaaaiiin!" Rangiku suddenly interrupted as she ran into the room.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto!" Hinamori said with a slight bow.

"Oh don't worry about titles...you can just call me Rangiku." she said waving her hand out in front of her and smiling widely.

"But I-" "You might as well go with it...you won't get very far trying to argue with her." Toshiro said turning back and walking to his desk.

"Oh hey! Your that Momo Hinamori right?" Rangiku asked looking at the young girl with interest.

"Um...yeah." she answered; "How did you know her name Rangiku?" Toshiro asked sitting back down and raising a brow.

"Are you kidding me Captain? She's the best kido user in our whole squad!" Rangiku exclaimed as if it were obvious.

"Then why didn't you ever inform me of this?" Toshiro asked rolling his eyes at her, already knowing the answer.

"Weellll...I kinda forgot. Sorry Hinamori." she apologized with a sheepish grin on her face.

"Oh that's ok, I didn't really want too much attention for it anyway." the young girl said with a smile.

"But why not? Your almost as good as I am, and I'm not too shabby with kido, if I say so myself." Rangiku claimed, going over to her and began patting her on the back.

"Plus, being as close as you are in anything that a Lieutenant can do is a major thing in itself." she continued as she looked over at Toshiro; "Don't you think she deserves a seated position, Captain?"

Toshiro looked from Hinamori to his lieutenant and nodded; "I actually do agree, how does the Tenth Seat sound?" he asked in a business type voice.

Momo's face light up as if she just received a gift from God; "That sounds fantastic! Thank you sooo much Captain!" she said running over to Toshiro and giving him a hug.

Hitsugaya just stood there, with a small smirk beginning to form on his face and eyes on Rangiku, whom had a look of accomplishment on her face. Then just like before, Momo pulled away quickly and bowed down; "I'm sorry again Captain. I hope you'll forgive me once more."

Toshiro sighed and put a hand on her shoulder; "I said it was alright, don't be so timid Hinamori. You don't need to be so nervous about your actions. Okay? Now go ahead and inform your squad members of your promotion, I'll be seeing you soon I'm sure." he said, once again with an encouraging smile and more gentleness in his voice then normal.

"Yes sir! Thank you Captain!" she said before bowing once more and walked out of the office.

"Hmm, you know...I'm glad you didn't tell her not to be so quite. Cause I would have had to say something about that." Rangiku said with a laugh.

"And that's exactly why I didn't say it." he claimed with a smirk; "So do you really think that she's ready for a seated position?"

Matsumoto slightly frowned and leaned over his desk; "Do you doubt my intuition?" she asked in a pout.

"Is that a trick question?" he asked back, leaning back in his chair once more; "Aww now that's just mean! I'm absolutely positive that she'll do fine!" she claimed with yet another pout.

"Alright, I'll believe you. Though I do wonder why you didn't tell me about her before now. If someone has potential of being promoted, I'd like to be the first to know." Toshiro said with a long stare at her.

Rangiku sighed and nodded; "Ok, I'll make sure to do that. Sorry, I don't really remember why I didn't though." she said as a sudden picture of being slightly buzzed during the squad practice went through her mind.

"Nope, I can't remember." she said with 'that' smile, which told him that she was hiding something from him.

"Is that so? Then why does it seem like you just don't want me to know?" he asked with a glance at the stack of papers Hinamori had left on his desk.

When no answer came, he turned back in her direction, only to find out she was no longer there; "Matsumoto!" he yelled out, as said woman went running down the street, trying to get as far as possible before he would even get out of his chair.

-A month later-

Toshiro sighed, 'It's been a little over thirteen years since that incident, and yet Aizen seems to have gone back to what everyone saw him as before. I haven't noticed a single thing since that night, I didn't expect to find much in the first place, he was able to fool me in the beginning, so why would it even make a difference even after I found out about his betrayal. But nothing? Absolutely nothing! Could he just be waiting for the right time? But why would he leave me out of his report to Central 46? What purpose could he have to just to leave me alone? Shouldn't I get in the way of his plans? Or does he intend to include me in them somehow? He told Hirako that because of his suspicion, it was a perfect environment for him to succeed in his plans. Is that similar to what he has in mind for me? I had told Isshin about Aizen's betrayal after he had been promoted to Captain of the Third a few months after that night, and even though he's gone now...we still have a better chance of stopping him when he decides to make his move. I also haven't received any word from Yoruichi or Kisuke since the day we split up, I wonder if they've had any progress on their side?' he pondered as he continued his paperwork.

"Hey Captain! Whatcha thinkin about?" Matsumoto asked as she lead over his desk and looked at him with a wide smile.

He looked at her with a raised brow and rolled his eyes, "Nothing you you need to know about." he said firmly.

"Aww, Captaaaaiiin! That's sooo mean!" she complained as she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.

"Hmph, whatever." he said returning to his paperwork.

"Captain!" a sudden voice called from the other side of the door, causing Toshiro to look at it as if it were the most evil hollow he set eyes on.

"What is it Hinamori?" he asked as the door slid open, revealing his newly appointed Sixth Seat Momo Hinamori.

"Aren't we going to go celebrate my new position? You promised Shiro-chan!" Momo said happily as she gestured them both to go with her out the door.

"I've repeatedly asked you not to call me Shiro-chan, Momo. Now can you please address me properly?" Toshiro asked with a sigh.

"Oh don't listen to him, I said that it was fine to call him that, so you can go ahead and do so. Plus, he's just grumpy cause he hasn't finished all the paperwork yet." Rangiku said waving her hand out in front of her for further emphasis.

'And I still can't believe that she is actually doing it too. For the first week, she was incredibly nervous and frigid around me, but now it seems as if we've been friends for years...she just grew on me somehow. But, now her and Rangiku had to come up with that stupid, childish nickname at one of there SWA meetings. Even though Rangiku rarely calls me that, she still encourages Momo to, and though it has seemed to boost her self esteem quite a bit...I'm not sure if I'm glad that she's more confident or annoyed that she calls me 'Shiro-chan' more then 'Captain'.' Toshiro thought with a slight twitch of his eye brow.

"So are you two coming or what?" the black haired girl asked smiling wider at the them.

"Of course!" Rangiku exclaimed happily as she grabbed her captain by his arm and started leading him out of the office.

As they made their way to the party in the Eighth Division, Toshiro heard many snickers and comments about his height compared to the two girls walking beside him. Even though he had been dealing with such things for many years, it still irked him a little bit to be still having such problems. Toshiro had grown a few inches over the years, he was now only two inches shy of being five feet tall. But regardless of this he was still shorter then Momo by an inch and a half, and shorter then Rangiku by an entire ten inches.

"God this is getting annoying." he whispered to himself as he glared at each shinigami that dared to look him in the eye for too long.

"What is?" Rangiku asked looking over at him with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Nothing, lets just get this thing done and over with...there's still much paperwork to be done." he said trying to change the subject.

And even though it seemed as though he would rather do work then go to the party...which he was beginning to consider. The fact was, he would usually mention paperwork if there was something that he didn't really want to talk about. Both women knew this all too well and just let the subject drop, "Well we better hurry! Otherwise you'll be late for your own party!" Matsumoto said looking at Hinamori and patting her on the back.

"Right! Come on Shiro-chan!" Momo called out as she and the strawberry blonde haired woman grabbed Toshiro by his icy wrists and hurried him the rest of the way.

'Hm, you two remind me too much of Yoruichi...which is both a good and a bad thing; its good cause I know that I'll always have you both as friends no matter what. But its bad cause...I end up missing her every single day that I see you both. Yoruichi...where are you?' he thought to himself rather sadly.

* * *

This is entirely different from the chapter I started with. I rewrote it in one night...I hope it's pretty good. :) And if you couldn't tell, I was focusing specificity on Momo and Toshiro's friendship. And even though I did skip some of their relationship, I decided that showing the beginning and a little bit after some time...but having a monologue for the in between was alright. And no, him thinking about that night was not random, but you'll find out later of what happened.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24:**

-Ten years later, at the Kuchiki Manor-

"He got married? Oh my gosh! I can't wait to meet her!" Rangiku exclaimed loudly and happily.

"You will Matsumoto. Just calm yourself while your here, I don't need you being thrown out because you were too loud." Toshiro said in annoyance.

"Aww, you'd never let them throw me out." she claimed with a proud look on her face and a light nudge to his shoulder.

"No, your right..." he began with a rather serious look, that even surprised Rangiku; "I'd throw you out myself." he finished, allowing a smirk to cross his lips.

Matsumoto all but fell over from his comment; "That's not nice Captaaaaiiin! I thought you were being a caring and loving Captain for a moment there. But as it turns out you were just being a mean and...unloving Captain!"

"Well would you prefer to be back at the office and doing the stack of paperwork that you tried to hide under 'my' desk?" Toshiro asked smirking.

Rangiku looked at him with a shocked expression, but shifted it to an oblivious one; "I don't what your talking about...if there's paperwork under 'your' desk, then its obviously ones that you just neglected to do."

"Uh huh. What would you rather be doing Matsumoto?" he asked hardening his gaze on her.

"Visiting Byakuya! Hands down!" she claimed without missing a beat.

Toshiro smirked and nodded; "Captain Hitsugaya...Lieutenant Matsumoto." Byakuya said as he suddenly appeared in the room.

"You know you can just call me Rangiku, we went to the academy together, even though you never said 'hi' to me, plus your gonna be a Captain soon...you can drop the honorifics." Matsumoto said waving her hand in front of her in dismissal and muttering her 'hi' comment.

"Hmm. Well I'd like for each of you to meet my wife; Hisana Kuchiki." Byakuya announced and stood aside to reveal said woman, completely ignoring the strawberry blonde's words.

Hisana looked at the two standing before her with nervousness throughout her whole body; "H-Hello, its an honor to meet you both." she said with a very silent and gentle voice.

"Aww, she's beautiful. You really did find yourself a great woman Byakuya." Rangiku said walking over to newly weds.

"Well, like he said I'm Matsumoto, Rangiku Matsumoto. Its great to meet you too." she continued with a wide smile on her face and slight bow.

Hisana smiled back and returned her bow; "Thank you, Matsumoto."

"Rangiku is fine." she corrected.

They both smiled at one another; "Can I steal your wife for a while Byakuya? I wanna take her out shopping." Rangiku said turning to said noble.

"As long as she's alright with that." was his response, to which Hisana nodded and was quickly dragged away by the strawberry blonde.

"He he, I'm glad you found yourself a good wife." Toshiro chuckled as he watched the two women leave.

"Yeah...oh, Captain Hitsugaya...there was something I wanted to ask you, or ask of you." the now taller man said.

"Hmm, and what's that?" Toshiro asked, going into a more serious tone.

"Will you help me train? I have learned all I can about zanjutsu and kido, but I do not know enough about hakuda yet. So I ask of you...will you teach me?" Byakuya asked suddenly taking a knee before the white haired captain.

Toshiro sighed and nodded his head; "Alright, I'll teach you...but hakuda requires quite a bit of discipline. Your going to have to overcome your emotions, you cannot allow yourself to be overwhelmed by them."

"I understand Captain Hitsugaya. I thank you for helping me." the black haired man said standing himself back up.

"Not at all. But...I do wonder how good your zanjutsu and kido really are. If I'm going to teach you any form of hakuda, then I'm gonna need you to prove to me that you truly have gone as far as you can with those." Toshiro explained.

"Yes sir." he responded with a nod; "We start tomorrow, but I'll make our sessions later on in the afternoon...so you can spend the day with your wife. Your married after all." Toshiro said with a smile.

Byakuya smiled back and glanced off to where his wife had left with his friends lieutenant; "That sounds good." he mumbled to himself.

-The next evening-

"You are indeed quite skilled in zanjutsu and kido, I would expect nothing less from a Kuchiki." Toshiro commented as he stared upon the panting man with a calm and composed look.

Byakuya stared at him for a few moments and sighed; "You say that I am skilled, yet you have yet to break a sweat against me."

"You cannot expect to be at the same level as me after such a short time. Besides...there is one thing that I'd like to teach you on kido before going into hakuda." Toshiro began narrowing his eyes on him.

"What would that be?" Byakuya asked with a raised brow as he calmed his breathing.

Toshiro lightly smirked and closed his eyes briefly; "How to absorb and deflect kido." he finish simply.

"Absorb and deflect...kido?" the black haired hair echoed in confusion.

"Yes, something that I discovered during my first few years as a Captain." Toshiro started looking down at a frozen hand.

"But its a very dangerous technique...the slightest thing wrong can lead to you going to the Forth a very long time, or even death." he continued.

Byakuya's eyes became wide for a moment; "But if its done correctly, it can save your life. The trick is, being able to release more spirit energy then the amount that your opponent is using to cast the spell. What you do is; you absorb the kido by casting the same spell without actually releasing it, all your doing is unleash the power to cast it, then in turn the spell will be absorbed and then be casted twice as strong as the original." Toshiro explained.

"Mind you this technique is normally accomplished through another called; Shunko. But you are able to accomplish this with or without it, so I will teach you how this is done without showing you Shunko." he finished as Byakuya raised a brow.

"Why wouldn't you want to show me Shunko?" he asked with a questionable look.

Toshiro let out a sigh; "Its too dangerous, and your far from ready for it." was all he was willing to say.

"Now, show me your most powerful Way of Destruction spell." Toshiro said changing the subject back to the task at hand.

"Very well...Way of Destruction No. 33: Sokatsui!" Byakuya called as he extended his arm and a bright blue lightning bolt shot from the palm of his hand.

The bolt hurled towards Toshiro, whom stayed right where he was and even smirked lightly. Then just as the spell was about it hit him, he extended his own hand and released a somewhat small portion of his spirit energy. But what was small for him, was quite a large amount for Byakuya, whom had a look of shock as the blue bolt hit Toshiro's hand and was literally absorbed by it. Toshiro smirked wider, then pointed his hand towards the sky and shot the now twice as big lightning bolt into a cloud overhead, causing it to explode and disperse.

"Incredible...yet utterly impossible. How can it be possible to do that?" Byakuya questioned silently.

"Oh believe me, you won't be getting this overnight. It'll take months if not years for you to perfect it, and it won't be as easy as merely absorbing and deflecting either. You'll need to figure out what spell they'll cast, before they even cast it...cause if you unleash the wrong type of energy for the wrong type of kido, it can kill you." Toshiro explained with an icy voice and a hardening gaze.

"So not only concentrate on releasing more spirit energy then the kido spell itself, but also study the movements that come before it is casted, so you will know what spell it is before they are able to fully cast it. Understand?" he finished.

The noble man nodded; "Yes Captain Hitsugaya, I understand."

"Good, I will use a low level Shakkaho, and I want you to deflected it." Toshiro claimed as he lifted his hand up and instantly casted the spell without any incantation at all.

Byakuya was shocked at first, but did precisely what he was told and was once again shocked to see that he had indeed absorbed the attack. He lightly smirked and pointed his hand at the other captain and shot the doubled spell back. Toshiro sighed, pointed his pointer finger and middle finger at he large red ball, just as it came into contact with his fingers, it was suddenly sucked into them. He then lifted up his opposite hand in a similar fashion and shot an even larger Shakkaho through his two fingers.

The black haired man stared in shock as an enormous red ball came hurling towards him; "Impossible." he mumbled as he jumped out of the way and watched as a ten foot deep and forty foot long hole was made in the ground.

"That comes to my last point about using this; if your fighting someone who is much stronger then yourself, do not use this. You cannot win using kido if they possess a higher spirit energy then you. But this technique will greatly improve your strength, so make sure to train yourself even when I am not here to help." Toshiro said narrowing his eyes even further.

"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya." Byakuya said with a nod.

"Come on you guys! The tea is ready!" Rangiku called from one of the windows of the manor.

"You really shouldn't interrupt their training, Byakuya is very fixed on becoming stronger." Hisana's gentle voice said, attempting to make the two men ignore the strawberry blonde.

"We're on our way!" Toshiro called back; "Come on, you've learned enough today...we'll continue tomorrow."

"Alright." Byakuya agreed and began walking with Toshiro towards the entrance, where three women were waiting.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought Hinamori with us." Rangiku said, patting the younger girl on the back with a large smile.

"Not at all." both Toshiro and Byakuya said at the same time, which cause the women to begin laughing and giggling at them.

After they had finished their laughing fit, they all sat themselves down around a table and began drinking tea; "So what was that huge explosion all about?" Hinamori asked with a questionably innocent look, causing both men to almost choke on their tea and the other two women to once again start laughing.

* * *

I decided to go with Byakuya for this chapter...he needs some more air time, lol. Anyway, the idea of being able to absorb and deflect kido was something that kind of came to me for no particular reason, but I liked the thought of it so I put it in this story. And btw, Ginrei's funeral scene was the only one that I'm going to have more then likely, so I won't be writing one for Hisana...I'd like to, but writing an even more depressed Byakuya doesn't sit too well with me. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, make sure to press the little button below and leave a long or short comment. :)


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25:**

-Seven years later-

'The day Momo told me that she would give anything to be just like 'Captain Aizen' was one that I tried to ignore, it was during the first week that I had known her, so I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was nothing more then just a temporary fad that she was going through, but now...I'm not so sure. She had been asking a lot of questions about him lately, but ever since Byakuya's wife died, I had my hands full most of the time. But when I realized that she was still interested in being in his squad...I couldn't help but feel like she was beginning to slip away from me. And my suspicions rose when I discovered that Aizen was starting to search for a new lieutenant, and before I knew it...she was my Third Seat and already excepted the transfer into his squad. I knew that this just a ploy for Aizen to get to me, but I couldn't help feeling somewhat betrayed by this. I had been her Captain for seventeen years, yet she just seemed to drop me the first chance she got. I tried to be supportive in any and every way possible, yet anytime Aizen came along she just seemed to forget I was there. I was angry at Aizen, but I was mostly angry at myself, for not being able to tell her about the truth of who Aizen really was, and not being able to protect her against him. And now she was at his mercy quite literally.'

"Are you completely sure that this what you wish to do, Hinamori?" Toshiro asked her as she packed the last of her belongings into a small burlap sack.

"Of course Captain, its what I've always wanted!" she said happily, tying the bag at the top and swinging it over her shoulder.

'I guess there's no talking her out of it.' Toshiro thought to himself with a sigh. "Alright then, just be careful out there ok?" he said with a slight smirk.

Momo smiled back at him; "Don't worry Captain, I've got Captain Aizen looking out for me, he'll protect me just like how you did I'm sure!" she said giving him a nod.

Toshiro nodded back at her, "Yeah. Well, good luck...Lieutenant Hinamori." he said sticking out his ice covered hand.

She looked from his hand to his face, then ran up and hugged him; "Thank you...Shiro-chan, for everything...I'll see you around ok." she said releasing him and giving him an even wider smile.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." he said with a slight smirk, then she ran off to the Fifth Division, with the same large smile on her face.

"Good luck...Momo." he repeated with a last glance before disappearing with a shunpo.

-A few days later-

Rangiku sat at her desk, supposedly doing paperwork like her captain, but she was fidgeting in her seat restlessly. "You really should concentrate on your work Rangiku." Toshiro spoke up suddenly, making said woman to jump in her seat.

"But I'm hungry Captain...can't we just stop for a little while? I'll go get us some lunch and we can continue after we eat. Pleeeeaaaaaasse?" she pleaded with a perfect pouting face.

"Hmm, finish that page that you've been working on for the last half hour, then you can go get lunch." Toshiro said with a roll of his eyes and a sigh.

Rangiku squealed loudly and wrote down a few more words on the sheet and quickly ran out of the office. Toshiro looked at the door and sighed again; "I wonder if she had that planned out?" he wondered to himself with a faint hint of a smirk.

He didn't even have time to finish the next sheet of paperwork before Rangiku came running back into the office with three fairly large boxes, no doubt filled with all different types of food. "Here you go Captain!" she exclaimed loudly and happily, placing one of the boxes on the paper.

"Thank you Rangiku...but next time, don't put it on the paperwork." Toshiro said calmly, yet irritably.

She nodded and sat down on his desk and placed the other box in her lap; "Must you sit and eat on my desk?" he asked closing his eyes and opening the box.

"Well, that depends of how you want to look at it...if you say do I have to; then no. But if you ask if I want to; then yes." she claimed with a wide smile and grabbing a half sandwich.

"Hmph, whatever. Why do you have three boxes? There's only two of us here." Toshiro asked and grabbed a half sandwich as well with an icy grip.

"Its a surprise Captain, I wanted you to try one of favorite foods." she said with yet another wide smile.

Toshiro stared at her for a moment but decided that he would just let it go. They sat, talked and ate for a good ten minutes, before all of the food in their boxes was consumed; "So...are you ready for what I've got in store?" Rangiku asked hold up the last box in front of him.

"Whatever, just open it already." Toshiro said resting his head on his palm.

She quickly complied and held it out to him to look inside; "Watermelon!" she exclaimed.

"Watermelon?" Toshiro echoed with a raised brow.

"Yep! They're delicious Captain! Go ahead! Try one!" she said moving the box closer to him.

Toshiro sighed, rolled his eyes, reached in, grabbed one of the slices and chilled it with his touch; "Alright fine." he said bringing it to his nose and sniffing it.

"Come on...its not poisonous or anything." Rangiku said eagerly, getting closer to him with large waiting eyes.

He raised a brow at it and bit into the red fruit with an annoyed groan. His first reaction was his normal uncaring look, but then it changed to that of surprise and finally to a rather happy look. Something that made Rangiku smile so wide that she looked like she discovered the greatest thing in her life. But when Toshiro regained his composure, so did she; "So?" she asked, but already knowing the answer.

"It was...quite delicious." he said with a very rare wide smile.

"Told you." she claimed with a similar smile.

Toshiro went back to a mere smirk, but the feel of happiness was still there; "How many did you bring?" he asked looking into the box once more.

Rangiku giggled at him and smiled even further; "Four for you and four for me...but since you like them so much, I'll let you have five."

He smirked back at her for a moment before he suddenly went back to his uncaring look, he then cleared his throat and turned his head away; "T-That's nice, but I'm fine with just two."

She began giggling at him with an enormous smile and a very accomplished expression; "If you say so Caaptaiiiin." she said drawing out his title like a song lyric.

Toshiro looked over at her and narrowed his eyes; "What?" she asked innocently.

He continued his stare for a few seconds, but just turned away once more and took another bite out of the watermelon slice. He almost went back into his 'happy' expression, but caught himself when he saw Rangiku staring at him with an expecting look. When she saw that he wasn't going to make that adorable look again, she cursed herself for not bringing a camera with her, but decided just to start on her own slices of watermelon.

Unfortunately Toshiro had finished both of his slices before Rangiku had finished her first, so just to make him see how stubborn he was being, she started eating slower. And on top of that, she began making silent moans to try and goad him into wanting another, but just when he was about to leave and get away from her...he reached out and grabbed a slice; "Fine, I'll have another one." he said in defeat.

Rangiku smiled, nodded, silenced herself and continued eating in silence; "I'm glad you like them Captain." she said quietly yet sincerely.

Toshiro looked at her with slightly widened eyes, but smirked all the same; "Thanks Rangiku." he said returning back to his new favorite food.

* * *

I needed to get Hinamori into Aizen's squad, so I went with a transfer. I also had to figure out how to fit watermelon with Toshiro, cause we all know that its not Toshiro till he's had some watermelon. XD

Anyway, I think that I'll have just one more 'filler' chapter...the next one will feature Rukia and Kaien, after that will come the Soul Society arc. I hope you all enjoyed this, please review.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26:**

-Two years later, at the Kuchiki manor-

"Your sister huh?" Toshiro said as he gazed upon Rukia, the same way he did with Hisana.

"Yes, I have adopted her into the family as my step-sister." Byakuya said with a nod.

Toshiro sighed somewhat sadly, looking at the ground briefly as he did so; "Welcome Rukia Kuchiki, I'm Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya." he said holding out his icy hand.

Rukia was just standing there for a moment just looking at the white haired captain and the ice covering his neck, hands and feet with wide eyes. But she snapped out of her daze quickly, then gladly took his hand and shook it with much enthusiasm; "Thank you sir, I greatly appreciate it." she said with a slight bow.

"No problem, any sister of Byakuya's is welcome to me." Toshiro said with a light smirk and a nod.

Byakuya hid a sad smile as he watched them shake hands, but he kept himself calm and cleared his throat after their hands/claws parted; "Captain Hitsugaya, may I make a request?"

Toshiro looked at him and narrowed his eyes; "What type of request is it?" he asked in a chilling voice that sent shivers up Rukia's spine.

"I know that your squad has filled all positions it can at the moment, so I request that you mentor Rukia as you did for me. And when you feel she is worthy, I'd like for you to except her in the Onmitsukido." Byakuya said as if he rehearsed it.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on the noble, then turned his attention to Rukia, whom looked rather shocked at her step-brother. At first Toshiro was questionable of why he would request his last statement, but then he thought about how protective he was over Hisana. 'If he was willing to go through my training to protect her, then I can only imagine that he'd want Rukia even more protected. And what better way of protection then having the largest group of assassins in all of Soul Society on your side.' he thought before nodding.

"Very well, I'll teach her...we'll start tomorrow with zanjutsu." Toshiro said looking from one to the other.

"B-But I'm already taking lessons from Lieutenant Shiba." Rukia voiced, almost too scared to say anything that disagreed with either of them.

"Then you will tell Lieutenant Shiba that-" "We will both be teaching you from now on." Toshiro interrupted Byakuya, which surprised him.

"I am on good terms with Kaien, he won't mind...and neither do I." Hitsugaya explained with a hard stare at the black haired man.

Byakuya nodded his head in agreement, not wanting to even come close to upsetting or going against the young 'looking' captain; "Yes, Captain Hitsugaya."

Toshiro nodded as well and looked over at Rukia; "I'll see you both tomorrow, at the Second Division training grounds." he said turning around and walking away.

"Second..Division?" she questioned with wide eyes, which cause Toshiro to stop walking, but not to turn around.

"Yes, theirs is the largest one in the Seireitei, plus I need to speak with Soifon any way, see you there." he said taking a quick glance at her before shunpoing away.

"They do? Hmm, I suppose that makes sense...but I do wonder what he has to talk with Captain Soifon about." Rukia said out loud, mostly to herself.

-Next day, at the Second Division training grounds-

"Wonder where Captain Hitsugaya is?" Rukia asked as she and Kaien stood in the middle of the field just looking around.

"Not sure, but knowing him...he's probably fairly close." the tall Shiba said with a smirk on his face.

Suddenly out of no where, Soifon appeared a few feet from them. She looked at them with an annoyed glance and turned away with her arms crossed; "I'm guessing Captain Hitsugaya isn't here yet." she said in a bit of a huff.

"And what makes you say that?" a voice spoke from behind Rukia and Kaien, which caused everyone to almost jump from shock.

"C-Captain..Hitsu..gaya." Soifon studdered out and kneeled down; "I apologize speaking your name in such a disrespecting tone! Please forgive me Captain Hitsugaya!"

Toshiro looked at her for a moment and smirked lightly; "She still haven't changed one bit." he whispered to himself and waved at her dismissively, allowing her to stand back up.

Kaien turned around and stuck out his hand; "Long time no see, eh? Toshiro?" he said with a smile.

Soifon looked like she was about to attack the lieutenant from him calling their superior by anything other then his title, but Toshiro gave her a quick glace and she calmed down; "Indeed it has, Kaien...so how's your brother and sister doing?" he asked, taking Kaien's hand into his own.

"Not too bad, I'm sure Kukaku is doing better then Ganju of course." Kaien said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I can only imagine." Toshiro agreed with a silent chuckle.

"Wow...how come your ice doesn't feel cold?" the taller man asked in astonishment, releasing Toshiro's hand and staring at his own.

"I can control how people feel the ice...I can make it feel so cold, you'd get frost bite...or I can make it feel somewhat warm." Toshiro claimed in a somewhat proud tone.

"That's cool! You have that much control over your spirit energy? And Hyorinmaru? That's incredible!" Kaien exclaimed, widening his smile.

"Hmm, well...why don't you and Rukia get started in your training for now. I need to speak with Soifon for a moment." Toshiro said simply, walking over to his fellow captain.

Kaien nodded, turned to Rukia and smiled; "You ready?" he asked, and was answered with a nod.

"What was it that you wished to speak with me about? Captain Hitsugaya?" she asked as he came within a few feet of her and stopped.

"I want you to check something out for me." he started, hardening his gaze so she would know to pay close attention.

"I want you to personally check out someone called Shusuke Amagai, he's one of our own from the Onmitsukido. But don't make your presence known to him, just find out everything you can...about him and anyone he may be connected to. And I also want you to send three squads to investigate the Kasumioji clan...make sure they don't report to any one but the two of us." he finished.

Soifon was somewhat shocked at the sudden distrust towards one of his own comrades and an entire clan, which happened to be one of the richest and most powerful in all of Soul Society. "As you command Captain Hitsugaya, but would you mind if I asked; what all of it is for?" she asked, too driven with curiosity to just let it slide without even a small explanation.

"I have a bad feeling about Amagai's and the Kasumioji clans future intentions." he stated firmly with narrowed eyes.

Soifon nodded, completely yet blindly trusting his judgment; "I will be sure to do as you command Captain Hitsugaya." she said with a bow.

"You know Soifon...we are both Captain's now, you can call me Hitsugaya if you want." Toshiro said with a raised brow, but also a light smirk.

"Yes...I know, Captain Hitsugaya." she said without any hint of doubt in her voice.

Toshiro raised his brow higher and allowed a full smirk to cross his lips; 'I wonder if this is her way of making a joke?' he thought with a silent chuckle.

"Good luck Soifon." he said with a nod, to which she lightly blushed, nodded back and vanished with a shunpo.

"I still don't understand why she blushes...oh well." he said turning around to face the pair already training; "Alright now..." he called out, gaining their attention.

Toshiro smirked lightly, shunpoed in between them, grabbed and unsheathing Hyorinmaru, and held it out to his right side; "Are you both ready?" he asked looking from one to the other.

Kaien had a nervous expression at first, but it changed to a smirk as he spoke; "Your not planning to train me as well are you? The two of us were supposed to be training Rukia here."

"That maybe true, but I would like to know what level your at as well." Toshiro claimed with a dangerous looking smirk, which caused the other two to sweat drop.

"I-Is that so? W-Well I suppose we should abide by what the Captain says, eh Rukia?" Kaien started with a smile on his face as he circled around said girl and suddenly pushed her forward; "You first!" he finished, immediately taking three steps backward.

"L-Lieutenant!" was all she could manage before she looked to the white haired captain and was at a loss of what to say.

"Don't worry...I'm not as bad as some people may say, not completely anyway." Toshiro said, the last part being added as if an after thought, but it only made Rukia even more hesitant and even a little frightened.

"Tch, trust me Rukia...by the time your finished with my training, you'll be powerful enough to become a Lieutenant yourself." Toshiro continued with a light yet still somehow icy smirk.

Rukia smiled widely and nodded happily; "Thank you Captain Hitsugaya." she said getting ready for the spar, still with her bright smile on her face.

* * *

'I never thought for a moment back then, that she'd have to kill her own Lieutenant, not two weeks after that day. I knew that she would never be the same, but I still had hope that she would be able to pull through it one way or another. Though after a few months, she looked like she had begun to forgive herself...she was actually still trying to cope. I attempted to help her out by telling her to go and find closure in apologizing to Kukaku and Ganju, whom I had told the situation to the day after it happened. But she just avoided it completely and after a while...she began avoiding me as well. And it was because of that, I didn't realize that Aizen had sent her to the World of the Living...until it was too late.'

* * *

Yes that last part was added as a thought from some time in the future. I'm skipping ahead to the Soul Society arc next chapter so I didn't want to linger on that part of the story. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please review.


	27. Chapter 27

Sorry about the long wait, I along with almost every other person had a problem getting to their stories to update them. If your still having this problem, then do just this; change the word 'properties' to 'content' in the URL. That'll fix it. :)

* * *

**Chapter 27:**

-68 years later, The beginning of the Soul Society arc.-

'Many more years have past and still no word of any of my old friends, I have come to except the fact that I may never see them again, so I suppose it doesn't bother me anymore. But now I'm faced a bigger problem; Rukia has been arrested for giving her shinigami powers to a human, I've known her for a while and well enough to know that she would have had a good reason for doing such an action. Yet the thing that shocked me the most was the fact that Byakuya, did not attempt to argue when Central 46 decided to go with the death sentence for her punishment. He had told me the promises he made between his parents to up hold the law and the promise he made to his dead wife to protect Rukia. I had believed that he would more likely choose the latter then the former, but it looks like I'm not doing as well with my own promise then I thought I was. But the thing that bothered me the most was the fact that Central 46 wanted her to be executed in the first place, it made me very suspicious of the whole thing and the events that were to come. Has the time finally arrived? Is he going to make his move? But why now? Why, when I already have Jin and the rest of the Bounts to worry about.'

Toshiro was walking aimlessly around the Seireitei, and was just twenty yards from the Western Gate when he heard a loud booming sound and a deep grunt on the other side, 'What the hell... is someone trying break into the Seireitei?' he thought raising a brow at the utter stupidity of the idea.

Then as he heard a few voices on the other side and tried to listen in, he suddenly felt a familiar spiritual pressure and concentrated more on that then the people talking. He glanced around on the roof tops, till he found who he was looking for, it was...Gin Ichimaru; 'What the hell does he want?' he asked himself bitterly.

But he didn't have time to contemplate anymore because the gate suddenly began to open, which revealed the gate keeper Jidanbo Ikkanzaka and behind him were a group of...children? 'Really? Is Jidanbo really becoming that weak that he's getting beat by a group of kids? And why in the hell is he opening the gate for them in the first place? Even if he lost in combat, he should not be allowing them through.' Hitsugaya questioned as he glared at each of the 'intruders' at the gate.

'The orange haired one seems to be quite powerful, but he's no match for a high level Lieutenant, although...he does seem a bit familiar somehow. That large dark skinned one is obviously for brute strength, the young girl could possibly a healer, the young man in white seems kind of familiar as well...is it the outfit? Maybe. He reminds me of those Quincys. And to top it all off there's a black cat? Seriously? What in the hell are they-Wait a minute, A BLACK CAT!' he thought as his full attention was turned to the small cat, whom was staring at each of its comrades.

'Could it really be? Is it actually her?' he continued becoming fairly wide eyed at the cat.

The cat itself seemed to suddenly stare right at him in what seemed to be...panic? Then it looked over at the orange haired one and spoke, "Ichigo, fall back!"

'So it is. That really is her.' he thought now beginning to narrow his eyes at her, without giving any of the others a single glance.

"What? Why?" the one named Ichigo asked in confusion.

"That is one of the Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, you don't stand a chance against him!" Yoruichi said in a rather frantic voice.

"Huh?" Ichigo asked with a brow raised apparently not entirely understanding why Yoruichi would be so worried all of a sudden.

"He's too powerful for you Ichigo, he'll kill you before you can blink an eye!" she yelled at him.

Ichigo glanced back at Toshiro, whom had finally decided to look at this 'strawberry' who decided to 'waltz' right into the Seireitei; "Just back away Ichigo!" Yoruichi commanded.

Toshiro was about to just let them go, but then he remembered that Gin was watching him, 'Damn if I don't take some sort action he's gonna report me and then no one will believe me when I actually get evidence against him. But if I do take action whatever Yoruichi had planned will go right out the window...sorry Yoruichi, but I'm sure that you have some sort of back up plan...you always do anyway.' he thought as he took on a more icy glare at them.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave so easily." he said with so much ice in his voice that it chilled everyone's spines, then caused Ichigo to glare back at him and Yoruichi to become as wide eyed as her cat eyes could go.

But Toshiro was just glaring at Ichigo with an extremely icy look, "Well if we can't go back...then I guess we have no choice but to go forward!" Ichigo said as he suddenly leaped toward the short captain.

"Ichigo! NO!" Yoruichi yelled, but he was already within a few feet of Toshiro and swinging his sword at him.

Then as Ichigo's sword made contact with Toshiro's ice 'neck guard', Ichigo noticed that the ice itself never cracked or chipped, but was grinding against his blade as if it was made of the same material. Ichigo's eyes became wide in disbelief while Toshiro just glared up at him, and before he could react, Toshiro raised his hand and flicked him in the gut. The simple act had made Ichigo's body to jerk back into the air by a full foot, as he coughed up a good amount blood and make him stare in amazement at the raw strength the young looking captain possessed before he bent over from the pain. Then Toshiro grabbed him by the face with an icy hand; "PLEASE DON'T TOSHIRO!" Yoruichi pleaded.

Toshiro took a quick glance at the 'cat' and gave it hard glare, then Toshiro looked towards the gate keeper, stepped forward and effortlessly threw Ichigo right into Jidanbo. Which made both of them fly backward a hundred feet through the town behind them, which in turn caused the gate begin falling instantly, but just before it completely closed, Toshiro stared one last time at Yoruichi, with a look that was very foreign...even to her. He looked hurt, betrayed, and sad; then he closed his eyes and turned away as the gate slammed shut and closed the two friends off once again.

-Outside the gate-

"Oh my god! How can anyone have such enormous strength?" Uryu demanded in fright from what he had just seen.

But Yoruichi just stared at the shut gate with a sad look on her cat face, not even bothering to answer his question; "He just threw Ichigo straight into that guy and they both flew back a hundred feet away!" Uryu continued his rant.

Ichigo got off the giant and started making his way over to the others, "Who the hell was that guy anyway?" Ichigo demanded rather angrily, as he grabbed his stomach in pain.

Yoruichi turned to him angrily, "He's Toshiro Hitsugaya! Captain of the Tenth Division of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads! Commander of the Onmitsukido! And one of the greatest shinigami to ever live! Don't you dare talk about him as if he's an enemy!" she yelled as she narrowed her eyes on him.

He looked at her with a shocked look, but changed to a solemn one as he spoke, "So you do know him."

If she hadn't been in her cat form she would have blushed at that, but she just turned away and looked at the gate once more; "Who is he to you?" Ichigo asked carefully.

"He's..we're...*sigh*...we were comrades, the duel Commanders of the Onmitsukido in fact, we were...best friends." she said lowering her head.

Each of them looked at her with a level of sadness, "Why did you say 'were' for being best friends? He wouldn't throw it away just like that would he?" Orihime asked in her all-too-gentle voice.

Yoruichi just kept her gaze on the gate; "The look he gave me...it was like I had just betrayed him, he showed me all the sadness he felt during the whole time that I was gone with that one look." she said with sorrow in her voice, 'And its breaking my heart.' she added mentally.

They each looked at one another with sad faces, but Orihime spoke up once again, "Don't worry Yoruichi-san, I'm sure that the time you two spent together was enough to keep you both friends till the end right?" she said happily trying to cheer her up.

Smiling in agreement, they each nodded to one another, even Yoruichi; "Yeah, your right. I think that no matter what...he'll always be the little Ice Prince that I know he is." she said with a laugh.

They all began to laugh at the rather 'interesting' nickname she had used for someone who had so easily thrown them out of the Seireitei; "Come on...there's more then one way to enter the Seireitei, and I think I know just the person who can help us out." Yoruichi said confidently as she turn and began walking away from the gate.

But she glanced one last time over her shoulder; 'I'll see you soon Toshiro, I promise. And hopefully it'll be on better terms.' she thought before noticing a large group of people from the town coming towards them.

-Inside the gate-

Toshiro had his back to the gate and eyes still closed, "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, seemingly to no one, but then Gin appeared in a shunpo.

"So ya did notice me?" he said with his signature smile.

Toshiro just nodded, "Its hard not to...especially when I know your spiritual energy almost as well as my own." he claimed with a glare.

"Hmm, is that so...well then, I s'ppose I'll try an' get betta at maskin' my spiritual pressure, eh?" Gin said smiling even wider showing his teeth.

But Toshiro hardened his glare, "Probably." he said before disappearing in a shunpo, which only cause Ichimaru to smile even wider...which seemed quite impossible, but he did it.

Toshiro made it back to his own division and immediately went into his office, 'What are you doing here, Yoruichi? Why of all times do you feel the need to come back? And what are you helping them with?' he thought as he sat down in his chair.

'Are you here to save Rukia? Or is it just by coincidence that your here around the same time? Who are those children that your with? And why does that Ichigo remind me of someone I used to know?' he continued his thought.

'Damn, what am I supposed to do? Why don't you ever tell me anything Yoruichi? You just want me to trust you without any knowledge of what I'm supposed to trust you with...how you end up getting me to do it in the first place is quite a mystery to me.' Toshiro then closed his eyes and sighed.

-Later on the next day-

The young captain was sitting behind his desk organizing the already finished paperwork when a sudden alarm began to sound; "Attention all squad Commanders! Attention all squad Commanders! Now calling together an emergency squad leader meeting!"

Toshiro looked out the widow of his office and glared out towards the First Division; 'What the hell? Are they back already? I didn't think that Yoruichi was that reckless.' he thought as a hell butterfly flew in and landed on his desk.

_'Captain Hitsugaya, we have been called to the First Division for a meeting with the Head Captain later on tonight. He wishes for you to explain your actions against the intruders.' _its message said with Soifon's voice.

Toshiro raised a brow and dismissed the butterfly; 'Hmm, she must have had an operative in the area, cause I haven't told anyone about it. What am I gonna say at the meeting? I can't let them know about Yoruichi, it would make the situation a whole lot worse. If I'm gonna do this...I better get it done now.' he thought as he got up and shunpoed away.

-Later on that night-

Toshiro ended up being a little late in getting to the meeting, he stood in front of the large set of doors that held the insignia of 'First Division' on it. He then easily pushed the doors open and heard the Head Captain's voice immediately; "Your here!" he said with his old yet demanding voice.

"Head Captain." Toshiro greeted him with the slightest hint of resentment, "So what is this meeting been called for?" he questioned, as each of the other captains looked at him with a mixture of looks.

At the front of the room; The Head Captain had a look of disappointment like he normally did towards him. On the left side; Soifon had a questioning expression, Unohana looked deep in thought, Byakuya had yet to open his eyes, Kyoraku had his signature grin, and Mayuri had very suspicious smirk on his face. While on the right side; Ichimaru was merely smiling a normal smile, Aizen had a questioning look that hid his knowing one, Komamura's was hidden by his helmet, Tosen had a blank expression, and Kenpachi was just looking bored but seemed to become interested as Toshiro came into the room.

"Why didn't you just kill them? Isn't that what your supposed to do whenever there is an intruder?" Kenpachi asked rather suspiciously.

Toshiro glared up at the man, "They did not present themselves as a threat, therefore I did not see the point in taking their lives." he spoke simply.

But then Mayuri began to chuckle; "Do you really think that we will believe you? You are one of the most brutal Captains among us, especially when it comes to traitors and deserters, and you honestly believe that we're going to fall for something as simple as, 'they presented no threat'? Ha! How low of IQ's do you think that we...most of us have!" he corrected himself, shooting a glance at Kenpachi.

"What was that, you little worm? If you want to find out how well your IQ does against my blade...I'll be more then willing to show you!" Kenpachi declared glaring at the opposing man.

"Enough!" the Head Captain demanded, "Your previous actions against the ryoka was rather unlike you Captain Hitsugaya, and therefore I would like an explanation of your reasoning!" he continued.

Toshiro closed his eyes and nodded, "Like I said before; I did not see them as a threat. I had defeated the strongest in the group with extreme ease so I doubt that even if they were able to get inside the Seireitei none of them would stand a chance against even a low level Lieutenant." Toshiro said opening his eyes at the end.

Each of the captains nodded, "Wait..." someone spoke up, Toshiro looked over to the source and noticed Aizen step forward, "I would like to ask Captain Ichimaru here, of why he did not inform anyone of being present at the incident in question." he asked glancing at Ichimaru.

'What the hell? Why is he trying to get one of his own into trouble? What the hell is he thinking? Unless...could this is part of his plan? Make everyone distrust Ichimaru while Aizen goes unnoticed? Is that it?' Toshiro thought hardening his gaze on Aizen.

"The only reason why we were able to find out about this is because one of Soifon's and Hitsugaya's Stealth Force members." Aizen continued with fake suspicion.

Ichimaru smiled wider and tilted his head, "Well I came ta the same conclusion tha' he did, so...why would I report it?" he said showing his teeth in his grin.

"Aren't you supposed to report any and all sightings of an intruder that make their way into the Seireitei?" Aizen speculated.

Ichimaru just shrugged, "I s'ppose..." he said looking at everyone now beginning to stare at him, "Your all lookin' at me sif I did somethin' wron'." he continued, sounding somewhat innocent.

"Well Captain Hitsugaya has something of an excuse...you on the other hand seems to have just gone along with whatever everyone else says, that in itself seems rather suspicious." Soifon spoke up.

Everyone except for Ichimaru and Hitsugaya nodded, 'Damn it! They're all falling right into his trap! Shit!' Toshiro screamed in his mind, but then...

"Emergency Alert! Emergency Alert! Intruders Have Infiltrated The Seireitei! All Squads Take Defensive Positions!" the alarm sounded as each of them looked around at each other and then at the Head Captain.

"This meeting is dismissed! Return to your squads and ready them for battle!" he said, before all the captains made their way out.

Only Aizen, Ichimaru and Hitsugaya stayed behind, Toshiro walked over to them with an icy glare; "Trying to the draw the attention away from yourself, huh? Pretty good idea, but you'll never keep at least one set of eyes off you...unless your dead." he said glaring at Aizen, and then turned around and began walking out.

"Thank you for the advice, Captain Hitsugaya." Aizen said with a slight smile on his face, Toshiro stopped and looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes.

'Don't tell me that I literally gave him a piece of advice! What the hell are you planning now Aizen?' he thought walking out of the room.

He went back to his division and immediately told everyone the situation, except for Matsumoto, whom was no where in sight; "She should be back from her own meeting by now." he said out loud, walking into his office and sitting in his chair.

'What is he thinking? I really hope I didn't just give him some sort of idea for his plans.' he thought as he recalled Aizen's words of gratitude for Toshiro's previous comment; "God...I need to learn to keep my mouth shut sometimes." he whispered to himself with a sigh.

But before he could think any further...a sudden voice brought him out of his thoughts; "Caaaaptaaaaiin!" then the door slid open and his lieutenant came running right for him.

"What is it Rangiku?" he asked with another sigh, as she came up to his desk, threw her hands down on it, and leaned in towards his face with a fake angry look.

"I just heard that you fought some intruders yesterday! Why didn't come get meeeeee? I was soooooo boooooored!" she wined.

Toshiro just raised a brow at her, then looked away and sighed, "I had no time, I was just walking by and happened to be the closest one." he said in slight annoyance.

Matsumoto leaned back up, crossed her arms under her chest, closed her eyes, turned her head away and stuck out her bottom lip; "Well...you could have told them to hold on until I got there!" she pouted very similar to how Yoruichi always did.

He looked up at her and smirked, "I'll try and think of that next time." he said with a silent chuckle before he turned and looked out the window behind him.

"But I'm sure that the alarm was sounded because they've come back." he continued, hardening his stare.

She looked back at him with a raised brow, "But what is their reason to get inside?" she asked going into a some what rare business mode.

He turned around once more, but closed his eyes before responding; "Hmph, well whatever the reason...they'll be wishing they never came back pretty soon. The Head Captain has issued for all squads to be on high alert." he said opening his eyes, a slight hit of sadness was not only in his voice but in his eyes as well.

'I just hope Yoruichi doesn't run into any of the Captains, otherwise they'll recognize her and then the Head Captain will want us to go after her as well.' he thought as Rangiku raised her brow higher.

"Are you ok Captain? You seemed a bit...unsure about attacking the ryoka in your statement." she asked tilting her head, but then she smiled; "But whatever the case, I trust your judgment in whatever it may be!" she stated with a wink.

Toshiro looked at her and lightly smirked again, "Thanks." he said sincerely.

* * *

And so the Arc begins. I hope none of you mind that I had Toshiro as their greeter to the Seireitei. As a fair warning; I'll be switching from Toshiro's POV to someone else's, if there is a part of the story that you need to know about...or if Toshiro is mentioned by someone along the way. And if your worried about it taking too much time...don't be, none of them are that long. Please review. :)


	28. Chapter 28

Oh wow, I reached over a hundred reviews. I'm actually rather surprised. :) Now I must thank everyone once again for all the support you've given me, so...thank you all very much, your an awesome crowd. :)

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Chapter 28:**

-The next morning, Tenth Division office-

"They defeated Renji!" Matsumoto said in surprise as she stood next to Toshiro's desk with her eyes wide; "I never imagined that one of them would be that strong...what do you think they're after?" she asked glancing over at him.

He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, "I'm not sure, but my guess is that they aren't here just as Rukia Kuchiki is about to be executed by some sort of coincidence." he noted.

She nodded her head in agreement, "So they're here to rescue Rukia? But what is their motive for it?" she asked, bringing her thumb and index finger up to her chin.

"Perhaps...one of them is the human that she gave her powers to, but how would they be able to reach the Soul Society in the first place? They would need a-" but Toshiro cut himself off with realization, 'Damn it Kisuke! I knew you were reckless, but this is just...Damn it!' he thought standing up from his chair.

Rangiku turned and faced him with slight surprise, "What is it Captain?" she asked raising a brow in question, he turned to her, opened his mouth for a reply, but was cut off by a sudden scream from far away.

They both turned in the direction the scream and narrowed their eyes; "Go see what that was, I'll be right there, I have something I need to find out!" Toshiro ordered.

"Yes sir!" she said before shunpoing away.

Toshiro stood there for a few moments in deep thought, 'If I'm right about how they got here, then all three of them are in on whatever is happening here and now. But what is it? And why didn't they tell me about it before this even happened? Damn it! Things just keep getting even more complicated by the minute. And what if Aizen makes his move? No one will ever notice because of the ryoka. Plus everyone is suspicious of Gin, and it'll be a perfect time for him to start his plans. Has time really run out?' he thought, narrowing his eyes and suddenly disappeared in a shunpo.

-Eastern Great Sacred Wall-

"Snap! Tobime!"

"Raise your head! Wabisuke!"

But just before they clashed, Toshiro jumped in, kicked Hinamori's sword down and through the floor boards and blocked Izuru's sword with a frozen claw; "Are you two seriously going to fight? When your first priorities should have been to get his body down from there." he said calmly looking from one to the other.

"But...Captain.." Momo started but never finished.

"Take these two away and lock them up." he commanded as the two were detained by Rangiku, Iba and Hisagi, then taken away to the holding cells.

Toshiro turned away and looked up at the dead Aizen body, but took a glance at Gin as he walked up; "I'm so sorry Cap'n Hitsugaya, I apologize that ya had ta go an' correct one o' my own." he said with a wide grin.

"You know Gin, I can't help but feel that Aizen isn't really dead...and I'm almost amused that he's appearing to be dead right now...I wonder where he would have gotten an idea like this?" Toshiro said, now turning completely around.

"Well I mus' say myself that it does seem ratha amusin', eh Cap'n?" Gin asked actually seemingly to be on the verge of laughing.

"Hmm, but I do have a question, were you about to kill Hinamori?" Toshiro asked in a voice that seemed to turn the very air to ice.

"Oh I wouldn' dare." Gin answered widening his smile.

"Hmph, well let me give you a little more advice Gin, if you spill one drop of Hinamori's or Rangiku's blood, I'll kill you." he said narrowing his eyes at him.

They stared at each other for a few moments, and when a few other members from a near by division came running up asking what had happened, Toshiro merely told them to get Aizen's 'body' down and began walking away. But as he passed by Gin, he held a severe glare on him the whole time just for good measure; "Remember what I said Ichimaru." he said just before shunpoing away.

Toshiro continued on his way towards the prison that he knew Momo would be held at, 'Damn it...I am such an idiot, now all eyes will be off Aizen and he has a perfect opportunity to fulfill his plans!' he thought as he came up to the cell that Rangiku was still standing in front of.

"Hinamori..." he started as he stopped in front of her.

"Shir-I mean Captain Hitsugaya..." she answered rather weakly.

Toshiro closed his eyes, sighed and reopened them; "You need to control your emotions Hinamori, I know that Aizen's death is a tragedy but acting the way you did was absolutely unprofessional." Toshiro said with slight venom in Aizen's name.

"But Captain...you saw the way he was grinning, he had to of done it!" she all but yelled.

Toshiro sighed once more, "Damn it Hinamori, he is always grinning, he does not spare any glance for his enemies...nor much for an ally, he did not change in that incident Hinamori...you did. And I'm sorry for your loss, but we are in the middle of high alert and this is no time to be fighting against each other!" he said as an order, but also trying not to raise his voice.

She looked at him slightly wide eyed, then lowered her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...I'm sorry." she said sadly.

Toshiro just shook his head, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to find Aizen's killer...and we'll make sure they receive maximum punishment." he said attempting to cheer her up.

Oddly enough it did, she looked up, nodded her head and slightly smiled, "I'm sorry for accusing your friend Rangiku." Momo apologized bowing her head.

"Oh don't worry, Gin has always been a suspicious character!" Rangiku chuckled mostly to herself and waving a hand at the young girl in assurance.

'Even though it is true that Gin has always been the top of everyone's suspicion list, I know the real Gin and I know that he would never kill an ally; he just wouldn't...would he?' Matsumoto thought to herself, with a glance at her captain.

Toshiro met her gaze, "Lets go, we have an investigation to get to." he said turning around and beginning to walk away with Rangiku following close beside him.

"See you later Hinamori, we'll be back to visit after our investigation!" Rangiku called back with a wave.

Hitsugaya glanced back at Momo and gave a small wave himself, but just as they were exiting the building, he suddenly felt a very familiar spiritual pressure near by. Once he identified whom it belonged to, his eyes widened then narrowed, before looking in the direction of the source; "I need to go some where really quick, can you handle the investigation till I get back?" he asked looking over at his Lieutenant.

She smiled at him, and gave him a quick nod and wink, "Just be careful alright." she said with a hint of concern in her voice.

He just smirked at her, "You to." he said with a nod, and they both disappeared going in separate directions.

-On the bridge leading to the Senzaikyu-

Toshiro arrived on top of a roof, where he saw Byakuya, Rukia, Hanataro, Ukitake, Ichigo, Ganju whom was knocked out on the ground, and lastly... Yoruichi, in her human form; 'She doesn't appear to have changed much.' he thought with a small smile curling his lips up.

"Yoruichi, you came to help me, didn't you? Thanks, but I need you to move outta the way. I have to take that guy down." Ichigo said holding his sword in front of him in a fighting stance.

"Take him down?" Yoruichi started, glancing over her shoulder at the orange haired teen; "You? Take him down?" she continued with a questioning tone.

Just as she was about to speak again, Toshiro decided to make his presence known by flaring his spirit energy about a tenth of the way. But it appeared more then enough to bring Ichigo, Rukia, and Hanataro to their knees, while Byakuya, Ukitake and Yoruichi cringed from it; "You would have no hope of defeating Byakuya right now." he said, as everyone turned to look at him.

Everyone except for Ukitake had very or fairly widened eyes; Byakuya's were slightly wide, because his mentor was possibly going to fight. Ichigo, Rukia, and Hanataro had very wide eyes, from the shock of having so much power suddenly dumped on their bodies. But Yoruichi was wide eyed from sadness, because she had already broken her promise to see him under better conditions then the last time; "Toshiro..." she whispered.

As Toshiro stared down at them, he began to step forward through the air and used it as if a set of downward steps; "Even if by some miracle you did, how would you expect to defeat Captain Ukitake...or for that matter, me?"

Ichigo fell silent and began attempting to bring himself back to his feet, but he failed miserably; "I..won't..give..up!" he claimed sounding out of breath.

Suddenly Yoruichi turned and struck Ichigo in his stomach with her bare hand; "Wh-What are you doing? Yoru-" Ichigo started but never finished as his eyes rolled in the back of his head and fell unconscious.

Yoruichi stepped forward and lifted him up and onto her shoulder; "Medicine? Piercing Point or Collapsing Point, you pounded some kind of powerful anesthetic directly into his internal organs. What are you going to do with him, Yoruichi?" Ukitake asked her with a slightly raised brow.

Yoruichi looked over at him, "Ukitake..." but then Byakuya stepped forward; "Whatever you are going to try, it is useless, you cannot escape from here." he stated firmly with a glare.

"Tch, like you can really catch her." Toshiro said as he finally stepped his ice covered feet on the bridge, then closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"If you don't mind me asking Captain Hitsugaya, what brings you here?" Ukitake asked with a raised brow.

"Well I was on my way here to help defeat the ryoka...but I can see that you already have him in custody, so I suppose I'll just go straight to the interrogation." he responded with a glance at the unconscious Ganju.

"Interrogation?" Byakuya asked raising a brow in confusion.

"Yes, Captain Aizen has been murdered...so I'm here to ask each of you where you were at the time of his death...and I suppose since your here I'll ask you as well, Yoruichi." he said with his breath visible in the air when he said her name.

They all shared a look of shock at Toshiro's news, but Byakuya seemed to recover from it first, "It'll have to wait for now...I have some unfinished business with this woman!" He claimed as he stepped forward.

Yoruichi looked back at him just before he disappeared and came up behind her, but then she also used shunpo and appeared behind him. They shunpoed around each other a few times before Byakuya seemed to finally catch her, "Do you think you can escape with such sluggish shunpoes?" he asked just before he swung his sword at her.

As the sword made contact with her skin, she began to bleed heavily and fall backwards in seemingly great pain. But suddenly her body disappeared and a few orange pieces of cloth were left in her place and she suddenly appeared on Byakuya's right arm. "Did you really think that you could capture me with such sluggish shunpoes?" she asked mockingly and shunpoed towards the building that was right in front of them.

But she stopped mid-way as she saw Toshiro standing just five feet from of her; "Maybe he can't...but I can." Toshiro said narrowing his eyes, as Yoruichi's became bigger.

"T-Toshiro?" she said in surprise, completely in disbelief that he was actually stopping her.

"You are considered a traitor of the Gotei 13, I cannot allow you to get away so easily." he said with his breath visible in the air once more.

Her look of surprise became even more shocked as she was at a loss for words; "B-But Toshiro...I-" she started but Toshiro suddenly disappeared from her sight.

Yoruichi never saw a thing before she felt a hand on her chest just above her breasts, she was barely able to notice the white fluff of hair before she was suddenly thrown at an incredible speed straight by Byakuya and Ukitake. But as she tried to steady herself she felt another hand on her back, and as she turned her head, she saw Toshiro giving her a cold stare. Her eyes became even wider and was about to say something to him but then he leaned in towards her ear; "Go!" he whispered, causing her to look even more shocked at first but then a small smile appeared on her face.

She then saw Byakuya shunpo right out in front her and readied his sword, she glanced back at Toshiro and nodded. He gave a slight nod as well and then brought his leg up for a fake kick. Byakuya swung his sword across to finish her before Toshiro could; but right at the last second, she shunpoed out of the way and onto the roof she had aimed for before. She turned around to see Byakuya's blade still hurling through the air, but it was now headed straight for Toshiro, whom had stopped his kick and brought his leg back to the ground. Yoruichi almost gasped when Byakuya's sword came within inches of Toshiro's chest, but he had brought an icy hand up and caught it with ease.

Yoruichi sighed in relief and as Byakuya recovered his sword from Toshiro's hand he turned around to face her with narrowed eyes. She looked at Toshiro and gave a smile and a wink, then looked over at Byakuya with a slightly smaller smile; "Three days...within three days, I will make this boy stronger then you Byakuya. Selfish as it may be, until then, we will take leave from this fight; follow us if you wish, but Goddess of Flash Yoruichi...is still far from being caught by the likes of you!" she claimed, and just before she disappeared she stole one last glance at Toshiro as a thanks.

Byakuya started walking away in disappointment after she did so, "Hey, where you going? Aren't you going to arrest the ryoka?" Ukitake called out to him.

But he never turned around; "I have lost interest, do with them what you will." he said as he finally disappeared around a corner.

"Hmm, what about your interrogation?" he asked turning to Toshiro.

"Tch, what interrogation?" the white haired captain said turning around with a slight smirk on his face.

Ukitake smiled in understanding; "I'll leave you to it then?" Toshiro asked looking at Rukia and the others, to which Ukitake nodded.

-Yoruichi-

'He he, I guess he learned a few tricks...I would really like to know how you got that strong and fast...you were moving just as fast, if not faster then me, that in itself is extremely impressive. Thank you Toshiro, I owe you one...well I'm sure that by now I owe you more then just one.' she thought to herself with a slight giggle as she shunpoed across the roof tops of the Seireitei.

'I need to get to the under ground training area, it'll be the best place for him to learn how to achieve Bankai.' she thought when she saw her destination in sight.

"Alright, I just need to wait till he finally wakes up...its too bad Toshiro isn't here, I'd just splash some _really_ cold water on his face!" she said smiling, landing just outside the entrance of the secret training grounds.

'If what you said was really true about Aizen, I get the feeling that he's making his move now. Just make sure that you don't go getting yourself killed alright, I made myself a promise that I'd see you again and I intend to keep it...besides, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to my little Ice-Prince.' she thought with a smile, as she glanced back at the Seireitei before walking through the entrance.

-Toshiro-

'Well that went well.' Toshiro thought to himself with a sigh.

He walked over towards the Fifth Division barracks still with Yoruichi on his mind; 'So is that really what your here for? To rescue Rukia? Hmm, I just hope you got my message; Aizen isn't dead and we need to be ready for anything.' he continued.

Then as he walked through the gates he saw a group of Onmitsukido members outside Aizen's quarters, as he came closer he noticed Soifon among the group; "Soifon! Have you found anything?" he asked gaining her attention.

She turned around and faced him, "Not yet Captain Hitsugaya; we have practically torn through every inch of this place and we've come up dry." she responded kneeling down in front of him.

Toshiro slightly sighed at her, but then turned to the door of the barracks; 'I looked for a hundred years...of course your gonna come up with nothing.' he thought to himself.

"What do you recommend we do Captain Hitsugaya?" she asked very formally still on her knee.

He looked back at her and slightly raised a brow; "Though I appreciate your formality, but you don't need to keep call me by my title...or kneel in my presence." he said, with as much of a friendly tone as he could muster...which in his case wasn't really a whole lot.

"I know, but you are more of a senior Captain then I. I apologize Captain Hitsugaya...I have made it a habit of doing this." she said sounding rather sheepishly as she stood up.

Toshiro slightly smirked; "My Lieutenant and I will finish up the investigation here, I want you to go to the Third for an inspection, I'm sure that Ichimaru will be more then willing to comply. After all...he is the top suspect." Toshiro commanded.

Soifon looked at Toshiro with a hard stare but nodded; "Alright, You four! You'll come with me, we're going to the Third for an investigation!" she ordered, and the four members she called forth straightened up and said, "Yes Ma'am!".

Toshiro nodded, glanced over at the inside of the room and saw Rangiku searching inside one of the drawers of Aizen's desk, he let out a sigh before turning his head back to Soifon; "Go!" he said and they all disappeared from sight.

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And so it continues, Aizen's 'dead' and the two friends have met once again, but unfortunately it was under even worse of circumstances then before. How is the rest of Rukia's execution going to play out? Please review.


	29. Chapter 29

Just to let everyone know now, this is a bit of a longer chapter...its almost as long if not possibly longer then the first. Just make sure you don't have anything to do right away. :) Anyway, on with the story...

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Chapter 29:**

-Later on that night-

'Just like with every other time I had searched the Fifth for any sort of clues, I turned up empty. But should I have even expected anything in the first place, despite having help from the Onmitsukido?' Toshiro thought as he walked along the path leading back to his own division.

'I would have preferred that Rangiku to stay and help me, instead of leaving half way through and saying that she was tired. I swear, I'll give her so much damn paperwork that she won't see the light of day for a month.' he continued, closing his eyes and crossing his arms in annoyance.

'But...even though she is a pain, I could never replace her. No matter how much I've contemplated doing it at times.' just as he finished this thought, he realized that he had walked past his own division and into the eleventh.

"I guess I really was thinking a little too much." he said out loud and turned himself around.

But as he did this, he saw a member of the eleventh running down the street that ran perpendicular with the one he was on; "Makizo Aramaki? What the hell has him in such a hurry?" he asked himself.

It was then that he noticed the girl he was carrying under his right arm, Toshiro narrowed his eyes and noticed the reddish color hair; "Its that ryoka girl. Has she really been captured by him?"

Toshiro then shunpoed on top of the roof of one of the buildings and began following them. They didn't go much farther before Makizo noticed his Lieutenant at the top of the steps he was about to go up; "MakiMaki, what are you carrying?" the little girl asked.

"That spirit energy...a ryoka?" she continued in a seemingly uncaring tone.

"Uh...well...There is...um, an explanation..." was the man's studdering response, before the pink haired girl stood up and spoke once more, but with more excitement this time; "It is a ryoka."

"Uh...actually...there are...um, circumstances behind this..." Makizo said, still studdering.

"Circumstances? Oh, what kind?" Yachiru asked with a questionable look; "Well...um..." he began, trying to think of something quickly.

But Toshiro spoke before he could; "Just take her to your division's barracks and tell Zaraki that she is not to be harmed in any way."

Aramaki looked up at him with wide eyes; "C-C-C-C-C-Captain Hitsugaya!" the man exclaimed before all but dropping the poor girl on the ground as he bowed down.

Yachiru looked up at him and smiled; "Yay Snowy-chan! Did you come to play?" she asked waving at him childishly.

"No, I didn't. Just take care of her will you." he said looking at Makizo with narrowed eyes; "Yes sir! I will not allow any harm to come of this young girl here!" was his response before he realized that Toshiro was already gone.

"Ohh, I wanna learn how to disappear like that!" Yachiru claimed pointing at the spot that the white haired captain had been seconds before.

-Tenth Division office-

Toshiro walked through the door, immediately noticed Rangiku sleeping on the sofa and groaned in annoyance; 'Hmm, I'll let her sleep...for now.' he thought sitting down at his desk and got to work on the short stack of papers.

Just as he began to finish up the last sheet, he heard a knock on the door; "Come in." he said as a split second later the door slid open, which revealed Soifon on one knee.

"I've come to report that we haven't found any evidence that would conclude that Ichimaru is the one that murdered Aizen. Also..." she began and waved a hand at the end to gesture someone else to come into the room; "I also had the Fifth Division's paperwork sent here...would you like if I helped you with it?"

"No, that's alright. Thank you Soifon. It seems that you still remember when I said to bring any and all paperwork from the Fifth here in case something happens to Hinamori or Aizen, twenty years ago." he said with a smirk as the squad member set a fairly large stack of papers on his desk and left with a bow.

Soifon blushed slightly and bowed her head; "O-Of course sir. I remember all of your commands." she said before blushing even deeper from her own words.

"May I be excused?" she asked, trying everything to avoid making eye contact; "You can do what you like." and with that, Soifon disappeared like her life depended on it.

After a few more hours of work...or sleep, Rangiku finally woke up and sat herself up on the couch; "You awake Rangiku?" Toshiro asked looking over at her.

She turned her head towards him; "Captain...what are you doing in my room?" she asked inquisitively.

"The administrative office is not your room, Rangiku." Toshiro said in annoyance, "Since your awake, go a head and take over. There's something I'd like to do before the end of the night." he said gathering the remaining paperwork into one small stack.

"Well why did you have to take over all of the Fifths business?" she asked getting up and walking over to the desk.

"Because I can, just finish the rest." he said closing his eyes and handing her the papers with a sigh, not surprised in the least that she had actually been awake and over heard the conversation with Soifon.

But when she noticed how small the amount was her eyes went slightly wide; "This is all that's left? There was so much..." she said glancing over at him, to which he grabbed his cup of tea with a frozen hand and brought it up to his lips.

"It doesn't matter how much or little there is, just finish them." he said, before he took a few sips of his tea.

"I...must have been asleep a long time." she said rather solemnly.

"It's fine...it must have been hard on you to see a classmate and a junior fight like that." he said looking away.

"Classmate..." she whispered, "Hey Captain, do you really think Gin...Captain Ichimaru did it?" she asked almost desperately.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on a random spot in the room but never answered before they heard a voice on the other side of the door; "Begging your pardon, it's Seventh Seat Takezoe, are Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto present?"

Toshiro turned to the door, "What is it? Open the door." he said slightly annoyed at the interruption.

"Yes sir!" Takezoe said as he slid the door open, "Pardon me, I have a report: Moments ago, urgent reports from various cell guards indicated that Lieutenants Abarai, Hinamori, and Kira have disappeared from their respective cells." he said, causing both of them to become slightly wide eyed.

Toshiro looked at Rangiku, "Lets go!" he said getting up form his chair and heading towards the door, he quickly turned to his Seventh Seat and said; "Your dismissed!" with a wave of his hand.

Takezoe bowed slightly lower, "Yes sir!" he said, getting up and waited for his commanding officers to leave before he head out himself.

-At Hinamori's prison cell-

"My deepest apologies! I heard Lieutenant Hinamori call me, but when I turned around my vision went blank and when I awoke I found this the way you see them now. I have absolutely no excuse!" the guard reported bowing low on the ground.

Both Toshiro and Rangiku looked at the man hard, "That's Hakufuku, alright." Toshiro speculated as he examined the cell.

"Hakufuku?" the guard asked lifting his head up in confusion.

"Hinamori is a master at Kido, if we seriously intended to shut her in, we would have sealed off her spirit energy." Toshiro said continuing to look at the empty cell.

"But we didn't because no one thought Hinamori would go _this _far." he finished as he brought his frozen thumb and pointer finger to his chin.

"Its not like she was going to be executed...so why?" Matsumoto asked trying to fathom what Momo could possibly be thinking.

"There's only one reason..." Toshiro said with a knowing yet icy look on his face; "Matsumoto!"

"Yes sir!" she responded looking at him with a hard gaze and ready to take orders.

"Go back without me, I'm going to save Hinamori." he said as his eyes became dangerously dark.

Rangiku was about to protest, but she just sighed and nodded at him; "Just be careful Captain." she said, Toshiro turned to her and with a small nod of assurance he shunpoed away.

-Kira's prison cell-

"It's this way!" the guard said as he lead Toshiro through the hallway, but as they neared Toshiro jogged up to the cell, and looked into it with suspicion. He noticed that the cell was opened from the outside and instantly knew what happened; 'Damn it...if Kira's on there side...' he thought as he turned around.

'How many others did they get?' Toshiro wondered as he took off at a run towards where he knew Ichimaru would eventually be.

-Sokyoku training ground hot spring-

"Hey, Yoruichi?" Ichigo began, as he sat in the steamy water with Yoruichi in her cat form next to him.

"What?" she asked in her deep cat voice; "I've been thinking, here reminds me of that place...that study room under the Urahara store." Ichigo finished, looking around once more.

"I imagine it would, that place was made to resemble here, after all." Yoruichi claimed closing her cat eyes; "It was?" the orange haired teen said now turning his head towards her.

"Yeah. Originally, Kisuke and I built this place covertly when we were children, as our secret playground." she continued; "Covertly? A big ass place like this covertly?" Ichigo commented with a laugh.

"Its an old story. When we were young, the six of us played here nearly every day. I joined in the Onmitsukido, while everyone else joined the Gotei 13...and it was here that I too learned Bankai." she finished, looking up at the ceiling of the cavern.

"Six? So it wasn't just you and Urahara? Who else was here?" Ichigo asked with slightly widened eyes.

"Well...it was me, Toshiro, Kisuke, Tessai, one called Sojiro and another called..." she began raising a furry brow.

Ichigo leaned in closer to her in anticipation; "...Um...what was his name again?" she questioned herself, which had caused Ichigo to slip and fall into the water.

"Jeez, can't even remember an old friends nam-wait a minute! You said that Toshiro was here?" he said as he sat himself back down, but fell right back over as he suddenly saw Yoruichi in her human form on the edge of the hot spring.

And the only thing Ichigo could hear from when he lifted his head out of the water, to when he got back in his seat once again was Yoruichi's laughter; "Great reaction no matter how many times I do it...but I think that Toshiro's are cuter." she said with a wide smile.

"W-What? You've done that to him?" Ichigo yelled in disbelief.

"Yep, and believe it or not...but his reactions were quite similar to yours." she commented, widening her smile.

"Whatever...just tell me, who the heck is that Toshiro guy and that old man?" Ichigo said looking away from her with a scowling look on his face.

"Toshiro became a Captain before any of us, Kisuke and I both. He was the very first in history to graduate the Shinigami academy in one year, master Shikai in five months and master Bankai in who knows how short of a time. I mean he helped me achieve it not two days after he became a Captain. And he's been a Commander of the Onmitsukido for as long as me, plus the whole time I was gone. So all in all, if there is one person that you could never compete with Ichigo...its him." Yoruichi said, a little too proudly.

Ichigo sank into the water grumbled to himself; "Alright I get the message; don't mess with your 'Icy' friend. And what about Urahara?"

Yoruichi chuckled and smirked; "Maybe I should have started with Kisuke...you might have felt a little better...a little." she said with a giggle.

-Third Division barracks-

"I knew I'd find the two of you together." Toshiro said as Ichimaru and Kira walked up towards him.

"Captain Hitsugaya..." Kira said wide eyed.

"I'm guessing that the reason why you let Kira out of his cell the way you did was so it would tell me that you did it. Am I right?" Toshiro asked glaring at them.

"Well well, aren't you puttin' a strange spin on things. And yes, I did do it on purpose so you'd know." Gin said smiling wide.

"I'm actually glad you did, otherwise Hinamori might have gotten here first." he said as he shifted his body to the side and clenched his fists. "So now I am going to arrest you before she gets here."

Suddenly, as if on cue, Hinamori landed just in between the two captains with her head pointed to the floor, Toshiro's eyes narrowed and he cursed himself inwardly; "Hinamori." he said through clenched teeth.

'Damn it, now I've gotta make sure she's not gonna get involved!' he thought cursing himself even further as he stared at her.

"Finally...I found you, so this is where you've been." Hinamori said seemingly far too calm considering the situation.

"Leave him to me Hinamori, just stand back." Toshiro said pointing an ice covered finger off to his right.

But then Hinamori unsheathed her sword and pointed it at him, "Hinamori?" he asked, now with slightly widened eyes.

"Captain Aizen's...murderer!" she claimed in anger, causing Toshiro's eyes to become even wider; "Why him? I know everything now...from this letter the Captain left me."

Toshiro kept on cursing himself over and over again as Hinamori read the letter to him, he could see just how utterly and completely fixed she was in everything Aizen left in the letter with just the look in her eyes; "Hina...mori." he barely got out before she suddenly raised her blade and swung down at him, but Toshiro easily moved out of the way and her sword crashed to the ground.

"Fool! Think about it! If he dies, he wants you to fight in his place? Do you think that any Captain would ever tell any of their subordinates to do that? Would any Captain go into a fight they knew they couldn't win all by themselves, or have their own lieutenant clean up their mess like a damn coward?" Toshiro yelled at her, actually breaking his composed look for the first time in a long time.

"But that's what the letter said! That was Captain Aizen's handwriting! I didn't want to believe if either! But that's what Captain Aizen said!" she yelled back, just before she ran right at him while swinging her sword madly, but Toshiro dodged each swing with ease.

Then she stopped, "I...I...don't...know what...to do anymore...Shiro-chan." she said as tears poured down her face and her hands began to shake.

"Hinamori." he repeated feeling a loss for words, just before she suddenly screamed and slammed her sword down sending a wave of spirit energy at him.

But Toshiro jumped up in the air. 'Damn it, its no good, she's so confused that she can't judge right from wrong anymore. It looks like Aizen got into her head even more then I thought, he's actually turned her against me! Shit, what am I going to do?' he thought angrily as he hung in mid air for a few moments.

He then looked over at Gin's smiling face, "I'm gonna make you pay...Ichimaru!" he yelled as he pushed his feet off the air and headed for Gin, but Hinamori suddenly came up in front of him with her sword ready to swing.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes one her; "Damn it." he whispered to himself, before sending a swift yet strong force of spirit energy at her, which caused her to lose consciousness instantly and land hard on the ground.

Toshiro landed right next to her; "Hinamori?" he yelled in an almost frantic voice and began checking her over to make sure she wasn't hurt; 'She's out cold, but alright.' he confirmed in his mind before standing back up.

"My oh my, that's awf'lly mean o' ya Cap'n Gaya. Y'ain't got ta hit her wit that icy spirit energy o' yours so hard, especially on a girl hurtin' so bad she done forgot 'erself." Gin said still smiling.

"Ichimaru...if I'm not mistaken, there is blood on Hinamori's hands." Toshiro said in an all to calm voice.

"Oh? What ever are you talkin' 'bout?" Ichimaru asked, but then Toshiro's body was engulfed in a bright blue light that lit up the area.

"I thought I told you...if you made Hinamori spill a drop of blood, I'd kill you." he said angrily, turning his body in to a fighting position and curling his icy hands to fists.

Ichimaru merely smiled even wider, showing almost all of his teeth in the process, "That ain't good." Gin said as he reached his hand over his sword; "If you plan on fightin' me in a place like this, I'll just have ta stop ya now won't I?" he claimed as his body was engulfed in a bright purple light.

"Captain Ichimaru..." Kira said with wide eyes and a shocked look to match.

"Stay back, Izuru. Ya don' wanna die yet, do ya?" Gin warned him but kept his eyes on Hitsugaya the whole time.

"Don't be stupid, staying back isn't good enough. You might as well just leave Soul Society Kira! That's the only way that you can be certain that I won't kill you unintentionally." Toshiro said still glaring at Ichimaru.

Suddenly Toshiro shunpoed right above Gin and slammed his fist down, but Gin jumped out of the way just in time to avoid it. Which made Toshiro's punch completely shatter the ground where he had just been and twenty feet in radius from that point. Then Toshiro leaped forward at him and once more swung his fist at the opposing man, but once more Gin moved out of the way in time to dodge the blow.

But then Toshiro used shunpo to get behind him and delivered a powerful elbow into Gin's back, which cause his normally closed eyes to snap open and become wide in shock and pain. Gin shunpoed away from him, but Toshiro was too fast for him and sent a round house kick to the side of Gin's head, which ripped a gash where his ice covered foot landed. Again and again, Gin attempted to shunpo out of Toshiro's reach to ready his own attack, but Toshiro always moved far faster then him and either kicked or punched him in various places, and caused the taller of the two to receive many cuts and bruises, while the shorter was being splattered with the others blood.

The amount of force Toshiro was putting out with each punch and kick felt like a shock wave to Kira, and was being pushed back slowly but steadily after each one; "D-Damn, how can anyone have such raw strength? He's hitting my Captain, yet it feels like I'm getting hit as well. just how strong is Captain Hitsugaya?" Izuru question to himself breathlessly.

Then Gin jumped up into the air to avoid yet another punch towards his stomach, and as he looked down on the other white haired captain, he formed a smug look on his face and pointed his sword at Toshiro; "Shoot to kill, Shinso." he said silently as his blade extended.

But Toshiro just slightly turned his body and avoided the blade with ease; "How pathetic." Toshiro whispered to himself and shunpoed right in front of Gin and sent a round house kick for Gin's mid section.

Gin was able to block it with his sword and push Toshiro's leg back, then just as Toshiro landed on the ground, Gin seemed to try and stab his foot, but as he leaped backward, Gin jerked his sword up from the ground, and made a bunch of wood splinters to go flying into Toshiro's face. Then Gin readied his sword for a killing blow; "I see an opening!" he said as he lunged his sword towards Toshiro's chest.

But then Hitsugaya suddenly appeared on top of Ichimaru's blade and slammed it into the ground, then he jumped up and landed a swift kick on the left side of Gin's head. Then, before Ichimaru could react, Toshiro twirled himself around and landed another kick to the other side of his head. As Gin was falling on his left side, Hitsugaya finished his combo off with a front flip, and landed a downward kick to Gin's neck, making him slam face down into the ground. Toshiro used the force of his own kick to leap back into the air and come down with a stomping kick aimed for Ichimaru's head.

Gin rolled out of the way and pushed himself up and once again readied his sword in front of him, and as Toshiro's foot made contact with the ground, which ended up shattering everything within a thirty foot radius, which was also only a foot short of both Ichimaru and Hinamori; "You really are as powerful as all those stories let on, eh Gaya." Gin said trying not to show any of the pain he was feeling for all of his wounds.

"But that's the Tenth Squad Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya fer ya!" he said smiling widely once again, despite having a long cut on his left cheek.

"Truly the incarnation of a heavenly guardian said to come along once every several centuries...too close, too close." he said shaking his head as if he was mad at his own carelessness.

Then the bright blue light suddenly erupted around Toshiro once again, "So your serious!" Gin said readying his sword, but winced from a large bruise forming on his right shoulder.

"Incredible...such spiritual force! At this rate...I won't even be able to breathe!" Izuru whispered silently as he struggled to speak at all.

"Trust me Ichimaru, if I was serious...you'd be dead by now. All of those hits are there for a specific reason, the cuts on your forearms are to limit your parrying ability, the bruise on your shoulders are to limit how high you can lift your sword to block. And the rest are there to keep your movements sluggish, I don't want you making a wrong move, then I might have to kill you sooner then I'd like." Toshiro said with a dark smirk on his face.

Gin felt a shiver run up his spine as he listened to Toshiro's words, but then he once again smiled painfully and pointed to the cut on his cheek; "And what was this one meant to do?" he asked.

Toshiro just smirked even wider as he closed his eyes, then as he opened them again, Ichimaru noticed that his eyes flickered a golden color before returning to normal; 'Just like a hollow.' he thought with a now serious expression.

"Just to make sure that I don't have to see that stupid smile of yours." Toshiro claimed hardening his gaze and suddenly leaped forward, and a split second later, Gin ran forward as well.

They clashed and ran past one another, but when they stopped and turned to face each other, Gin noticed that part of his sleeve was gone, and had four slightly shallow cuts on his arm. He also noticed that his sleeve was now in shreds within Toshiro's ice claws, which made Gin slowly frown even further at him, but then Toshiro disappeared and reappeared right in front of him with his leg swinging at his head. Gin managed to block it with his sword but then Toshiro twirled his whole body around and sent a kick to the other side of his head, which connected painfully on Gin's jaw and cut a long deep gash that made an upside down 'T' on Gin's face. Ichimaru was sent flying, but as he slid backward he tore off the rest of his sleeve and just as Toshiro came at him with a left hook, Gin threw it at his face.

Toshiro brushed the sleeve aside but was met by a barrage of swings and thrusts from Gin's sword, "How's it feel Captain...to be cornered?" Ichimaru said smugly as he continued his attack, which Toshiro was easily dodging.

Then, Toshiro grabbed the blade of Gin's sword, pushed it aside, leaped forward, and swung a fist at him. But Gin dodged out of the way and jumped back to his original position next to Kira, but staggered as he landed on the ground; "I see...I s'ppose I was still underestimatin' ya...Toshiro Hitsugaya. Guess that's why they say no use regrettin' yer mistakes." Ichimaru said slightly cringing.

Toshiro looked down and closed his eyes, "No, not yet." he said, causing Gin to frown even deeper; "Your real regret hasn't even begun yet." he said opening his now glowing eyes.

"I'm was merely warming up...but when the time comes, you can regret as much as you damn well please." Hitsugaya said in a growl as his spirit energy surrounded him once more, but this time it also stretched all the way up into the sky.

Gin's eyes opened slightly in surprise, while Kira looked at the two Captain's with fear. Then without warning, Toshiro grabbed Hyorinmaru, made the sheath disappear and held it off to the side, parallel with the ground. Then the sky turned dark in a split second and made both Gin and Kira look up to watch it in amazement, but then all turned cold as Toshiro called forth his zanpakuto..."Reign over the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru."

A giant dragon of ice and water suddenly appeared around Toshiro while making a loud 'roaring' noise; "A dragon of ice and water created from over flowing spirit energy...and...is even able to control the weather, its my first time seeing it. But this is it...Captain Hitsugaya's...the most powerful ice-snow zanpakuto in Soul Society! Hyorinmaru!" Kira said to himself in disbelief as he trembled and fell to his kneels as Toshiro's spiritual pressure finally became too much for him.

"Let's see if I've gotten rusty." then Toshiro merely turned his arm and pointed the tip of his sword at Gin and instantly, the ice dragon went flying towards its target.

Gin was able to leap out of the way in time but Kira was less successful, 'What a volume of water! What speed! I couldn't avoi-' but Kira's thoughts were cut short by him realizing that his body was beginning to freeze over.

As Izuru flew through the air he screamed from the cold and was send falling to the ground, which shattered only enough of the ice to keep his upper body unfrozen, then as Gin landed on the roof he saw Toshiro standing in the air just looking at him with narrowed eyes. Hitsugaya lazily pointed his sword at him once again and sent another ice dragon right at Gin, but the opposing captain had stuck out his sword in front of him and focused his spirit energy into the tip, causing the dragon to shatter on its contact.

And as the dragon finally disappeared Ichimaru slightly smiled at his success, but flinched from the two cuts on his face. He then began feeling slightly light headed and staggered around, he looked himself over in confusion, but realized just how much damage he had taken by looking at the amount of blood soaking through his clothes.

"Are you starting to feel it? You've pushed your body too far. If your not healed within the next ten minutes...you'll bleed to death." Toshiro said off to the side of him.

Gin turned his head towards the shorter man, opened his eyes, but narrowed them as he suddenly realized that his left arm was now numb and encased in ice. The chain that was attached to Toshiro's zanpakuto, was in his left hand and wrapped around Gin's arm; "Captain!" Izuru yelled from the ground below, while trying to break the ice encasing him from his waist down with his fists.

"Its over, Ichimaru. No one's coming to save you, and I'm gonna stay right here to watch you die." Hitsugaya said as his eyes once again flashed a golden color, but when Ichimaru's normally blue eyes turned red, he prepared himself for an attack.

"Shoot to kill, Shinso." Gin said and suddenly his zanpakuto went through his haori and extended out towards Toshiro's chest.

Toshiro easily dodged out of the way by just slightly moving his body off to the side and the blade went straight past him, "Your pathetic, even in defeat." Toshiro said with a slight shake of his head.

"Are you sure you want to dodge? That girls gonna die." Gin said smugly, ignoring his comment.

Toshiro's eyes went wide and lost their hollow-like feel, as he looked over to see Shinso heading straight at Momo. He shunpoed as fast as he could down to her but the blade was moving too fast, he then grabbed the blade itself and tried to stop it, but it just seemed to slowly slide right through his grip; "Damn it...Hinamori!" he yelled.

But just as he was just about to kick the blade to try and redirect it, the blade had suddenly stopped a few feet shy of Hinamori by Rangiku's Haineko. Seeing Rangiku made Gin frown and close his eyes once more, Kira looked up in surprise, and Toshiro held a look that displayed not only surprise but relief as well; "Matsumoto." he whispered to himself.

"My deepest apologies. I tried to return to the Squad building as you ordered, but sensing Hyorinmaru's spirit energy, I had to come back. Please withdraw your sword Captain Ichimaru!" she said firmly.

But Gin made no move; "If you do not withdraw, you will have both of us as your opponent!" she declared as her sword began to crack.

Gin's frown deepened but then his smile reappeared and he retracted his sword, turned around and began walking away, but still ready for the attack he was sure to come; "This fight is not over Ichimaru. It is only on hold." Toshiro said with a glare for the first part, and a glance at Rangiku for the second.

Gin stopped, looked at him over his shoulder with a fairly surprised look on his face that he actually was letting him go, then followed his gaze at his long time friend and nodded in understanding; "I wouldn' expect it ta be. And thanks." he said, with the last two words only being heard by Toshiro, before he disappeared.

Toshiro turned to where he knew Kira was, but found that he was gone; 'He must have use some kind of kido.' he thought, not really caring even in his mind. He then looked at Rangiku, whom was still staring at the spot that Gin had just been, "I'm sorry Rangiku." Toshiro whispered to her.

Rangiku snapped out of her daze and looked at him in confusion; "What do you mean? You don't have anything to be sorry for." she said with an attempting smile.

He lowered his eyes for a moment, "We better get her out of here." he said walking up to them and sheathed Hyorinmaru on his back; 'Maybe I should have just killed him on the spot instead of treating him like I do with every other person I kill...damn hollows.' he thought with a light growl.

Matsumoto nodded; "Should we take her to the Fourth? Or do you think it would be better to bring her to the Tenth?" she asked.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on Hinamori, "We'll let her rest up at the Tenth, then when she's well enough to walk again, we'll take to the Fourth." he said walking over and picking up his unconscious friend.

As Rangiku sheathed her sword Toshiro noticed that she was rubbing her wrists, and felt a pang of guilt, 'Damn you Ichimaru. I swear I'm gonna kill you without a second thought...just so long as Rangiku doesn't interrupt again.' he said in his mind, subconsciously baring his teeth.

"Don't worry...we'll get some bandages for your wrists." he said glancing over at her, to which she immediately stopped rubbing her wrists, smiled and giggled sheepishly.

* * *

Alright! Fight with Ichimaru! I thought it was okay...how about you guys? That is why it was so long, I didn't want to make this fight into two segments...its not very fair. And I just got done watching that part with Yachiru and Makizo so that's why I added that in...plus I wanted Toshiro to have at least a little more involvement in everything that's been happening around the Seireitei. Please remember to review. :)


	30. Chapter 30

Sorry this chapter took so long, I rewrote the last chapter's fight. I didn't have a whole lot of complaints, but I thought it could have been better...right Tuli-chan? :) Anyway, here we go...

* * *

**Chapter 30:**

-Just outside the Sokyoku Hill training grounds-

Yoruichi's eyes went wide as she felt a familiar and very powerful spiritual pressure fill her senses, "Toshiro..." she said silently as she sensed Hyorinmaru's spirit energy rise drastically.

Suddenly, a brilliant blue light shot up into the air and stretched all the way into sky, a split second later dark clouds began to form over the entire Seireitei. 'Who the hell is he fighting? Is it someone from that night? It would have to be if he has that much of a killing aura surrounding him.' she thought with a worried expression forming on her face

She narrowed her eyes on the light, that marked where her friend was fighting; "That's in the Third Division...he's fighting Ichimaru." she whispered with the worry now echoing through her golden eyes.

"Toshiro...just be careful." Yoruichi said to herself in an almost pleading voice, as she listened and sensed the battle the best she could.

Then she heard a faint roar in the distance, 'He can't be all that serious about killing his opponent...if he was, then I would be able to see Hyorinmaru clear as day.' she thought with a slight chuckle; 'But then why is his spirit energy filled with so much killing intent?' she questioned, now beginning to contemplate going over to him to see for herself.

After a few moments the black clouds dispersed and Toshiro's spiritual pressure returned to normal. Yoruichi smiled and let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding in, "Well at least I know he's okay." she said with a sigh of relief and placing a hand on her chest.

And it was that simple action that made her realize why Toshiro's spirit energy was the way it was during the fight. Yoruichi moved her hand over her heart and looked at the ground sadly; "I've been gone too long." she said, with her voice almost breaking from the way her throat tightened up.

She shook her head and breathed in a deep breath; "I'm gonna see him again very soon, I can save the tears till then." she whispered with a sad smile and looked over at the entrance of the training ground.

'Now I gotta worry about Ichigo...he's made progress, but only in his physical strength, his spirit energy hasn't changed at all. I may end up having to extend his training, if he doesn't make any progress after today...I'll just have to take my chances.' she thought as she chuckled at Ichigo calling for her in such an angry tone; _"Goddammit, Yoruichi! I said come out, dammit, so come out! Eh? Or what? Are you so scared of me you ran off!"_

-A few hours after sunrise in the Tenth Division-

"If you hadn't come...Hinamori would be dead right now. Thank you, Matsumoto." Toshiro said looking over at her with a thankful look on his face.

Rangiku glanced over at him and nodded; "Not at all." she said with slight smirk.

Then she looked down and began rubbing her bandaged wrists, Toshiro immediately knew that she was thinking about Ichimaru; 'Damn you, I swear I'll make you suffer for making Rangiku feel like this!' Toshiro thought angrily.

He looked over at Hinamori, 'Hmm...how am I supposed to convince her that it was all a lie... what will she do when she wakes up, I'm going to have to tell her the truth...I may lose her as a friend but at least she'll have an opportunity to decide who she'll believe. But for now...I have to tell Rangiku, she needs to know most of all, and I owe it to her for saving Hinamori.' he continued as he turned to the woman in question.

He opened his mouth to say something but a hell butterfly suddenly flew into the room, "A hell butterfly?" Rangiku said in confusion but lifted her hand up to let it land.

As it did it began relaying its message; "Reporting to all Captains and Lieutenants, there has been a change regarding the date of execution of death row inmate Rukia Kuchiki. Enforcement of sentence will be twenty-nine hours from now. This is the final judgment, there will be no further change in the date, that is all." both of their eyes became wide at this.

Toshiro turned around and walked out of the room, "Captain?" Rangiku asked turning to him after allowing the butterfly to go.

'The execution? The Sokyoku? What are they planning? Neither of those seem to have a connection to what happened a hundred years ago...' Toshiro thought as he narrowed his eyes.

"Come with me Matsumoto...if anything in that letter is true, then we have no choice...we're going to stop this execution." he said turning to her, then turned back to the room and looked at Hinamori with a bit of a saddened look.

He walked in and checked her vitals then turned around and walked back out, but stopped at the doorway; "How is she?" Matsumoto asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Still sleeping." he said simply, but the concern was also evident in his voice as well.

He then turned around and brought up his hand, a sudden flash of light shined in the doorway, then vanished; "That was Kyomon...why put up a barrier to this room?" Rangiku asked raising a brow.

"I can't predict who might do what, its just to protect her from outside enemies." he said hardening his gaze.

"Outside...enemies..." Rangiku repeated lowering her head.

'You better hope I don't find you Gin...or your gonna wish you had died last night.' he thought grinding his teeth together, then he began walking down the hallway; "Lets go!" he said as she began following him.

They shunpoed out of the Tenth and headed for Sokyoku Hill, "We better hurry." Toshiro said as they both began shunpoing all the way up the steps to the Sokyoku.

"What's your plan when we get up there?" Matsumoto asked as they continued to shunpo side by side.

"Stop the execution...by any means necessary." he said simply but firmly.

They arrived within seconds, but the Sokyoku was already released and heading for Rukia, "Shit!" Toshiro cursed as he shunpoed so fast that he was right in front of it before anyone had realized he was there.

Just as the enormous 'fire bird' hurled towards him, he stuck out one of his hands but Ichigo had appeared in front of him and stopped it before he himself could; "Ichigo...C-Captain Hitsugaya..." Rukia whispered from behind him.

"Yo." Ichigo said with a wide smile on his face.

Toshiro looked up at him and sighed; "I'm guessing you completed your training." he said as a statement instead of a question.

"Yeah, I'm all set." Toshiro nodded at his words and looked past him and noticed the Sokyoku starting to back away, which caused Ichigo to lose his balance momentarily; "Ichigo!" Rukia called out in worry as said teen turned around to face the fire bird.

"So he's takin' a step back for second attack? Alright, bring it on." Ichigo said calmly and firmly, but became slightly shocked when Toshiro appeared in front of him; "T-Toshiro...?"

"You've done your job, now its time for me to do mine. And its Captain Hitsugaya to you." Toshiro said walking toward the Sokyoku very calmly, and as it hurled itself forward Toshiro brought up his hand once more and stopped it dead.

"I-Impossible." just about everyone present said at once; "Stopping the Sokyoku with a zanpakuto like the ryoka boy is understandable...but stopping it with a bare hand? That is truly impossible!" Soifon muttered, knowing that everyone was thinking the same thing.

Then as Toshiro stepped forward and forcibly pushed the fire bird back well over forty feet, he shunpoed above it and unsheathed his zanpakuto; "Reign over the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru." he called and sent an ice dragon the size of the Sokyoku itself down upon it.

The ice dragon bit down on the fire bird's neck and slammed it into the ground, where Ukitake and Kyoraku readied a rope around its neck and completely destroyed it with a special kido spell from the Shihoin Shield. Toshiro shunpoed back to the ground and next to his lieutenant; "How did you do that Captain?" Rangiku asked, bewilderment completely filling her voice.

"With little difficulty." he said simply; 'Well that takes care of that problem, and if Aizen really wanted the power of the Sokyoku, he wouldn't have allowed them to destroy it...so why would he want the execution to go as planned? What is it about Ruki-Oh you've got to be shitting me!' Toshiro thought glaring at a spot that seemed to be somewhere behind Ichigo.

Then as Ichigo destroyed the cross that Rukia was hanging from, Toshiro and Rangiku walked up to the rest of the captains and lieutenants; "Captain Hitsugaya! Why did you help destroy the Sokyoku?" Soifon yelled frantically as she watched his arrival.

Toshiro looked over at her for a brief moment but returned his stare at Ichigo not bothering to answer her. After tossing Rukia to Renji, Ichigo shunpoed down to allow them to escape, and as Toshiro watched Ichigo defeating the lieutenants he suddenly shunpoed in front of Isane before he had a chance to hit her; "I don't think so." he said as he caught the palm that was intended for the tall lieutenant.

Ichigo's eyes became wide as he looked at Toshiro, not knowing what to do; "Hello..my..little Ice-Prince..." he said silently, which caused Toshiro to turn his icy glare into a extremely confused one.

"W-What?" he questioned with a highly raised brow; "That's what Yoruichi told me to tell you, if we ran into any problems with one another." he said, looking away in embarrassment.

Toshiro just rolled his eyes and sighed, but became serious once again as he sensed Byakuya heading they're way, "Get ready." Toshiro whispered as he suddenly grabbed Isane's arm and shunpoed them out of the away.

As Ichigo's and Byakuya's blades clashed, a sudden burst of spirit energy came out, which caused everyone's kimono's and haori's to blow wildly around. Toshiro and Isane had landed next to Unohana and the three of them watched Ichigo and Byakuya talk to one another about something no one but them could hear. But after they seemed to end the conversation, Byakuya flared his spirit energy and pressed his blade against Ichigo's. The young teen parried the noble's sword and clashed once again, which sent the two sliding across the hill in different directions. But during all this Isane was looking more at Toshiro and blushing so much that she looked like she had been deeply sun burned; "Th-Th-Thank you C-Captain Hitsugaya." she said looking from his face to the icy hand that was still holding her arm.

He looked up at her and nodded; "Don't worry about it, I'm not about to let a valuable lieutenant get hurt." he said letting her arm go; "V-Valuable? B-But Captain...I'm not that-" "Who said anything different?" he interrupted, which only caused her blush even further.

"Thank you for protecting my Lieutenant, Hitsugaya." Unohana said with a smile; "No problem." he said with a nod and disappeared.

Toshiro walked over to his own lieutenant and continued watching the fight in front of them, until..."You two!" a voice called out from off to the side, causing the two to look to see the source.

It was Soifon, but she was speaking towards Ukitake's subordinates; Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentaro Kotsubaki. But before either of them could react, Soifon sent Sentaro flying up into the air, while Kiyone could only watch her fellow third seat plummet to the ground; "Wait! Soifon!" Ukitake called out, running forward to help.

But he was stopped when the Head Captain's staff hit the ground mere inches from his foot; "Do not move!" he yelled out in anger.

"Genryusai..." Ukitake said in shock; "The one who took the criminal and escaped was a Lieutenant. If we kill and replace him a substitution will suffice, we will capture him at our leisure later. However...you three are the one's I cannot forgive! You three have done what a captain must never do! I know you are not the least bit ignorant of what that means!" the Head Captain stated, still in a rather angry voice.

"Captain Ukitake...Captain! Its dangerous!" Kiyone called out, beginning to run for said man, but stopped when he spoke; "Stay away! Kiyone!" he then shook his head to further state his point.

"Okey dokey, no choice!" Kyoraku announced with a wide smile on his face, while grabbing Ukitake by the shoulder and tilting his hat down in the process; "So how about we go on and run away, Ukitake!" he continued before vanishing with his friend and his lieutenant not far behind.

"Shunsui..." the Head Captain muttered in annoyance; "We will speak about this later, Hitsugaya." he continued, giving said captain a hard stare before disappearing in a shunpo.

"Captain..." Kiyone whispered as she stared at the edge of the hill that the three captains and one lieutenant disappeared from; "Can't stand around watching forever..." Soifon stated from behind her.

And just as the third seat was turning around she was met by a blocked kick from Soifon, "Sorry...I can't let you do that." Toshiro said as he gripped her foot, lowered her leg down and let it go.

Soifon had an angry look on her face, but it changed to a confused one when she realized whom it was that stopped her; "C-Captain...Hitsugaya?" she asked bewildered.

She hardened her stare not knowing what to do, then Toshiro glanced out to his left and lightly smirked; "Besides... there's someone here to see you." he said turning back to face the black haired captain.

Her eyes widened and barely looked in the same direction before she was suddenly taken straight off the hill and began falling towards the forest below. "Good luck, Yoruichi." Toshiro whispered, then he turned to watch Unohana's zanpakuto, Minazuki swallow up everyone that had been injured into its mouth and fly away with Unohana and Isane on it's back.

He then walked over to waiting lieutenant whom had a wide smile on her face; "What?" he asked somewhat confused about what she was finding amusing about the situation.

"Oh nothing, I was just a little surprised of how much you really care for Isane and her sister." she said with her smile turning to a more devious one.

Toshiro looked at her and raised his brow higher, "Whatever, its not like I wouldn't do the same for you. No one would lay a finger on you so long as I'm around. Lets go." he said turning around and walking to an edge of the hill.

"Just lead the way, Mr. No One Lays A Finger On My Lieutenant!" she said walking up to his side with a giggle.

Toshiro turned his head away, to hide his slightly growing blush but kept walking; "Whatever, I don't let anything happen to my subordinates." he said forcefully but sincerely.

She looked at him with another smile, "Thanks Captain." she said in her own sincerity, but suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, shoved his head in her chest and wrapped her arms around his head and ice covered neck.

"Your the best! Captain!" Rangiku squealed as she rested her cheek on his head.

Toshiro was about to scold her for doing this...again, but he decided to let it go and let her hug him for a little bit; 'I'll get her back later.' he thought with a slight roll of his eyes.

Then after Matsumoto released him, she suddenly gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, causing Toshiro to become stunned and wide eyed for a moment, with a blush covering his face. But he snapped out of it when he heard another clash between Byakuya and Ichigo, they looked over at the fight and saw both fighters giving off so much spiritual force at they were both glowing; Byakuya's aura was pink, while Ichigo's was blue. Toshiro and Rangiku nodded to each other, "We better go." Toshiro said leaping off the edge of the hill followed close by Matsumoto.

As soon as they landed on the ground, they instantly began shunpoing to a new destination that seemed to be only known to Hitsugaya at the moment; "I have something to tell you Rangiku. Something I should have told you a long time ago..." Toshiro said as they shunpoed side by side once again.

"What is it Captain?" she questioned with an inquisitive look on her face, trying to stay serious about things, despite the nagging want for something other then what he was about to say; "Well..." he started.

And as they continued on their way, Toshiro Hitsugaya Captain of the Tenth Division and one of the two Commanders of the Onmitsukido, told his Lieutenant everything about what happened the night from one hundred years ago...all except for one thing.

-Central 46 Gates-

"Now that the execution has been stopped...we need to try and convince the 'bigwigs' that there is some sort of treachery surrounding it." Toshiro said as he walked up to the door.

"And to do that, we're going to tell them about the Aizen matter directly?" Rangiku asked glancing at him.

"Yeah." he said nodding, but then he hardened his glare at the door.

'Now that Rangiku knows just about everything, this should go at least a little bit easier.' he thought looking back at Matsumoto with a slightly amazed expression.

'But I'm rather surprised that she believed me so easily...I never thought that she would even think of me as a friend after accusing her childhood friend of being a traitor. Plus I've kept it from her for so long, I thought she would resent me for it...but nothing, she completely and utterly trusts me without a doubt in her mind. She is even willing to help me bring them down...even though that means going against Ichimaru.' he continued as he turned back around and pushed the door open.

"That's strange...I never saw any security before the door and now I don't see any security beyond this door." Toshiro speculated as he looked around.

"Yeah I noticed that to, what do you think is going on?" she asked looking around as well.

Toshiro seemed to think for a moment and then his eyes went completely wide, "Captain? What is it?" she asked in concern.

Toshiro looked over at her and regained his normal hard glare; "Let's find out." he said as he walked up to the next set of doors.

'If I'm right...it would explain just about everything that's been happening around the Seireitei.' he thought as he tried the door.

"This one is locked from the inside...hmm." Toshiro said as he closed his eyes and concentrated his power into his hand.

He then placed his icy hand on the door once more, which caused it to completely freeze within seconds. Toshiro then dug his claws into it, quickly clenched his fist and shattered the door to thousands of tiny pieces. Matsumoto looked at where the door had been in awe, "That was Central 46's door you know, doing this is-"

But she was cut off, "The alarm isn't sounding, I just destroyed the whole door and the alarm hasn't even sounded...someone took out the guards and walked right in, then they locked the door and made it so the alarm wouldn't sound if people like us came." Toshiro speculated correctly.

Matsumoto nodded; "So that it wouldn't attract attention." she added, Toshiro nodded as well and walked through the door.

They ran down the many steps and finally arrived at the doorway to the Central 46 meeting room and instantly wished they hadn't. Every member of Central 46 were lying dead, either in their chairs or draped over their desks. 'Shit! I was right, this is really bad...if they were killed when I think they were then that means...' Toshiro thought grinding his teeth.

They walked over to the corpses and began examining them, Toshiro scraped one of his claws on some of the blood and watched it crumple on contact; "They've been dead for a while now, the blood is black and dried up...if my assumption is correct, then every order coming from Central 46 concerning Rukia's execution has been falsified." Toshiro said glaring around at the bodies.

"I thought you would come, Captain Hitsugaya!" a voice suddenly said, causing them both to look up at the doorway, only to see...Izuru Kira.

"Kira, where is Ichimaru?" Toshiro demanded narrowing his eyes, but Kira suddenly disappeared.

"Come on!" Toshiro called as he shunpoed straight through the doorway followed closely by Rangiku.

They continued to give chase even after they had exited the underground chamber, Toshiro shunpoed right up to Kira; "If you don't answer my question Kira, your dead." he said with a growl.

"More importantly, are you sure about this Captain Hitsugaya? Rather then chasing me, you should really protect Hinamori." Kira said looking over at Toshiro on his right side.

"What? She couldn't be-" but Toshiro cut himself off when he did in fact sense a slight hint of Hinamori's spiritual pressure not far behind.

'Shit, she must have been following us...but for how long?' he questioned himself.

"Rangiku, can I leave this to you?" he asked as he heard her approaching closely behind him.

Matsumoto smiled at him, "Of course!" she said confidently; then Toshiro quickly turned around and leaped into the air at the same time as Rangiku.

As they past by each other they whispered into each others ears; "Good luck!" and then they both shunpoed in their own directions.

* * *

So the execution is stopped, Toshiro's in pursuit of Hinamori, while Rangiku is in pursuit of Izuru. What's gonna happen when Toshiro catches up to Hinamori...and Aizen? Review to find out. :) Oh and the kiss from Rangiku was just something I threw in there...I hope no one minds that.


	31. Chapter 31

I once again went back and changed a bit from the last chapter...sorry I've been doing that so much, I keep seeing things that I wanna change after I've already posted the chapter, but thanks to Tuli-chan the chapters are improving. So I guess from now on, I'm gonna be updating a little slower...so all of you can get the final result that you deserve to read. :) This is the longest chapter thus far btw, so sorry if it's too long. Alright, here we go...

* * *

**Chapter 31:**

-Central 46 underground chambers-

Toshiro shunpoed through the chambers following only a small hint of Hinamori's spiritual pressure, but when it suddenly disappeared his eyes went wide and he briefly stopped from the shock; "Oh God!" he said in terror and shunpoed even faster.

"Please don't tell me..." he whispered to himself as he shunpoed through the doorway that lead to the Purewood Towers and saw Sosuke Aizen and Gin Ichimaru walking out; "Hey there Hitsugaya, your return was much earlier then expected." Aizen said with a glance at Gin.

"Sorry, seems like Izuru's diversion wasn' good 'nough." Gin said with a smile and a bit of a shrug.

"Where's Hinamori?" Toshiro demanded in a growl, not even caring about what either of them had to say other then what he wanted to hear.

"Well, where could she be..." Aizen said with a cocky smile.

Toshiro just shunpoed past them and looked down at a bleeding Hinamori at his feet, "Hina...mori..." he said almost in a whisper.

"Too bad, you found her. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you; I suppose I should have ground her to dust so you wouldn't find her." Aizen said, once again with a cocky smile.

"Aizen...Ichimaru..." Toshiro growled out as he ground his teeth together, "Don't be so angry with us...your as much to blame for any of this as we are, after all, your the only one in the Gotei 13 that saw any of this coming. If you would have eventually told them the truth...things might have been much different now." Aizen said smugly.

Toshiro looked at him over his shoulder; "I'm going to kill you, Aizen...and then you, Ichimaru." he growled out angrily.

Aizen just smiled wider; "Don't use overly strong words, it'll only make you look weak." he said reaching for his sword.

But Toshiro just smirked coldly, suddenly release so much spirit energy that it completely engulfed his body, broke the entire tower to pieces, shot straight through the roof and into the sky, which unbeknownst to them had now been filled with storm clouds.

-Forest near Sokyoku Hill-

"Surprised? Never seen this before, have you? This is a combat technique combining hakuda with kido. This is something I created. Be proud, I just perfected this technique the other day. You're the first one I've tested it on in an actual battle. After all, it still doesn't have a name." Soifon stated proudly as her body glowed with white kido and the wind swirling around her, but it all seemed to originate from her right arm.

"No, it has a name." Yoruichi said silently; "What did you say?" Soifon asked with a hardening stare.

"Its called Shunko, something that Toshiro and I helped each other to learn when my father told me about it. It's rather unfortunate...the truth is, I didn't want to fight you with this technique." Yoruichi said as she activated her own shunko, making the ground around her break apart, rise into the air and crumble.

"Be careful Soifon, I can't completely control this technique yet either...at least not as well as Toshiro can." she continued as she raised and pointed her palm towards the raven haired woman; "Nor is it as powerful." Yoruichi ended as she smiled.

The flash of light was blinding to everyone close enough to observe it, and the last thing that went through Soifon's mind before being engulfed in the enormous kido attack was; 'Captain Hitsugaya's Shunko is even more powerful then this?'

As the light subsided, it revealed Soifon unharmed and standing on an untouched part of the ground, but in front and on either side of her was just about completely destroyed; "Do you know why I haven't shown you this technique until now?" Yoruichi began as the kido around her vanished.

She then raised her arm up and reactivated it; "It is because this technique is far too dangerous." she continued with a slightly sorrowful look at her old apprentice and friend.

Soifon was about to attack once again but stopped when she felt a familiar spiritual pressure fill her senses. She turned her head around and saw a gigantic beam of light shooting into the now cloud filled sky; "What is that?" Soifon exclaimed in surprised.

"Toshiro..." Yoruichi whispered with her eyes widening incredibly wide in worry; 'I have to get to him! Now!' she screamed in her head and suddenly taking off at a run towards the light, followed shortly by Soifon, forgetting their fight completely.

-Rangiku and Kira-

"Captain!" Matsumoto yelled as she looked up at the light with a very concerned look on her face.

"That's..Captain Hitsugaya?" Kira asked amazement and stuck in a moment of awe, Rangiku looked at him and shunpoed right in front of him; "Sorry, but I don't have time for you anymore." she said hitting his chest neck and stomach with swift palms.

Kira staggered around for a moment but didn't go down; "Hmm, I guess your not willing to give up very easily huh Izuru?" Rangiku asked as said man tried to take a swing at her with his sword.

But Matsumoto simply moved out of the way and sent a palm into his ribs, which made Izuru to finally fall on the shingles of the roof. He was still conscious however, but as he tried to get himself up, his fellow Lieutenant shunpoed behind him and karate-chopped the muscle between his neck and shoulder. Izuru dropped once more, rolled off the roof and onto the ground with a loud thud.

Rangiku turned around and started running towards the beam of light at top speed, while pleading; "Please be okay Captain." to herself the whole way.

-Genryusai, Shunsui, and Ukitake-

"That's Hitsugaya...such incredible spiritual force." Jushiro said with widened eyes and a shocked expression on his face; "He must be being pretty pressured if he's releasing that much energy." Kyoraku commented with a knowing yet somewhat concerned look.

"Stay focused you two! Our fight isn't over yet!" the Head Captain said with another burst of flames, seemingly uncaring of the sudden drop in temperature all across the Seireitei.

-Sokyoku Hill-

"Holy Shit! Who the hell is that?" Ichigo demanded with widened eyes as he was held up by his friends.

"I don't know, but who ever it is...they are extremely powerful. We better keep away from there, if we get too close, we'll feel the full force of the spirit energy. And judging by the amount...we wouldn't get fifty feet from the source before suffocating to death." Ganju said with a frightened look and tried to hurry down the steps, with everyone close beside him.

-Back within the Purewood Towers residence-

Sosuke's eyes had become wide at the sight of Toshiro being surrounded by a large greenish-blue aura, that had compressed itself from the beam of light that had shot into the sky. He then narrowed his eyes and grabbed his sword, but before Sosuke could fully unsheathe it, Toshiro shunpoed into the air in front of him, slammed his right foot down on his wrist and made him resheath it by force. Aizen looked up at him with widened eyes in surprise, then changed back to a glare in a split second. As Toshiro stared at him, his eyes flashed a hollow gold before returning to normal, which caused Aizen to actually smirk; "It looks like one can be too much of a genius." he said with a smug voice.

Hitsugaya then spun a left kick to the side of his head, and as Aizen slid back a few feet, he grabbed his sword once more. But he was once again unsuccessful in unsheathing it as Hitsugaya shunpoed off to his left side, grabbed his wrist and pressed on a pressure point that made him let go of his sword. As the sword fell back into its sheath, Aizen brought his other hand up to conjure up a kido spell, but Toshiro was already one step ahead of him and threw a straight palm into his chest, letting his wrist go as he did.

Aizen cringed and winced from the strength of the hit and the pain he felt afterwards, but Toshiro still wasn't finished with him. He suddenly leapt towards him and delivered a knee right into his face, breaking his cheek bone and sending sliding ten feet backward in the process. And as Toshiro was still in mid air, he turned himself around so his body was parallel with the ground. He then kicked the air as if it were a wall and hurled himself at Aizen. Whom was wide eyed through all of this and cursed himself for not unsheathing his sword before Hitsugaya arrived. But he was unable to think much further because Toshiro spun his body around and delivered a round house kick to the side of his head. Aizen literally flew through the air and smashed into and threw a wall thirty feet away, then through yet another wall that was another forty feet from the first.

Gin's eyes were opened as wide as they could go, and his smile turned to a deep frown as he watched the small captain knock Aizen around like he was absolutely nothing. But Toshiro suddenly turned towards him with the same look he had seen on his face the night before and suddenly vanished. Gin had no time to react before a swift back hand hit him in the side of the face and a palm to his chest immediately afterward, which caused his breath to be cut short. Then as he attempted to grab the handle of his sword, Toshiro caught his wrist and bent it back. Gin cringed in pain and tried to use his other hand to force it back into place, with no success.

Then when Toshiro sent a kick to his head but also kept a hold on his wrist, Gin felt and heard it snap out of place with a loud popping sound. And as Gin lifted his head back up, Toshiro heel kicked him with the same leg and let go of his wrist so he could fall to the ground. But Hitsugaya grabbed the front of his kimono, threw him into the air and spun a back kick into his stomach. Gin flew through the air and crashed through the same two walls that Aizen had, whom was just getting himself off the ground as Ichimaru landed not five feet from him. They were about to say something to one another, but stopped when they heard; "Way of Destruction No. 73: Soren Sokatsui."

Just before two gigantic lines of blue fire shot through both holes they shunpoed out of the way and allowed them to destroy everything in their path. As Hitsugaya readied to give chase of the two men before they had the opportunity to recuperate, he snapped his attention to the entrance of the towers. He sensed two familiar presences walking through but could not distinguish whom they belonged to in his rage; "Captain Unohana...Isane..." he whispered to himself in slight surprise.

"Captain Hitsugaya...you shouldn't raise your spirit energy so high, the people outside can still feel it." Unohana said as she gestured to her lieutenant, whom was struggling to walk and even breathe, despite her captain protecting her from most of the outside spiritual pressure.

Toshiro's eyes slightly widened and the greenish-blue aura surrounding him became slightly smaller, but still remained; "Sorry Unohana, I need to make sure that Aizen dies here today. Go and heal Hinamori." he said glaring back in said man's direction, to which she complied and headed towards the injured girl.

When Toshiro finally saw them once more, his eyes became wide from what he saw. Aizen was standing there with Gin at his side, both of them had bruises, cuts and blood covering various spots on their bodies. But what shocked Hitsugaya was the fact that they both had their swords draw and ready; 'Shit! I can't beat them anymore! I won't be able to get past his hypnosis!' Toshiro yelled at himself as he shunpoed right out in front of the smiling Aizen.

He then leapt into the air and attempted to drop kick him but as his foot made contact, Aizen's body suddenly shattered. Toshiro's eyes narrowed and turned just in time to watch Aizen's sword slice right down his back, causing him to gasp in pain, but his anger seemed to dull it a little. He then came back with a round house kick to Aizen's head, which made Aizen to spin all the way around and shatter as it hit the ground. Toshiro growled in frustration, landed on the ground, looked around and saw Aizen standing a few yards away with a smug smirk on his face. Hitsugaya shunpoed in front of him and sent a series of punches and palms to his head and midsection. Then he finished it off with a slash to his chest with his ice claws, but despite all of that, the Aizen he saw shattered just like the rest.

Toshiro clenched his teeth and fists together; "Having a little trouble are we Hitsugaya?" Aizen asked from behind him with his smug laugh echoing through the large room.

But instead of blindly swinging at where Aizen appeared to be, Toshiro shot his hand forward and hit a seemingly invisible wall. The 'Aizen' behind him shattered and the real Aizen came into existence before the white haired captain as Toshiro smirked and looked up at the angry yet wide eyed man; "Impossible..." he said in a growl.

"Indeed it is, but there's only one problem...your predictable." Toshiro said just before he slashed Aizen across the chest with his ice claws.

Blood sprayed out of Aizen's wound and his eyes became even wider, but he glared at the charging captain and leapt backward in anticipation. And just as he expected, Toshiro came up with a knee and ended up missing him by a mere inch. Toshiro jumped after him but was cut short by a blade suddenly going straight through his left shoulder. Toshiro's eyes went wide when he saw Gin standing off to the side of Aizen with his sword extending from his hand all the way through Toshiro's shoulder; "D-Damn it!" he managed out as he looked back at Aizen and his growing smile.

Hitsugaya grabbed Gin's sword, threw the blade out of him and attempted to restart his leap, but yet another sword pierced straight through his back and out through his chest. Toshiro coughed up blood and was about to fall to his knees, but he was held up by Aizen's sword, "Sorry Hitsugaya, but you were more of a threat then I thought you'd be. After all...no one should allow someone like that to continue to live and get in the way." Sosuke said with a chuckle as the real Aizen appeared behind Toshiro and the fake on faded away.

Then Aizen's sword retracted and Hitsugaya fell forward, just barely ending up on his knees before beginning to bleed even more. He took one last glimpse at Aizen and noticed that his wounds were quite heavy and were bleeding quite profusely . And though he knew that Aizen would still survive, he forced a small smile on his face as he fell to the floor. "Captain Hitsugaya!" Isane screamed from next to Hinamori and was about to run over but was stopped by Unohana.

"Don't be reckless Isane...if Hitsugaya lost, what chance do either of us have?" Unohana whispered, then looked back at the two men.

Gin walked up to Aizen with a smile on his face and they both looked at the two new additions, "Captain Aizen...no, I suppose I shouldn't call you 'captain' any longer; perpetrator of high treason, Sosuke Aizen." Unohana said as she narrowed her eyes on them.

"How do you do Captain Unohana? I was thinking if you going to come, it would be soon, did you know I was here right away?" Aizen asked with his smug look back on his face.

"In the Seireitei, the Purewood Towers residence is the one area where entry is completely forbidden no matter what the reason. If you went to the trouble of creating such an elaborate corpse figure as to hide yourself, your destination would be the one place in the Seireitei most difficult to be found in, nowhere else but here." she said in her normal gentle tone, yet it held some venom to it.

Aizen merely smiled, "Close, you've deduced well, but have made two mistakes; first of all, I didn't come here to hide myself; and the other, this isn't a corpse figure." he said as a dead body suddenly appeared in his hand.

"Wh-when did he...?" Isane questioned with wide eyes.

"When did I? I've been holding this nearly the entire time; only, until this very moment, I just hadn't decided to show you it." Aizen said simply.

"Wh-what does that...?" Isane began but couldn't finish.

"You'll know soon enough." he said knowing her question, "Here I'll undo it, Shatter Kyoka Suigetsu" he said and the 'body' suddenly shattered and only left his sword within his hand; "My zanpakuto's, Kyoka Suigetsu's ability is absolute hypnosis." he finished with another wide smile.

"Absolute...hypnosis? But you said Kyoka Suigetsu is a flowing-water type zanpakuto and it uses diffused reflections of fog and water streams to confuse the enemy and make them attack each other! Captain Aizen, that's what you said! You gathered the Lieutenants and actually demonstrated it right before our eyes!" Isane all but yelled, still trying to convince herself that it was true.

"I see, so that was the hypnosis ceremony." Unohana said, still rather calmly but anyone could tell she was getting angry.

"Precisely, why do you think Hitsugaya told his Lieutenant not to attend?" he asked as they each looked over at said captain, whom was struggling to breath and now glaring ice daggers at Aizen.

"Complete hypnosis controls all five senses and can make the enemy mistake the appearance, shape, mass, texture, and even the smell of an object. In other words, its possible to make a fly look like a dragon, or a swamp look like a flower garden; and the condition for its use is to show the enemy the moment of Kyoka Suigetsu's release. Anyone who sees that even once falls completely into hypnosis from that moment and thereafter, every time I release Kyoka Suigetsu, they become a prisoner of complete hypnosis." he continued.

"See it even once...?" Unohana questioned in a bit of disbelieve.

"It looks like you've realized it; that's right, if you see it even once, you will fall under the spell. Which means those who cannot see cannot fall under the spell, in other words, from the beginning, Kaname Tosen has been my subordinate." he said as Gin suddenly whipped out a long piece of white cloth that began surrounding the two.

"Lastly, let me compliment you, although you touched it the longest for your examination, you were superb to sense even a slight incongruity about my corpse while under complete hypnosis, Captain Unohana, farewell." he said smiling at said captain.

But before he completely disappeared he glanced over at Toshiro and his eyes went wide when he saw him starting to get up and slowly walk towards him, "You fascinate me to no end, Hitsugaya." he said with one last smile.

"Stop!" Isane yelled but was too late, for the two were already gone.

Unohana looked at Toshiro with a slightly amazed look on her face; "Find out where their going." Toshiro said simply as he brought up one of his hands over his chest and put the other over his shoulder.

Unohana turned to her lieutenant and nodded, "If you please Isane." she asked.

Isane nodded back and began to draw up the symbols for the incantation, Unohana turned back to Toshiro as he focused his power to freeze his wounds, as she walked up she was about to release her sword but Toshiro came up and put his hand on hers. "Don't worry about me, finish healing Hinamori first." Hitsugaya said as he straightened himself up and began walking as if he was truly fine.

Unohana stared at him for a few moments but did as he asked anyway; "Heart of the South, Eye of the North, Fingertip of the West, Heel of the East, Carry the wind and gather, Banish the Rain and disband. Way of Binding No. 58: Kakushi Tsuijaka! Thirty-one...Sixty-four...Eighty-three...Ninety-seven...Teleportation site acquired! East 332, North 1566!" Isane claimed as she realized where it was.

"It's Sokyoku Hill!" both Isane and Toshiro said at the same time.

"Very well, immediately locate all captains and lieutenants and relay the message of everything we have learned about Sosuke Aizen and his destination." Unohana commanded as she walked up to Hinamori.

"Yes ma'am!" Isane replied nodding at the command.

"And send the message to the ryoka, as well." Toshiro said glancing at Unohana, whom nodded in agreement.

"Understood!" Isane said as she began to prep herself for the next incantation.

"I'm counting on you, as of now, I will begin life-saving measures for Lieutenant Hinamori...what will you do Captain Hitsu-" but she cut herself short when she realized that Toshiro was gone.

She looked around for a brief moment and then just sighed, 'Just be careful Hitsugaya, and try not to push yourself too much.' Unohana thought as she released her sword and had it swallow Hinamori's body into its mouth.

-Sokyoku Hill-

"It was over once they were wrapped in that light." the Head Captain said slightly opening his eyes.

Everyone's eyes were on the three leaving figures, but then they all became wide as they felt an extremely strong and familiar spiritual pressure erupt out of no where. "No, its not over!" a voice said darkly, causing everyone's heads to turn to the source

And when they realized just who it was, their eyes became even more wide then ever before; Captain Hitsugaya stood there looking at Aizen with glaring and glowing eyes and a dark blue colored aura surrounding him, which spread five feet in every direction from him, "Toshiro..." Yoruichi and Kukaku whispered at the same time that Rangiku and Soifon whispered, "Captain..."

"I won't let them get away again..." he continued as he began walking forward.

Yoruichi stared in awe, concern and shock, but when he brought up his left arm and formed it into a fist, her stare suddenly changed to fear; "Everybody get down!" she screamed right before Toshiro himself called out; "Shunko!"

Fortunately for everyone that didn't get down were knocked down anyway because of the sudden surge of enormous spirit energy that came with Toshiro's shunko. His shunko was five times larger then Yoruichi's and had five times more kido flowing around him, which made cracks in the hill that looked like it would make the entire hill shatter at any moment. Toshiro looked up at Aizen, whom had an almost frightened expression on his face, just before he suddenly leapt off the ground at an incredible speed, kicking up dust and rocks the size of boulders in his wake. No one had even blinked before Toshiro was already right in front of Aizen. At first Aizen seemed to calm himself as he remembered that he was safe from the outside world, but as he saw Toshiro draw back a glowing fist, he narrowed his eyes in anger, anticipation and a little fear. Then as Toshiro threw his fist into the beam of light that surrounded Aizen, a huge flash of blinding blue light blinded all of the observers and a huge explosion erupted from it.

When the light subsided, the beam that had surrounded Aizen was shattering to pieces and evaporating in mid air, but Toshiro's shunko was gone as well. Everyone's eyes, including the Head Captains became as wide as they could possibly go; "I-Impossible! There's no way...anyone could have done that...that technique can't be powerful enough to break through another dimension." Komamura said as he struggled to get himself up from his wounds.

Yoruichi took up a shocked smile; "If there's one thing about him, is that he loves to do the impossible." she said looking up at her long time friend in pride.

"I believe that statement is quite true about you. Wouldn't you agree? Hitsugaya." Aizen said with a smile.

Toshiro kept his glare fixed on the man that he intended to make suffer, "But I'm afraid that you no longer have any power to even stand up to me anymore...you spent far too much energy breaking my escape route...which will be coming back any moment." Aizen stated keeping his smile on his face and a quick glance at the menos within the garganta.

But it disappeared when he heard Toshiro starting to chuckle and suddenly smirk more evilly then what anyone would consider comfortable, "If you think that...then your in for quite a surprise." Toshiro said darkly just before he reactivated his shunko, which was just as powerful as the previous.

Aizen's eye were about to become wide once more but Toshiro had vanished and reappeared right in front of him, Toshiro stuck out his hand and shot forth so much kido that when it collided with Aizen, it surrounded his body blasted twenty feet in every direction. The kido blast had left a large burn mark on his chest that lead from his collar bone to the bottom of his abs and caused Aizen to slide back well over fifty feet, but before he could regain his footing, Toshiro shunpoed behind him and delivered a hard elbow to his spinal cord. Aizen's eyes widened and all but screamed in pain, but he still had no time to react before Toshiro moved in front of him and spun kicked him in his already burned stomach, sending him even farther away from the garganta.

Aizen gasped for air and held his still sizzling chest; "D-Damn...I didn't think..he would be..this powerful. But how can he be? I'm more powerful then any of them. He shouldn't be able to beat me! I'm more powerful!" he exclaimed angrily.

But Aizen's eyes became wide eyed as he felt Toshiro's spiritual pressure suddenly spike to extreme extents, he even began to cringe at the raw strength of it. Everyone down on the ground that was at lieutenants strength or lower was on there knees barely able to breathe. Kukaku was unfortunately among that group, and even some of the captains were close to being on one knee as well. Those being Soifon, and due to there weakened states; Byakuya and Komamura, even Gin and Tosen were cringing so much that they were very close to kneeling down.

"I-Imposs...able!" Tosen said as stepped forward to keep himself on his feet.

'His spiritual pressure is enormous...even I'm having a hard time keeping myself standing, I gotta stop him, before he kills someone!' Yoruichi thought as she watched the lieutenants drop to the ground, including Matsumoto, who seemed to be the most affected.

"Toshiro!" Yoruichi yelled up to him, but the only response was the sky suddenly going dark and heavy sleet beginning to fall.

"Hmm, I am quite impressed Hitsugaya, I never thought that you would ever over come your fear." Aizen said regaining his smile at his new idea of how to defeat the impossibly strong captain came to light.

"Tch, are you trying to say that I was afraid of you?" Toshiro asked in a fierce growl as he gripped Hyorinmaru and prepared to attack with as much force as necessary.

"Oh no, not at all, but look at all the people who are afraid of you." he said smugly looking down at everyone below.

Toshiro glanced down and saw everyone's struggle to keep themselves either on their feet or just to breathe, his spirit energy instantly stopped rising and returned to its normal level within a tenth of a second. He looked around at all of the peoples terrified faces, while his own went from anger to shame just as quickly as his spirit energy stopped. "Y-Yoruichi..Rangiku..Soifon..Kukaku..." he whispered looking at each of the women as he said their names.

But before Toshiro could turn back to face Aizen he was instantly slashed deeply across the chest; "Sh-Shit..." he managed out as he glared at him.

"You should never take your eyes off your opponent...I thought you of all people would know that." Aizen said mockingly with an amused snort.

Toshiro deepened his glare and bared his teeth at Aizen as he began to stumble on the air, then he heard Aizen sigh in what seemed to be annoyance. Then when he was about to strike him again, Toshiro caught his blade and readied a punch to his face, all of which seemed to only bring Aizen's amusement back. And just before Toshiro's fist came forward, a blade shot straight through the chest wound he close with ice earlier, which caused him to let go of Aizen's blade and receive yet another slash across his chest from the former Fifth Division Captain. Hitsugaya coughed up blood and as Gin's sword retracted from his chest he began falling to the ground, as a menos reached down and picked Aizen up. It brought him through the garganta as it began closing; "Goodbye shinigami, ryoka boy. And Hitsugaya, I hope you survive it won't be much of a war otherwise." Aizen said as they disappeared.

Toshiro coughed up even more blood as he continued to fall, and when the ice covering his wounds shattered, he began to bleed even more heavily then before, which left a trail through the air; "Toshiro!" "Captain!" Yoruichi, Kukaku, Rangiku and Soifon yelled at the same time as they all ran over to him as he fell.

But they were too late to catch him, his body fell straight into the hill with such force that it created a large mushroom cloud of dirt; "Nooooooooo!" all four yelled.

Yoruichi shunpoed as fast as her body would go and made it to him before the other three, she lifted his upper body into her arms and started shaking him; "Toshiro...Toshiro!...TOSHIRO!" she screamed as she continued to shake him harder each time she called his name.

Rangiku and Soifon arrived seconds later and were followed closely by Kukaku, "Captain! Is he alright? Captain! CAPTAIN!" Rangiku screamed as she grabbed Toshiro's arm and began shaking him as her eyes began to water up.

"I..I'm not sure..." Yoruichi said silently as her eyes also began to water as well.

They were silent for a few moments, but Kukaku broke the silence; "But he'll be alright, right? I mean this is Toshiro we're talking about...he can take just about anything, right?" she said as she tried to keep herself under control.

But it wasn't working too well, each of their eyes were threatening to over flow with tears, making them close their eyes to keep the tears from falling. None of them moved or even breathed for the few seconds it took for Toshiro to suddenly let out a silent growl of pain. They each looked back at him with a gasp as they noticed him grinding his teeth and tightening his eye lids from what seemed to be excruciating pain.

Each of them let out a huge sigh of relief and Yoruichi lifted him off the ground and into her arms; "Thank the heavens!" Rangiku said in pure thankfulness as she stood up with Yoruichi.

"He he, that's Toshiro for ya, never givin' up...even in death!" Kukaku proclaimed with a chuckle and a large smile, to which everyone nodded and stood up as well.

"Yeah...that's my Toshiro." Yoruichi said in a whisper holding him closer to her and gripping his body rather tightly against her own before shunpoing away to get him to the Forth.

Rangiku, Kukaku and Soifon had heard her, raised their brows and followed after the tan woman; "Your Toshiro?" Rangiku and Kukaku asked at the same time as they caught up to her.

Yoruichi raised a brow and smiled rather sheepishly at them as they continued on their way; "Oh, did I say that? Well I just meant it in a friendship kinda way ya know...he he." she said looking at her destination once more.

"Friendship huh? If that's all it is then why are you holding him so close?" Kukaku asked with a smile and pointing at how Yoruichi was holding him, which seemed as if she didn't want to let go, not even for a second.

But Yoruichi just looked from her arms to Kukaku and Matsumoto, then back to her arms and merely shrugged; "So, what? I'm one of his best friends, I should be able to hold him how ever I feel like." Yoruichi said in a 'huff', but Kukaku wasn't fooled.

"Hmhmm, yet your still cradling him as if he's gonna die." she said somewhat mockingly, but making sure that she didn't sound serious at all about.

Rangiku looked at them, sighed, shook her head, and started running closer to Yoruichi while looking at Toshiro the whole time; "He's mine too ya know." she said with an affectionate smile as the other three looked at her with raised brows.

And as she realized what she had just said, she looked around at each of them with an embarrassed expression; "I mean he's my Captain! So of course he's...I just meant that he...I...um..." she studdered out.

Yoruichi and Kukaku merely smiled and giggled, while Soifon just blushed and secretively made her way to the other side of Yoruichi. Matsumoto turned away from them in a 'huff'; "Whatever, I know what I meant, and if you don't then that's just your loss!" she said pouting, but still just as close to her captain as before.

Of course they weren't convinced and had amused smirks on their faces; "Oh yeah, we know what you meant, but do you know what you meant?" Yoruichi asked giving her a fake suspicious look.

Rangiku was about to say something, but cut herself off as they finally reach the Forth Division. They then hurried through the barracks, while telling anyone they passed that they needed help, a little more frantically then they would have liked. They found an open infirmary room and laid him down on one of the beds; "Isn't Captain Unohana back yet?" Rangiku asked rather impatiently.

"She's probably healing Hinamori right now, but don't worry...we can get a head start." Yoruichi said starting a healing kido in her hand and pressing it against the wound that went through his chest.

The other three followed suit and started healing his wounds, which had already started healing before they even began; "Captain Soifon...Lieutenant Matsumoto..." a division member called out as she came through the door way with four other healers behind her.

"Perfect timing! We need to get Captain healed up right awa-" "Are his wounds heal on there own?" Soifon interrupted Rangiku as she stared at the much smaller slash across Toshiro's chest in amazement.

"If they then it just proves that he's gonna be just fine." Yoruichi commented with a happy smile but with slightly sad eyes.

Kukaku noticed this and just stared at her friend till she finally made eyes contact; 'We'll talk later.' Kukaku lipped as she turned back to Toshiro just before he stirred in the bed.

His eyes slightly opened and he let out a little groan, as all attention quickly turned to him; "Y-Yoru...ichi..." he managed out as the five nurses made their way toward the bed.

"I'm here Toshiro." she responded as she gripped his ice covered hand within her own.

"I...I'm...sorry..." he said silently and closing his eyes in the process.

"For what?" she asked leaning in closer to him.

"I failed...again." he said reopening his eyes and looking at her with an expression that seemed as if he was begging for forgiveness, which made all of their eyes become wide in shock and sadness.

"You didn't fail, not now, nor back then, no one saw this coming...please don't blame yourself Toshiro!" Yoruichi almost demanded, gripping his hand even tighter.

"But...I-" he began but was cut off by a sudden slap to his face, they all looked over at Kukaku who had a smile on her face and a raised fist.

"Hey! If she said not to blame yourself, then you better not do it...otherwise _I'll_ make sure you don't, get it!" she demanded as she leaned toward him gesturing each word with her fist.

Toshiro looked at her and weakly raised a brow, but then he gave a small smirk and looked from one to the other; "Alright...have it your way." he said widening his smirk before passing out once more.

The four of them smiled widely at him; "That's our Toshiro." Kukaku said making each of them smile even wider and nod in agreement.

The five nurses made their way to Toshiro and began their own healing kido spells, which seemed to be much better and effective then any of the other woman's; "I'm very sorry, but we need all of you to wait out in the lobby. I'm afraid that you'll need permission from Captain Unohana to be in here." one of them said with a gentle tone.

"We will inform you right away when he wakes up."another said with a similar gentle voice.

"He he, looks like Unohana rubs of on her subordinates pretty well huh." Yoruichi said giggling as she nodded to the nurse; "Alright, be sure to be quick too." she finished, turning around and walking out of the room, followed closely by the other three woman.

-Early the next morning-

All four woman were sleeping soundly in their chairs as a nurse came by and gently shook Yoruichi awake; "Excuse me. I'm sorry to wake you, but Captain Hitsugaya has awoken." she said just before all four of them snapped awake and ran right by her, causing her to yelp in surprise.

They opened the door and found Unohana standing next to the bed and Toshiro being propped up by a series of pillows; "Toshiro!" Yoruichi exclaimed before running up and hugging him.

"I'm so glad your alright!" she continued as Rangiku followed suit and ran to the opposite side of the bed and hugged him from there.

"Y-Yoruichi..Rangiku...can you two please let me go..." Toshiro said in slight irritation.

"But we were very worried Captain Hitsugaya!" Soifon spoke up from beside Yoruichi, but blushed and turned away immediately afterward.

"Well I still have one thing that I need to say sorry for." he said closing his eyes in what they could only guess as shame.

"What's that?" Rangiku asked before anyone else could, which made Yoruichi, Kukaku and Unohana smirk at her, and Soifon to raise a brow.

"I promised to protect you...but I ended up being another cause for your pain." he stated with a sad sigh.

"What are you talking about?" Kukaku asked with a raised brow and walking over next to Rangiku.

"I could have killed one of you with my stupid stunt back there, what if I had crushed one of you? It would have been all because of my damn recklessness." Toshiro finished before closing his eyes once more.

"Captain..." "Toshiro..." they all said in unison once more.

"We're fine Captain." Rangiku said with an encouraging smile.

"She's right. Don't worry about us, we're fine...and so are you. That's all that matters right now." Yoruichi said with a smile and hugged him once again, only in a more affectionate way.

Rangiku did the same, while Soifon blushed when she grabbed and held the hand that was near Yoruichi and Kukaku smirked when she took the one by Rangiku in her own; "This moment is all that matters." Yoruichi said with such a level of sincerity that even surprised Unohana.

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One more chapter left before the arc is finished, then it comes to the Bount. But I must warn all of you now...the updates will be a bit slow for that one and after I've finished it I'll be taking a two maybe three week break. So enjoy as much as you can. Remember to review, it makes me happy. :)


	32. Chapter 32

**Big thanks to Tuli-chan for this chapter, you helped me out a lot. :) And fyi everyone; I went back and changed the English suffixes to Japanese ones, like with Yoruichi's title...it's now Yoruichi-san in stead of Miss Yoruichi. Also, this will be the last update for about a week, I'm gonna write a few chapters ahead of time so that I can update faster for the next arc.**

* * *

**Chapter 32:**

-One week later-

Toshiro was cleared to the leave the Forth Division two days after the Aizen incident but disappeared for the remaining five, no one was able to find out where he had vanished to, not even Yoruichi or Rangiku. Soifon had even put together multiple teams of Onmitsukido members to try and find him, but every one of them turned up dry each and every time. And after all their attempts failed, Yoruichi, Rangiku and Soifon came together to organize a full scale search party, but Yoruichi shook her head at the idea; "I'm sure that he's fine. What ever he's doing, its something that he needs to do by himself, no matter how much we would like to be involved. But don't worry...I'm sure that when he comes back, he'll have a plan all set and explain to us when we need to know." Yoruichi said with a smile.

A few hours had passed since their meeting and Rangiku was still worried, she sat in silence at one of the office windows, just staring blankly outside; "Where are you..." she sighed out.

"Where is who?" a voice said suddenly out of no where, causing her to jump right out of her chair and onto the floor.

"You scared me! Don't sneak up on me Captain!" she claimed looking up at her white haired captain with a sheepish look, then got up and began brushing herself off.

"Hmph, you were merely distracted. You should have not only sensed me coming but him as well." he responded with a small hint of disappointment in his voice and an icy thumb pointed behind him towards the Third Division Lieutenant a few feet back.

"Y-Yeah but...I'm sorry Captain." she said sounding disappointed in herself and made a quick bow to him before looking up at the other man in the doorway; "Kira?" she said in slight confusion.

"Um, Matsumoto..." the blond haired man managed out with shyness in his voice.

Rangiku just smiled at him, invited him over with a hand gesture, but then snapped her attention back to her captain. She narrowed her eyes at him, leaned over to be at eye level and placed her hands on her hips; "Hold on a second! Where have you been Captain? We have been searching for you forever!" she exclaimed loudly with slight irritation in her rather frantic voice

Toshiro looked at her for a moment, then closed his eyes before responding; "It hasn't been that long. You started looking two days after I had left, so you have only been looking for the last three days." Toshiro said calmly, then crossed his arms across his chest and reopened his eyes.

"Alright fine. But where did you go? And why did you leave in the first place?" she questioned with a now worried look on her face as she leaned back up and tightly crossed her arms under her chest.

"I'll explain later. But for now..." he said with a glance over at the blond man, whom was just standing there with a slightly confused expression and raised brows.

Rangiku nodded and led him to the table behind her; "Wanna have some soba manju? And...I have liquor too!" she claimed suddenly pulling out a bottle of sake and a cup out of no where, which only cause Izuru to stare at her rather dumbfounded and Toshiro to roll his eyes.

The two Lieutenants began drinking one cup of sake right after another, not stopping for much conversation between, Toshiro just sat back, sipped on his green tea and smirked at the scene before him. Rangiku was leaning over the table, offering Kira yet another cup of sake; "Oh, no, I'm already at my limit." Kira said trying to wave off the strawberry blond.

Toshiro took a quick glance at the eight empty sake bottles under the table and smirked; "What're you talking about? Come on, come on." Rangiku insisted as she inched a little more over the table to give her fellow lieutenant the cup in her hand.

To which Izuru finally took and downed; "Thank you so much Rangiku, your such an awesome friend." he claimed with a small smile on his face.

Then after a few more cups, they began to drink out of the bottles themselves and just laid the empties on the table without much care. Toshiro just tuned there drunken talk out after it hit the conversation of what types of sake they loved the most, but it took a turn for the worst when Kira suddenly stared ranting on how he never gets noticed in his squad.

"And the worst of it all, is the fact that they call me depressed! I'm not depressed! I just don't think on the bright side of things all the time! Then they say that I never smile! Or that I can't smile! But I do! And I can definitely smile!" he exclaimed suddenly making a smile that seemed like a mixture between a opened mouth smile and a sneer.

But the moment Toshiro walked out of the room, it went almost deadly quiet. So he glanced back inside and saw them both downing their twentieth bottle each, and the moment they finished; Kira's head hit the table and the empty bottle dropped on the floor, while Rangiku place her bottle down on the table, leaned back in her chair and just stared up at the ceiling.

"Matsumoto?" Kira asked with a rather drawn out voice and his head tilting up to look at her..

"Whaaaat?" the woman responded in her own drawn out voice.

"About that time..." he began, shifting his head up to lay on his chin.

"Its alright, never mind." she said with a carefree voice that was extremely slurred; "But..." he started again, but he was cut off as she slammed her hands on the table and began drunkenly glaring at him.

"Well, you certainly did come at me rather seriously..." she started with an angry tone.

But she suddenly started laughing herself to tears and waving her hand out in front of her in a very drunken way; "But you know, I didn't get a scratch on me!"

Her sudden changes in behavior completely shocked the man and caused him to become wide eyed and his mouth to gape open.

"So like I said, it's fine, really. You came to see me after all. Not that if people meet and talk, everything can be understood, but if you don't see each other anymore, nothing can be understood." Rangiku said looking out the window and resting her head on her hand, now seemingly very sober.

Kira looked at her with a somewhat shocked look, but nodded in agreement; "That's true...that's very true." he said with a light smile.

Toshiro smirked at her, nodded his head and eyes closed; "And that's one of the reasons why your my lieutenant, Rangiku." he whispered before disappearing in a shunpo.

-At the Forth Division-

Momo Hinamori laid in bed with a medical ventilation mask on her face and a peaceful look on her features. Toshiro suddenly appeared in the room and walked over to the bed with narrowed, yet saddened eyes. He only stared at her for a few moments before turning around and walking away.

"Some words...couldn't you say some words for her? She is waiting to be called by someone who needs her." Unohana spoke from the other side of the bed and seeming to come from no where.

"It took me almost three days to realize that I have no words I can say to her...at least not the way I am now." Toshiro said unnoticeably shutting his eyes tightly and began walking out.

"I know that your going through quite a bit of pain right now, but just remember that you have people that care about you and will help you through anything." Unohana said with a caring tone and equally caring smile.

Toshiro stopped in the doorway, sighed rather sadly; "I know, but...I just can't bring myself to take the risk of them getting hurt because of me." he said grinding his teeth and curling his ice covered hands into fists.

"Sometimes...you have to let them take that chance. Its what makes us stronger and heightens our trust in others." she said with an understanding look that told him that her words were true.

He glanced back at her and her smile, then looked out in front of him once more; "If you'll excuse me." he said walking out of the room.

As he walked out of the Forth and headed towards his own division, he saw Rukia heading the same way; "Rukia." he called out to her, to which she turned around and became slightly wide eyed at his approach.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" she acknowledged with a bow, but he caught her by the arm before she could bow all the way to the ground; "There's no need for that. All I would like to know is what your doing here?" he asked pulling her back up.

Rukia slightly blushed at first, but looked down in sadness at his question; "I...I wanted to apologize to day, but...I'm not sure of how to go about doing it." she said closing her eyes.

"Don't worry so much, just go with whatever apology comes naturally. They'll forgive you so long as you not only as forgiveness from them but from yourself." Toshiro said tilting her head up with an ice covered finger, to which she opened her eyes, stared into his and blushed even deeper then before.

Then she smiled at him and nodded; "Thank you Captain Hitsugaya. But I have something to ask of you..." she said looking away once more with an even deeper blush; "Would you come with me?" she finished looking at him with a slightly pleading look.

"Hmph, of course." Toshiro responded simply, and began walking towards the Western Gate; "But when we get there, you'll have to make the apology alone. I'll be close by though." he said a glance at her.

Rukia nodded and lightly smiled; "I appreciate it Captain Hitsugaya." she said as they walked wordlessly down the street.

-Shiba estate-

'I'm glad she gathered the courage to do this. Kukaku told me that she would forgive her after I told her what really happened, so long as she actually came and apologized. But its good to see her finding closure after all this time...maybe she'll even pick up on our training again.' Toshiro thought as he watched the scene unfold before him with a light smirk.

Rukia bowed in front of Kukaku and her brother and began her admission of guilt; "I am sorry. I kept thinking I should came to apologize but since I am a coward, I kept running away, that's why I am so late in coming. I am sorry. I am really-" "That's enough." Kukaku interrupted, just how Toshiro knew she would, but had only seemed to slightly shock the raven haired girl.

"That's enough. Don't make a long apology." she continued turning around and scratching her head; "B-But-" Rukia tried, but was cut off by a hit to the head by Kukaku.

"I said that's enough!" she declared with an annoyed tone, and as Rukia tilted her head back up, she began rubbing it as if surprised that it was still on her shoulders.

"I heard all the circumstances and everything from Toshiro, so I know that its not your fault and that your the one that regretted it the most. So as long as I could hear one word of apology from your lips, I decided in my heart a long time ago that I'd call it even. So...that's enough." Kukaku explained with her back turned.

Rukia was somewhat shocked at first but she gained a light smile and tilted her head down a bit; "Thank you. I am really so-" but she was cut off once again by a fist going straight in to her face.

"I told you not to apologize!" Kukaku claimed with an annoyed look on her face.

Rukia looked at her with wide eyes and pinched her now bleeding nose; "Yes ma'am, I'm sor-I mean, thank you very much." she said, correcting herself when Kukaku tightened her fist when she was about to say another apology.

"Oh, I knew you'd be here." Ichigo suddenly called out as he and Orihime walked through the yard, to which Rukia looked in his direction with a handkerchief in her hand to wipe away the blood from her nose.

"Ichigo. Inoue." Rukia said in slight surprise at their sudden arrival; "Looks like your done here. Lets go back. They say their gonna open up the Senkaimon for us tomorrow." Ichigo said with a hand gesturing behind him, while Orihime just stood their with a smile and a wave.

"You're not totally recovered yet, right? Get to bed early so you can be ready for tomorrow." he continued sticking his hands in the pockets of his hakama.

"Yeah, that's right. I was thinking I should tell you first. I'm thinking of...staying here in Soul Society." Rukia said as a gust of wind blew by; "I see." Ichigo stared with a smile.

"I'm glad. Well, if you decided that on your own then your comfortable enough to feel you wanna stay. That's pretty good...like that." he continued, which made Rukia to a bit surprised at first, but eventually smile at him in thankfulness.

"I remembered...why I wanted to save you so badly." Ichigo finished just before Kukaku appeared in front of him with a smile on her face and her fake arm pumped up at him with the hand curved into a fist; "Yo Ichigo. You finally came. What the hell have you been doin'?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, well..." was all Ichigo could say as Orihime waved at her happily and said; "Kukaku-san, sorry for not visiting sooner."

"Goin' home tomorrow? That's sudden. Eat before you go. Everyone'll be glad to see you." Kukaku said with a smile as Ichigo looked at her with a nervous smile.

"Uh...well...but we..." he managed out before Kukaku punched him in the face, which cause his nose to start bleeding and Toshiro to smirk and chuckle; "You one o' those, too? Makin' me repeat myself over and over?" Kukaku said with an annoyed glare at the young teen.

"Uh, no, uh, I'b pleazed to akseb your inbitation, ma'am." Ichigo said pinching his nose to stop the bleeding.

"Your invited too, Toshiro!" Kukaku called out, causing everyone to turn to the forest off to the side, but saw nothing.

"Sorry. But you know that I'm not one for crowds." a sudden voice said as Toshiro emerged from the shadows of one of the many trees, then turned around and started walking away.

But he stopped when he heard footsteps coming up from behind him; "Here we go." he whispered with a sigh.

"What do ya mean? I never have large crowds, come on pretty please?" she asked with a very cute pout that looked extraordinarily foreign on her face and caused everyone else to look at her in shock.

Toshiro just looked at her with a raised brow and sighed; "Alright, I'll join you." he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Perfect! But your sitting next to me!" Kukaku exclaimed, grabbing his arm and dragged him into her house...'Just like the old days.' Toshiro thought with a light smile.

"You do know that everyone's been looking for you right?" she asked as she looked over at him with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, but I'll explain why I was gone when we all get together again." Toshiro said holding his light smile, only this time it was directed at Kukaku and made her all but melt into him from it.

They each all walked into the dinning area and received shocked stares from the people already there, all of which were directed at Toshiro; "Hey! Don't stare! This is my good friend Toshiro Hitsugaya, he's Captain of the Tenth Division and a Commander of the Onmitsukido! So show a little respect!" Kukaku declared loudly.

And immediately afterward, no one had even really looked at Toshiro at all and just sat down at differing tables; Orihime sat with a friendly elderly man, Rukia sat alone, Ichigo sat with Ganju, whom were both trying to force feed the other. And Kukaku sat with Toshiro in her large seating area that was meant only for the head of the house hold; "So how do you like my seat? Pretty comfy huh?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, it is." Toshiro said with a light smirk as he leaned back on one of the pillows; "Very comfortable." he added looking over at his long time friend with a slightly wider smirk and a nod, to which she smiled wider and continued eating.

A few minutes later, Ichigo scooted himself over to Toshiro and Kukaku; "Hey, Toshiro...I was wondering' something." he started in a bit of a whisper.

Toshiro looked over at him and gave him a rather icy glare; "What is it? And its Captain Hitsugaya to you." he claimed in an annoyed sigh.

"Well, I was wonderin' exactly how you got so strong. Aizen had tossed me around like nothing, yet you came in and started tossing him around like nothing. Is it just experience or what?" the orange haired teen asked with his voice still in a bit of a whisper.

"Hmph, yes and no. Experience does play a major part in it, but I'm also a very gifted Shinigami, as I'm sure you've heard." Toshiro said as his expression hardened from the mention of Aizen's name.

"Tch, yeah...how couldn't I have heard. Yoruichi talked about you quite a lot during my training. But despite everything she said...your still quite a mystery." he said with a light laugh in the beginning, but changed to a serious expression at the end.

Toshiro just sighed and glanced over at him; "Believe me when I tell you, your better off not knowing too much about me. Too much information can be dangerous." he said looking away.

Ichigo was about to ask further but Ganju suddenly jumped on him and started shoving a biscuit down his throat; "Your wide open! Ichigo!" he yelled out in a laugh before looking up at Toshiro with an understanding nod at him, to which Toshiro nodded back in thanks as the two scuffled around.

After an hour of talking, eating, drinking, and listening to Ichigo and Ganju fighting, everyone began to take their leave; "So your coming back soon right?" Kukaku asked as Toshiro was the last to walk through the doorway.

He turned around and faced her with a small smile on his face; "First chance I get."

She smiled back at him, just before he disappeared in a shunpo; "You better." she muttered, walked back inside and smacked her younger brother for seemingly no reason at all.

-Tenth Division-

Toshiro finally made it back to the office and was astounded by the sight he saw; Kira and Hisagi were lying on the ground, just about completely naked and waving at him drunkenly. While Rangiku was lying on the ground face down, and like usual was still fully clothed; "Wh-What the hell is this?" Toshiro demanded in shock, but mostly annoyance.

"I can't drake anymore..." Izuru slurred out, waving his hand in his face.

"Save us..." Hisagi called out drunkenly and reached out in a last attempt before passing out.

Just as Shuhei finished his plea for help, Rangiku pushed herself off the ground and looked up at him drunkenly; "Ah...Caaaptaaiin. Are you here to takey me home?" she said in an a very childish way.

"More or less." Toshiro said with a deep sigh; "Thanka you Captain. I giva you a hug in da mornin'." she said with a wide smile.

"No, that's quite alright Matsumoto, just make sure to do your paperwork tomorrow." Toshiro said with a roll of his eyes; "But Caaaaaptaaaiiin...I like givin' you hugs!" she all but whined at him.

Toshiro sighed at her, walked over, stood her up and allowed her to rest against him so she could stay standing; "I think I got that message from the twenty times you hugged me in one day." and just as the words came out of his mouth, Rangiku grabbed him by the shoulders and hugged his face into her chest, which had accidentally knocked him over onto his back.

"Caaaaaptaaaiin!" she squealed drunkenly into his white hair, with an enormous smile on her face.

As Toshiro pried himself free of her grip and out from under her, he stood up and was about to scold her for her actions, but stopped when he noticed that she had passed out once again. His narrowed eyes softened as a light smirk formed on his face and let out a deep sigh; "Troublesome, yet reliable. Your a very rare woman Rangiku." he said silently, picking her up bridal style and setting her down on the office sofa.

He then turned to the unconscious men and sighed even deeper; "I should just get someone else to carry these two back." he said to himself, then snapped his icy fingers together and two Onmitsukido members instantly appeared.

"Sir!" they said in unison; "Take these two back to their divisions." Toshiro commanded and a second later, the almost naked men disappeared along with the two Onmitsukido members, which left Toshiro alone with his sleeping lieutenant.

Rangiku stirred, but didn't awake and Toshiro just looked at her with a raised brow and yet another sigh. He walked back to her sleeping figure, took off his haori, and set it over her shoulders, to which she instantly treated it as if it were her own blanket and wrapped it tightly around her. Toshiro smirked and started walking out; "Good night Rangiku." he whispered and disappeared.

-Second Division-

"Is there something wrong Yoruichi-sama?" Soifon asked, as she walked up to said woman lying on the roof of the barracks.

"No...I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired is all, you should be heading off to bed too." Yoruichi said with a dismissive wave of her hand and a light smile.

"Are you not going to sleep on a bed instead of the roof?" Soifon asked with a slightly surprised look on her face, after all...no noble sleeps outside when there's a comfortable bed near by, and on a roof no less.

"I'll be alright, I prefer it actually. Now go on and get to bed, and don't let me catch you trying to come up here to sleep either. You go and sleep in your bed." the purple haired woman said, just about reading her old apprentice's mind.

Soifon looked at her for a few moments with widened eyes, but just nodded; "If their is anything you need, just ask." she said formally and headed back inside.

Yoruichi smiled in amusement, but sighed sadly and closed her eyes as her mind drifted back to her original thought; 'What are you thinking, Toshiro?' she thought before slipping into a deep slumber.

-The next morning-

Yoruichi woke up slowly at first, stretching and yawning for a few moments, but snapped awake when she noticed that she was lying on something soft. She looked around and became even more awake at what she saw; she was still on the roof, but she was lying on a very fluffy blanket, with an equally fluffy pillow right where her head had been and an extra blanket draping over her to keep her warm.

'Did Soifon come back? Or was it-?' she thought, but she was cut short by Ichigo; "Hey! Yoruichi! They're opening the Senkaimon in a few minutes! Are you comin' with us?"

She nodded her head got herself to her feet; "Yeah! I'll be right behind you!" she called back, to which he nodded and started his way towards Sokyoku Hill.

Yoruichi looked around once again and gave out a light sigh; "Thanks, Toshiro...or Soifon." she said, now gaining a smile on her face and disappeared in a shunpo.

Little did she know that Toshiro was lying on the opposite side of the roof with his hands behind his head, his legs crossed at the ankles and a smirk on his face; "Your welcome." he said getting up and looking over his shoulder at Yoruichi's leaving figure suddenly turn into a smaller one that was all black.

"I'll see you soon." he said with a slight smirk before he walked over, grabbed the blankets and pillow, then vanished into thin air.

-In the World of the Living-

"What's wrong, Yoruichi?" Kisuke asked as he, Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu continued to fly on what seemed to be a flying carpet.

"Nothing, its just been a long time." she responded in her cats deep voice.

"That's true." he said with a sigh and glancing up at the sky.

"Say Kisuke..." Yoruichi said looking up at him, gaining said mans attention; "Yes?"

"What do you think is going to happen?" she asked turning back to the night sky.

"Well...we began far on the losing side...and we've finally gotten a handle on things again. We'll get Kurosaki and the others to keep on working hard...and we'll see how it goes from there." he said with a thoughtful look as Yoruichi and Tessai nodded in agreement.

"Hm, probably you nor I will die a peaceful death." Yoruichi said slightly lowering her head.

"Well, that...can't be helped, I think." Kisuke claimed with a small yet sad smirk.

"Tch, like either of you can talk about not having a peaceful death." a sudden voice said from just below them.

They all looked over the edge of the carpet and saw a shadowed figure on the edge of one of the buildings; "Toshiro." Yoruichi whispered with a cat smirk.

Toshiro shunpoed above them, dropped almost gracefully onto the white sheet and sat down in the center; "Long time no see Tessai...Kisuke." he said with a rather irritated tone with the last mans name.

"Its good to see you as well, Toshiro." Tessai said with a nod, while Kisuke had a nervous look on his face and very apologetic eyes; "Indeed it is...I hope your not mad about not contacting you."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes at him, but shook his head; "Not anymore, but that's not why I'm here..." he began as Yoruichi suddenly walked over to him, jumped into his lap and laid down, which sort of shocked everyone present but Toshiro continued on anyway.

"I figured that I'd give you the heads up first, but I'm sure that you already know about the Bount situation." Kisuke looked at him with a raised brow but nodded all the same, while Yoruichi just glanced between the two and narrowed her eyes.

"What are you getting at?" Urahara asked gesturing for him to continue with his fan.

Toshiro sighed and briefly closed his eyes; "Well, I think that using this as a training exercise for Ichigo and his friends will be very beneficial to us. Instead of going out and killing them like I was planning to, how about we have Ichigo and the others defeat them?"

Kisuke's, Yoruichi's, and Tessai's eyes became wide at the same time, and looked at their long time friend with shocked expressions; "It would be the best way to reteach him Bankai and it might get him and the others somewhat prepared for the Arrancars that will start showing up in the very near future." he continued.

Tessai leaned forward and put a hand on Toshiro's shoulder, making him turn to look at the dark skinned man; "Don't you think that your going the wrong way of training them? This idea will endanger the lives of hundreds of human souls." he said with a very questionable and surprised tone.

"That may be, but think of the hundreds of billions of souls between The World of the Living and Soul Society. I'd say that a possible hundred or so is a fair trade to save the rest." Toshiro claimed simply, causing everyone to look down in the truth of his words, but one of them had already gotten used to the idea so their look was more understanding then saddened.

"I know that it seems like a cruel thing to say, but the fact of the matter is; Aizen is out to kill and destroy and he has the perfect tool to do so. We have to build up our forces the quickest and best way possible, which I have found is experience. Plus...that Quincy may even get his powers back, and he can be quite useful in the future fight." Toshiro said, still in a calm yet icy tone.

"But...is it right? Should we be toying with peoples lives and souls for something like this?" Yoruichi asked with a sad voice and curled herself into his lap further.

Toshiro looked down at her and sighed once more; "I don't want to do this either, I would prefer to just destroy them myself and save everyone that could be killed in this fight. But I'm afraid that we're going to have to take the risk for them to become stronger. We can't just focus on the 'now' we need to focus on the bigger picture."

Kisuke nodded and looked up at the night sky; "True, but aren't we killing innocent people just to fulfill our own objective? What would make us any different from Aizen, or even a hollo-?" but Kisuke cut himself off and hoped that Toshiro didn't hear the last word he was about to say.

"Yeah...what would make me different from a hollow?" Toshiro asked to no one and looked up at the moon; "There isn't any need, your only a hollow on the outside. Your still Toshiro on the inside." Yoruichi said with a desperate voice, now sitting up and staring right at him.

Toshiro stared back at her, and for a moment he had a shocked look on his face, but smirked and actually began petting her; "Don't worry about that Yoruichi, I hardly even think about that anyway. And my hollow instincts haven't come up very often." he said, then looked back at Urahara with a serious expression.

Kisuke gave him a hard stare; "What did you do when they did?" he asked with a rather accusing tone.

Tessai and Yoruichi looked over at him with somewhat angry expressions, while Toshiro just looked away and before the other two could say something to the blond, Toshiro spoke up with a sad tone; "Too much..."

Now they were all staring at Toshiro with slight shock; "What do you mean?" Yoruichi asked almost frantically.

But before he could explain, Kisuke interrupted and waved his fan at them; "Now this is just a depressing reunion! We should go out and have a party! What do you say?"

Everyone just rolled their eyes at him and chuckled in their own way; "Actually...I better head back to my division. I can't exactly have Rangiku run the whole squad by herself for too long...she had an 'annual drinking day' the last time I left it in her hands." Toshiro spoke up with a smirk.

Yoruichi looked up at him and jumped out of his lap; "Your coming back soon though, right?"

Toshiro nodded, then began scratching behind her ear and smirked at her reaction; "Still rolling over for me huh." he said as Yoruichi leaned so far into his icy claws that she somersaulted onto her back and looked up at him with a cat smile.

"Sorry, but your the only one that knows just the right spot to scratch." she said in slight embarrassment, then stood herself back up; 'Its a good thing I'm a cat right now...otherwise they'd be able to see me blushing.' Yoruichi thought looking away from them.

"Of course I'll see you later. Kisuke was right with me on my train of thought after all." Toshiro said, standing up, narrowing his eyes on said man and disappearing in a shunpo.

"What did he mean by that?" Yoruichi and Tessai asked in unison, to which Kisuke smirked and shook his head; "Not a whole lot. But I must say; that was quite a reunion. The only thing I'm glad for is that he didn't-" but before he could finish, Toshiro suddenly reappeared, smacked him with an icy fist on the top of his head and vanished once again.

"Fate really doesn't like me does it?" Urahara asked taking off his hat and rubbing the lump that had already developed on his head.

"Well you kind do deserve it sometimes." Yoruichi said with a proud smirk and a laugh; 'But I can't believe that we're going to go through with this idea.' she added mentally with a sad sigh, before Kisuke started complaining about how he doesn't deserve everyone's hostility.

"Do you know what just happened?" Ururu asked silently, speaking up for the first time since they had started flying.

Jinta looked over at her and shrugged; "Not a bit, but I do have a feeling that Yoruichi and Toshiro are-" but he was cut off by a fist hitting the tops of his and Ururu's heads by Tessai.

* * *

Alright, there's the end of the Soul Society arc. Hope everyone enjoyed it. :) Remember to press the button below and leave a review.


	33. Chapter 33

And here it is; the beginning of the Bount Arc...

* * *

**Chapter 33:**

-The next day in the Tenth Division office-

Both Toshiro and Rangiku sat in silence as they both worked on their own parts of the paperwork. And though this was a very rare occurrence for the beautiful lieutenant, Toshiro knew it wouldn't last much longer, mainly due to her inability to stay still for more then a half hour.

'Better to informer her now, before she gets any ideas of skipping out of her work.' he thought before sighing deeply.

"I'm gonna be going to the World of the Living fairly often for the next few days Rangiku, I'm gonna need you to take care of the division while I'm out." Toshiro said suddenly.

Rangiku snapped her attention to him when he said 'Going to the World of the Living' but she ended up frowning at the rest of his words; "Aww, why do I have to do it? I wanna go too." she pouted.

Toshiro just shook his head and briefly closing his eyes; "Maybe at some point Rangiku. Right now I need to do a few things that...I don't want you involved in." he said taking a glance at her, then looked back at the papers in front of him.

"What do you mean, 'something you don't want me involved in'?" she asked with a hard stare at her captain.

"Exactly that. But like I said; I may need your help at some point while I'm there...so make sure that your ready at any moment." Toshiro said as a request instead of an order.

Rangiku smiled and nodded; "You got it Captain. Just make sure you make some time to go shopping, I wouldn't us to go through the World of the Living without anything stylish to wear."

Hitsugaya smirked at her and closed his eyes; "Sorry Rangiku, but we won't have time for any of that." he said becoming quite serious.

She too became serious and nodded; "What kind of trouble are you expecting?" she asked narrowing her eyes on him.

"You'll find out soon enough." he said looking at her with soft yet narrowed eyes, which told her that whatever kind of trouble it was, he wouldn't allow anything to happen to her.

"Alright...but I still think that shopping should still be involved in some way." Rangiku claimed with her care-free smile once more.

"Hmph, well I better get going. I have to make a stop at the Sixth before I head out." he said standing up from his chair and shifting his paperwork to the side.

"The Sixth? What for? You need to talk with Captain Byakuya or something?" Matsumoto asked with an inquisitive look.

"Yeah, I want Renji-kun to handle Karakura town for now." Toshiro said before walking to the door, but stopped in the door way; "And make sure you finish _all_ of your paperwork this time." he added then vanished, not allowing her to argue.

-Sixth Division office-

"Abarai? Assigned to the Karakura neighborhood?" Byakuya asked with a raised brow and a glance at said Lieutenant.

Toshiro nodded as he stood before his fellow captain's desk with his arms crossed; "Very well. Abarai!" Byakuya called, to which Renji walked over and bowed down at his two superiors.

"Yes Captain!" he said looking up from his bow; "I am assigning you to Karakura town, leave immediately." the serious noble said simply before returning to his paperwork.

"Yes, Captain! I'm heading out now!" Renji said before bowing his once more, getting himself off the ground and walking out the door.

"I assume your going as well?" Byakuya asked looking up at his mentor, to which Toshiro nodded; "Yeah, I would like to get a head start on my investigation before it officially begins."

Byakuya raised a brow and gave Toshiro a questionable look; "What does this 'investigation' consist of exactly?"

Toshiro looked at him with a hard look then turned around and began walking out; "You'll find out soon enough I'm sure." and with that, he was gone.

-A few hours later in the Urahara shop-

Toshiro walked through the back door of the shop and without making a sound, walked down one of the hallways towards the only noise he could hear. He peeked his head around and corner and saw everyone eating at the small table in the dinning area. Yoruichi was in her cat form sitting between Kisuke and Tessai, just watching everyone eat and licking the milk out of her bowl.

"Would you like more? You needn't hold back simply cause your a freeloader. Now, would you like another bowl, freeloader-dono?" Tessai asked as he held a ladle in one hand and gestured Renji to have more with the other.

Toshiro then leaned back against the wall, crossed his arms and smirked; 'Your in for it if you ask for seconds Renji.' he thought with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, then..." Renji began, about to hold up his bowl, but Ururu cut him off; "You're the first to ask for seconds. Don't hold back, go ahead, freeloader-san."

"What's wrong?" Tessai asked, gesturing with his hand even more; "Well, in that case..." Renji started again, but he was cut off by Jinta this time.

"Well, even freeloaders want seconds. Eat, eat." Renji was stuck in mid stride of offering Tessai his bowl, not able to figure out what to do.

"Stop saying; 'freeloader, freeloader' so much. That'll make it hard to ask for more. Right freeloader-san?" Kisuke spoke up with a large grin on his face.

Renji retracted his bowl and swallowed hard from the guilt of asking for more; "Tomorrow morning, clean in front of the store, okay?" Jinta said with a full mouth.

The red haired lieutenant looked at the young child with an irritated yet somewhat surprised look; "What?" he demanded.

"That's the least a freeloader should do. Ask for seconds, go on." Jinta justified with a wide grin and a rather mocking tone.

"Now, how about it, freeloader-dono?" Tessai asked, giving him a hard stare from behind his sunglasses; "Go ahead." Ururu encouraged with a smile as all eyes turned to Renji.

He held his bowl in his hands of a brief few seconds, then laid it on the table with his chopsticks on top; "Thank you for the meal." he said, then stood up and left the room.

The moment they knew he was a safe distance away, Jinta started laughing and even fell onto his back; "Jinta-kun, you were so mean." Ururu said but she was smiling in amusement the whole time.

Kisuke, Yoruichi and Tessai just looked at the door with raised brows; "He's more delicate then he looks." Kisuke commented, picking up his fan.

"Oh yes, quite so." Tessai said in agreement, but sounding as if would start laughing as well; "So merciless." Yoruichi said with a mental roll of her eyes.

"Do you do that to all of your customers? No wonder no one comes back." Toshiro said walk out from behind the wall, finally making his presence known.

"Ah Toshiro, I thought you might be stopping by sooner or later. Oh, I don't think you got to introduce yourself to these two..." Kisuke said pointing his fan at Jinta and Ururu.

"This is our good friend Toshiro Hitsugaya, he is Captain of the Tenth Division and duel Commander of the Onmitsukido. I suggest that you address him by Captain Hitsugaya. And Toshiro...this is Jinta and Ururu." the blond man explained with a smile, but the two young children just looked at him in shock, not even saying a word.

"Well then...would you like some?" Kisuke asked, gesturing towards the food within the container next to Tessai with his fan.

Toshiro just smirked and sat down where Renji had previously been; "What about all that 'freeloader' stuff?" he asked looking around at each of them.

"Your the exception." was all Urahara said before opening his fan and began fanning himself.

"Alright, I guess I'll have some." Toshiro said with a light yet amused sigh; "So what brings you here Toshiro?" Yoruichi asked, making her way over next to him.

"I assume you've all felt the odd presence by now? And not just your little creations Kisuke, I'm talking about the Bounts. They're about to make their move, so you better hurry along with whatever game it is your playing for Ichigo and his friends." Toshiro said as Tessai handed him a bowl of food and a set of chopsticks.

Urahara looked at Hitsugaya for a moment before nodding; "Alright, it looks like I'll have to start tonight. Ririn, Kurodo, Noba!" he called out to the door on his left.

Yoruichi had just jumped into Toshiro's lap when the door Kisuke spoke to, slid open and revealed three people standing there. The first was a small girl with blond hair, the second was a tall and lanky man with half black and half blond hair, and the third was a young teen with red hair and a hood that covered most of his face.

"I know I said that we'd start tomorrow, but I'm afraid that we're gonna have to start earlier then expected. So it looks like we'll have to start tonight." Kisuke said waving his fan in front of him.

The odd three nodded and disappeared in a flash of red; "So you created one that could manipulate space. I'm guessing the other two have powers as well?" Toshiro asked as he began to pet Yoruichi on her head.

"You just see right through me don't you Toshiro!" Kisuke exclaimed with a laugh and a wide smile; "Hmph, well...you do make it pretty easy sometimes." Toshiro responded as he pick up his bowl and began eating.

"Do I? I must be loosing my touch." Urahara continued, as he went back to fanning himself; "Not at all actually, I've just gotten ahead of you now." Hitsugaya claimed with narrowed eyes and a knowing smirk.

Kisuke smirked as well, "You gonna stay the night?" Yoruichi asked, looking up at him from his lap.

Toshiro glanced down at her and shook his head; "Sorry but no, there's another Captain's meeting tomorrow and I can't be late for it." Toshiro said finishing off his bowl and setting down on the table.

"Aren't you gonna have another bowl? Your the exception remember." Kisuke said with a smile and a wave of his fan.

Toshiro shook his head once more, picked Yoruichi up off of his lap, but was unable to detach her completely because of her claws; "Yoruichi." he said, hoping she'd get the hint.

But she just held on and looked up at him with a cat smile; "What? You don't have to leave right away." she claimed.

Toshiro sighed, held her up with one icy hand while he scratched behind her ear with the other. Yoruichi tried to keep her hold but ended up letting go from the great feeling of having her ear scratched. He set her down and stood up; "I'll be back tomorrow anyway." he said with a light smirk, but only caused her to huff at him.

"He has you by the tip of the paw with that huh?" Kisuke said with a chuckle when Toshiro disappeared.

"Oh shut up." Yoruichi mumbled walking away from the table with her tail flicking in a mocking way.

-Just outside Orihime's house-

"Inoue!" Ichigo screamed in anger, frustration and loss.

While on a fence about twenty yards away, the three people from Urahara's shop stood in the moon light. The girl Ririn began giggling to herself at the distressed teen; "What's so funny?" a sudden voice asked from behind them.

They turned frantically to the voice and found a dark figure, who's face was shadowed because of the moons bright light behind it; "Y-Your..." Ririn began with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I'm Captain Hitsugaya. But what I'd like to know is why you needed to take Orihime." he said turning his head to allow the moon to reveal part of his face and make his white hair all but shine.

"Y-Yes...C-Captain Hitsu-" "Yes I am. Now just answer my question." Toshiro interrupted with a glare at the small girl.

"Y-Yes, we are suppose to put Ichigo and his friends through some tests so they can show that they can move together as a group, plan out strategies and become stronger." Ririn said as fast as she could.

Toshiro looked over at the distressing teens with light amusement; "I assume this is just a setup for the first test...hmm, carry on." he said before vanishing from their sight.

"He's fast." they commented all at once.

-The next day in the First Division-

"Former Fifth Division Captain Sosuke Aizen, Former Third Division Captain Gin Ichimaru, and Former Ninth Division Captain Kaname Tosen; the whereabouts of these three remain unknown. Fortunately, according to the report from the Technological Development Bureau, it is believed the Hogyoku, which Aizen is in possession of, will require a long period of preparation and maturation before it can be used. It has been judged that for the time being, there is no danger it will be misused. However, that does not change the fact that these three are a grave threat to Soul Society as well as the Living World. Accordingly, a search party has already been formed and mobilized. That is all for today's briefing. Dismissed!" the Head Captain spoke from beginning to end without much pause.

Each of the captains began walking out of the barracks and back to their own division, but Toshiro walked over to Soifon; "Let Rangiku know that I'm gonna need both of you to help me with something tomorrow in The World of the Living." he said in an almost whisper.

She looked over at him with a nodded and a low bow; "As you command, Captain Hitsugaya." she said formally.

"I'll send a hell butterfly with where to meet me." Toshiro said before walking back in the opposite direction; "C-Captain Hitsugaya!" she called to him.

Toshiro turned around and looked at her; "I apologize for not informing you of the search party I set up to look for Aizen." she said in a low bow.

"Don't worry about it, we have equal power over the Onmitsukido...I wouldn't expect you to inform me of everything that you do. Especially if its something that you know that I would approve of." Toshiro said looking back at her with an encouraging smirk.

Soifon slightly blushed but nodded; "Thank you Captain Hitsugaya!" she said before taking another bow and walking away.

Toshiro smirked in amusement and shunpoing away. He shunpoed across the roofs of the Seireitei until he reached the gates of the Onmitsukido's personal Senkaimon in the Second Division grounds.

"I guess I'll check in with those mod souls and see where they are with Ichigo and his friends' tests." he said to himself before opening the large doors and stepping through.

-Urahara's underground training area-

The Senkaimon opened up in the middle of the rocky terrain, a hell butterfly flew through the opening, and was followed closely by Toshiro. He looked around, saw the three mod souls nearby with Orihime, whom was sitting in front of a table, sipping on green tea.

"What are they doing down here?" he asked himself, narrowing his eyes on them and walking over.

As he got closer, he noticed that Ririn was holding a phone to her ear and smiling widely as she spoke. And whatever the other person was saying, had obviously amused her, because she began giggling into the phone.

"Tonight at eight, come to the girl's house. She just might be home." she said with a smile and a glance at Inoue, whom was still just sitting there enjoying her tea.

"There, there, don't be in such a rush." Ririn continued after a few words from the other end, then after another response from whom Toshiro guessed was Ichigo, she giggled again; "Tonight, 'kay? Bye."

Ririn then hung up the phone and giggled once again; "So? Are they going?." Claude asked with a tilt of his hat.

"Of course! They're not gonna leave her to 'die'." she claimed with yet another giggle; "But do you have to go through so much trouble? I kinda feel bad that they're gonna go through all this because of me." Orihime said sadly.

"Don't worry Orihime...they'll be just fine." Toshiro said as he seemed to just appear behind them, which had caused all of them to flinch or jump.

"Your...um...Hitsugaya-kun! Right?" Inoue asked with a wide smile and a snap of her fingers; "Yeah...that's me." Toshiro said with a nod.

"Normally I'd prefer to be called by my title...but you can call me what you like I suppose." he continued with a glance over at the long ladder that led up into the shop.

"Yay! I'm glad Hitsugaya-kun!" she exclaimed happily and clapped her hands together; "Just don't push your luck." Toshiro said with a rare smile and a quick glance at Orihime.

The young girl just nodded her head and smiled wider; "Would you like to join me in drinking some tea?" she asked, offering him a cup.

"Sure, but just one." Toshiro said sitting down and began sipping at his tea.

They sat mostly in silence, the only sound was the sipping of tea, until..."What took you so long?" a voice called out from the side, making everyone but Toshiro to look for the source.

"Well, I told you I had a meeting today." he responded as he glanced behind him to the black cat standing there.

"Hmph, well you should have told them to schedule it to a later date." Yoruichi claimed in a huff; "I'll keep that in mind next time." Toshiro said as he allowed a light smirk to cross his lips.

"You better. I was sitting around here for hours, just waiting for you to get here. And what do I find when I do find you? Just sitting around, drinking tea...with another girl for that matter." Yoruichi ranted walking up to him.

"Tch. I'm old enough to be her great grandfather, I doubt that something like 'that' could happen." Toshiro said with a light shake of his head.

Yoruichi just smirked a cat smirk and once again jumped into his lap; "How do you know that she's not into older guys? Besides, your actual age has nothing to do with liking someone when your a Shinigami. I mean look at us; you look like your just starting your teen years, and I look like I'm in my early twenties...yet we sometimes act like a married couple." she claimed with a giggle.

Toshiro's eye brow twitched slightly, but he just sighed deeply; "Whatever. I don't think that she-" "Actually I wouldn't mind dating a guy a little younger or a little older then me. But I do prefer someone the same age." Orihime interrupted with a thoughtful look, and bringing her pointer finger up to her chin.

Everyone, the mod souls included, looked at her with slightly widened eyes; "What?" the young teen questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Um...well...we're gonna get going. We have a challenge to do." Ririn said as she and the other two mod souls inched away and disappeared in a flash of red.

"Hmph, I better go too...I have somewhere that I'd like to check out." Toshiro said looking down at Yoruichi, whom nodded sadly and crawled off his lap.

"Your coming back tomorrow though right?" she questioned with a cat pout; "Actually, I'm gonna have you meet me tomorrow. Just keep your eye out for Soifon." Toshiro said with slightly narrowed eyes.

Yoruichi narrowed hers as well and nodded; "See you later Hitsugaya-kun!" Orihime called with a wave of goodbye.

"Later, Orihime...and good luck." he responded, shunpoing to the exit of the grounds and right out of the shop.

* * *

And so the arc has begun. :) My updates will be a bit slower for this one, but I'll try and make sure that each one is worth the wait. :) Please review.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34:**

-Later on that night at Bounts' mansion-

Jin sat in a sofa chair, which faced one of the many windows in his dark lounge on the second story of his house. The only light illuminating the large room was a single candle on the desk next to Jin's chair. He sat there reading one of the many books in his collection, then Maki Ichinose arrived in a shunpo and kneeled down in front of him.

"Kariya-sama, we have found her." the black haired Shinigami reported, to which Jin looked up from his book and smiled.

"Good. For now, just keep her in your sights. We wouldn't want her running away now would we?" Kariya claimed, still holding his smile.

"As you wish. But there is also a trace of Captain Hitsugaya's spirit energy in Karakura town as well. It could be possible that he also intends to find her." Maki said with a bit of urgency in his voice.

"Oh? Well then...that changes things. We should get him here as quickly as possible. After all, its been many years since I last saw my old...acquaintance." Jin chuckled out.

"Acquaintance huh? Interesting choice of words." a voice spoke up from a chair just a few feet from the one the white haired man occupied.

"Who's there?" Ichinose demanded, rising to his feet and gripping his zanpakuto with his right hand.

But he was stopped as Jin too rose to his feet, waved him off, and walked over to the other chair; "Well what else would you consider us? Friends?" he asked, resting his arm on the top of the back.

"Tch, not likely. I'd say more of 'barely met'." Jin chuckled at this, walked out in front of the chair and stared at the icy captain of the Tenth Division with a wide grin.

"Is that so? Hmm, well if that's the way you see it. Oh, by the way; where is your girlfriend? Yoruichi?" he asked, glancing around the room as if to see said woman somewhere within.

"Not here." Toshiro claimed harshly, freezing the air as he spoke.

Jin raised a brow at him and smirked; "Ichinose!" he called out over his shoulder, he received a; "Yes sir!" in response.

"Do you know how I came to meet Captain Hitsugaya here and his friend, Yoruichi Shihoin?" Kariya asked with a wider smirk.

Maki stared at the two of them in shock and shook his head; "Well it was about a hundred and fifteen years ago..." Jin began.

-Flashback: World of the Living, Germany-

_"So what's our mission here again?" Yoruichi asked with a deep and somewhat tired sigh; "You were supposed to take of a large hollow problem in this area, and decided to drag me along just for the fun of it. But it looks like the hollows have already left...or they've already been destroyed." Toshiro said with an irritated glance at the purple haired girl before him._

_Yoruichi looked over at him innocently and smiled; "Oh come on! Would you rather be at the office doing paperwork right now?" she asked crossing her arms under chest, looked away from him and closed her eyes._

_"Tch, at least work would be getting done." he claimed as if it were obvious; "Yep...still a bit of a stick in the mud." Yoruichi giggled out._

_Toshiro was about to counter her words, but a sudden sound brought then out of their banner; "Who's there?" Yoruichi demanded, getting into a fighting position and inching her right hand towards her zanpakuto on her back._

_There was silence for a few moments, but then they heard two sets of foot steps approaching. They turned to the source and saw the two people walking towards them; the first was a white haired young looking man with crimson red eyes, and a scar on the left side of his chin. He wore a set of light green trousers, with a matching green jacket, and underneath this he had a white button down shirt._

_The second was a young woman with brown hair and grey color eyes. She wore a simple dark green dress which was merely meant to match what the man next to her was wearing; "Who are you?" Yoruichi asked with a raised brow, but not relaxing her body at all._

_"My name is Jin Kariya, and this is my soon to be wife; Yoshino Soma." the man said, gesturing a hand to each of them as he spoke._

_Toshiro glared at each of them; 'What is it about these two? They don't seem to have extraordinarily high spirit energy...so how can they see us? And were they the one's that eliminated the hollows?' he thought before allowing his guard to drop slightly._

_"Were you two the one's that killed off the hollows here?" Toshiro asked, looking from one to the other._

_Jin nodded and lightly smirked; "Yes. It was a bit difficult at first. But after a while...they went down pretty easily."_

_Yoruichi glared at him for a little while but eventually nodded and relaxed herself; "Are you two amplified humans?" she asked with a slightly suspicious look._

_Yoshino nodded lightly; "We're Bounts." she said simply with a very slight smile._

_"Bounts?" both Toshiro and Yoruichi echoed in unison, they then looked at one another and had the same thought; 'The Bounts were supposed to be killed on sight. Central 46 declared this almost a century ago and is still upholding it to this day.'_

_"Bounts...you say?" Toshiro asked with an icy glare at the other white haired man; "Yes sir. We have been here for the last decade and have been living in peace since." he claimed, wrapping his arm around his fellow Bount._

_Both Toshiro and Yoruichi felt a pang of guilt as they thought about killing these two on the spot; 'Can we really do this? Is it right to wipe out an entire race just because of orders? They may not be the last two, but...that doesn't make it anymore right._

_"Is there something wrong?" Jin asked with a questionable look on his face, as his wife took a similar expression._

_"No. Nothing at all. I guess since the hollows are gone...we better get back." Toshiro said in a bit of a hurry and a slightly strained voice._

_Yoruichi nodded in a agreement, brought her sword out, stuck it into the air and created a Senkaimon; "It was good meeting you two; Jin..Yoshino. I hope we'll see each other again." she said with a wave and quickly walking through the opening._

_Toshiro waved as well and followed Yoruichi through the gate; "Did we really do the right thing back there?" he asked out loud._

_The purple haired girl shook her head; "I have no idea...but I think that we did, morally." she commented with a light but encouraging smile._

-End Flashback-

"So you _did_ wonder whether it was the right thing to do or not." Kariya said with a wide smile.

Toshiro nodded and looked up at the man that looked almost no differently then he did when they met all those years ago. Ichinose looked from one to the other, just about in shock from what he had heard; "You had met that long ago?" he whispered as his eyes widened.

"Of course. It may not have been the longest meeting, but a meeting nonetheless." Jin claimed with a light chuckle, but he stopped when Toshiro stood up from his chair.

"Tch, yeah well...if I would have been the same way I am now, back then...you would have been dead without a single shred of regret from me." he said, once again freezing the air with his words.

Jin frowned at him and narrowed his eyes; "And what exactly happened between now and then? Oh no...I must take that question back. There is one that I must know that answer to before that one."

Hitsugaya glared at Kariya for a moment then turned away; "And what would that be?" "I would like to know if the rumors surrounding the Commander of the Onmitsukido are true? Have you really killed people by the hundreds and thousands, just to follow orders?" he asked, not missing a beat.

Toshiro glared icily at the man and even ground his teeth together; "Yes." he stated simply and began walking out of the room.

"How many of the rumors are true about you?" Jin asked quickly before Toshiro could make it out.

The white haired captain stopped in the doorway; "All of them." then he vanished into the darkness.

Ichinose looked at Jin with a confused look; "Kariya-sama...what rumors are there about him?" he asked with a humble yet inquisitive tone.

Jin sighed, looked at the only Shinigami within five square miles and smirked; "Believe me...your better off not knowing."

-On top of the bridge of Karakura, early the next morning-

"Soifon, tell Ukitake to close the Senkaimon for now. We're gonna need as little soul traffic as possible, so we can send our findings to the Soul Society easier. But before it closes I need you and Rangiku to come to the World of the Living, so get here as soon as possible. Go find Yoruichi and meet me up on top of the high school." Toshiro spoke as a hell butterfly fluttered off of his finger.

He let out a sigh as he sat down on the platform and stared out at the town before him; "I was wondering why you were up here." a voice said, but didn't seem to surprise Toshiro at all.

Hitsugaya just glanced back at the man he knew was coming since he came within a quarter mile of him; "Informing Soul Society isn't going to do much...not until they are able to identify that what you have gathered is from here is actually evidence of an actual Bount." Kariya said with a smile and sat down next him.

"That's why I'm bringing a fellow captain and my lieutenant to help. I have no doubt that we'll come up with more then enough evidence to prove that your intentions are...harmful to the World of the Living and Soul Society." Toshiro stated without even looking at the man that his words were intended for.

Jin stared at him for a few moments with a hardened expression, but then he returned to a smile and looked away; "You certainly have faith, but even I'm sure that they will succeed. Though, I am not sure whether or not they will survive the other Bounts, a captain and lieutenant would be a tasty treat for us after all."

Toshiro glanced over with an icy look but turned away once again; "I doubt that any of your Bounts will stand a chance against either of them with their power levels. I know that your planning to find a way to increase your strength, but if you don't tread softly at the moment...you'll all be dead before you can really get started."

"Hmm, I suppose we will do just that...for now. But when we do succeed in becoming more powerful, aren't you afraid that we may end up overwhelming them? I'm sorry, but...I cannot have any of us giving your subordinates special treatment." Kariya claimed with a fake concerned expression, which was only meant to hide the smugness in his voice.

"Tch, not in the least bit. Its having the job of filing the paperwork of an extinct race that annoys me." Hitsugaya said with only slight amusement.

Jin stared at him once more, only this time was with a more angrier look then before; "Don't you think that your jumping to conclusions?"

"Nope, and I think you know as well as I do that you won't, no, can't succeed in this plan of yours." Toshiro said standing up from his spot on the platform; "If you'll excuse me. I have an investigation to get to."

Just then, Toshiro vanished and left Jin to just sit there by himself; "Maybe we will...maybe we won't." was all he said before he too disappeared.

-Later on at Karakura High School-

Toshiro ran through the school grounds towards the building itself; "Toshiro!" he heard someone call from off to the side.

He turned towards the source and saw Yoruichi, Soifon and Rangiku running towards him; "Let's get to the roof." he called back and slowed his pace so they could catch up.

As they came within ten yards away from the school, they heard Ichigo's voice yell out each of their names. Toshiro looked up and saw the orange haired teen with his friends standing at one of the windows; "Soifon." he called over his shoulder.

"Sir!" she responded; "Break the window in front of Sado on your way up." he said looking back in Ichigo's direction.

"Yes sir!" Soifon said with a nod, but still somewhat confused at the rather odd order. As they jumped up and onto the roof, they stopped and formed a circle behind one of the doors that lead down into the school.

"So what did you need Captain?" Rangiku asked with a questionable look; "We're going to gather proof of the Bounts existence and treachery against Soul Society." Toshiro said, narrowing his eyes and looking from one to the other.

"What type of evidence will we need to prove this?" Soifon asked with a slightly raised brow.

"We'll have to find a few samples of spirit particles left behind from a Bount after they feast, and possibly an eye witness." Toshiro explained closing his eyes and crossing his arms halfway through.

"But the main thing that we need to do, is to merely make sure that Soul Society is informed of this. So avoid confrontation if at all possible." he continued, uncrossing his arms and opening his eyes.

Each of them nodded in agreement; "So are we going to break up into teams or something?" Yoruichi asked with a curious look on her cat face.

Toshiro nodded his head; "You and Soifon are going to cover the East, Rangiku and I will cover the West. If you haven't found anything, head North...if we haven't then we'll head South. Between the four of us, we should be able find traces of them...no matter how careful they may be."

They look at one another and nodded once more; "Alright...lets move out." Toshiro commanded and they all disappeared in shunpoes.

-Later on that night-

"Captain Hitsugaya, we have found remnants of spiritual particles and seen a Bount attempting to feast on a human. Yoruichi-sama stopped her, but told me to tell you that 'it's her', she said that you'd know whom she was speaking of. We have sent our findings to Ukitake and the Research and Development Bureau...I'll see you back in the Seireitei." the hell butterfly relayed off of Toshiro's ice covered finger.

He allowed the small incest to fly away, then turned his attention to Rangiku; "Mission accomplished, head back to the Tenth, I'll be joining you fairly soon."

Rangiku stared at him for a moment, not moving an inch; "What was the real reason you brought us here? And don't tell me it was for something as simple as gathering information or evidence. You and Yoruichi could have handled that, you brought me and Captain Soifon for a purpose...so what is that purpose?"

Toshiro stared at her with a blank expression that had been the source of Byakuya's look; "To get you both familiar with what a Bount is like. If your going to stand a chance at beating them, your going to know exactly how they function."

"I see, but neither of us have encountered one since we started looking. It looks like I'm just gonna hafta improvise." she said with a smile.

"Yeah...I guess so." Toshiro murmured quietly and almost sadly; "Aww, are you worried about me Captain? That's so sweet." Rangiku all but squealed, hugging him into her chest.

"Matsumoto!"Toshiro yelled out with a few twitches of his eye; "Aww, can't I hug you for just a little bit longer?" the strawberry blond asked with an even wider smile.

"Matsumoto, you have to get back to the Tenth...I'm sure you haven't finished your paperwork yet." Hitsugaya said tilting his head up and looking at his lieutenant with slightly irritated yet smug eyes.

"Um...define finished." Matsumoto muttered sheepishly, finally letting her captain go from her hug.

Toshiro cleared his throat and raised a brow at her; "Alright alright, I'm going." Rangiku said backing away with a sigh.

"See you soon Captain." she called out and vanished with a smile; "Yeah...soon." he said silently as he too disappeared.

-Training grounds under Urahara's shop-

Ichigo and his friends stood on top of one of the taller hills in the large area, they looked around but saw no one else around; "Chad, what happened while you were caught?" Ichigo asked.

Chad look up for a moment, then looked back at his orange haired friend before responding; "There was tea." he said simply.

"See? See, I told you! I knew there was tea! Right!" Inoue exclaimed proudly.

Ichigo then looked over to his right and saw Urahara's hat lying on the ground, he then sighed to himself and slowly blinked his eyes. Renji and Uryu looked at him just before he began walking towards the green and white hat; "Hey!" Renji called out in warning.

"Kurosaki!" Ishida warned as well, but Ichigo just bent over and picked the hat up.

"I see. So that's the deal." he said as Orihime and Chad walked over to him; "Come out! I know your there, Urahara-san." Ichigo called with a smirk on his face.

Everyone silently gasped before he continued; "You're the one who put this all together!" then as the dust cleared and revealed the three modified souls standing a few yards away, a clapping sound was heard.

Kisuke then walk out from behind the post the Chad had been tied to not long ago; "Gosh, you found me out. When did you realize?" he asked with a smile.

"Just now, when I saw your hat on the ground." Ichigo explained, still with a smile; "See Ririn, I told you, you were overdoing it." Kisuke said, now smiling as well.

"He's got better intuition then I thought." Ririn said with a few giggles; "But you should know that I did have help..." Kisuke said tilting his head to the side to look behind them.

They followed his gaze and almost jumped when they saw Toshiro just standing their with his arms crossed; "I didn't exactly help, but nor did I stay out of it." he spoke with ice in his voice, but still held a light smirk.

"Hmm, thinking back, you had any number of chances to finish us off. But you didn't do so and only tried to overwhelm us. Of course its strange. You didn't harm Chad either, did you?" Ichigo continued, looking back at Kisuke.

Ririn nodded at his question; "Yeah, we played shogi together too." "I couldn't even win once, though." Chad added as Ichigo began to let out a low growl in annoyance.

Toshiro took this time to shunpo away, up the ladder and into the shop. Just as he took the last step he was met with the chest of Yoruichi, he almost fell over but managed to keep his balance; "Oh yeah, I haven't gotten to tease you with my transformations since I've been back, have I?" she giggled out.

"And you really don't need to either." Toshiro mumbled, starting to walk around her; "Oh, but I do. Your the first person I ever let see me naked, so you have to be the one person that I have to constantly tease." she claimed with a smile.

Hitsugaya paused and turned to look at her with a slightly shocked expression; "W-What?" he asked, almost studdering.

"What 'what'? Are you saying that I would just let everyone see me naked?" she asked as if she were offended, but was actually on the verge of laughter.

"No, but you had just met me a few days previous...we hardly really knew one another. Plus you told me you weren't the shy type, I didn't really know what to think about that." Toshiro said, attempting not to fall for the same trick as last time.

Yoruichi smirked and leaned in toward his face; "Are you suuuure you don't have an idea." she asked with a suggestive tone and smile.

"...I...uh...um..." Toshiro stumbled out, causing Yoruichi to straighten up, taking an extra step and wrapping her arms around his head.

"That's one of the reasons why...your just too cute for your own good Toshiro." she just about squealed; "Tell me about it." Toshiro muttered from Yoruichi's chest.

"Anyway, I have to get this information to Kisuke and the others. Its time that your's and Kisuke's plan of having Ichigo and his friends defeating the Bounts to come into action. See you soon." Yoruichi said releasing him, jumping down the ladder and calling out Kisuke's name.

"Yeah...later." Toshiro replied and shunpoed out and away from the shop.

* * *

The second chapter of the Bount arc, hope you all liked it. Make sure to review, please. :)


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35:**

-The same night in the Thirteenth Division-

"Captain Ukitake, I respectfully ask to restart my training with Captain Hitsugaya as soon as possible." Rukia requested with a bow before her superiors' desk.

"Well if that's what you want. I have no objections to your decision to train with him. And speaking off my fellow Shiro-chan..." he said with a smile and looking over at Toshiro in the doorway.

Rukia shifted her body to face the newcomer and bowed down even further to him; "Captain Hitsugaya! I was just about to come and find you. I wish to resume our training sessions...if you will still be willing to teach me."

Toshiro lightly smirked at her and nodded his head; "I would be more then willing to start our lessons again."

"Thank you Captain Hitsugaya!" she exclaimed looking up at him with a wide smile on her face; "But before hand...I have a mission for you." Toshiro said hardening his gaze on her.

"A mission?" the small girl asked with a slight tilt of her head; "Yes. In the World of the Living." Toshiro stated, walking over and crossing his arms.

She looked over her shoulder at her own captain with an expecting look; "Very well, I'll place Rukia in your care Hitsugaya." Ukitake said with a nod and a smile.

Toshiro nodded back and gestured for Rukia to follow him; "Lets go." he said simply before walking out of the room, followed quickly by the young Kuchiki.

"So what will be my mission in the World of the Living, Captain Hitsugaya?"Rukia asked catching up to him, but staying just a little behind.

"You will be assisting the substitute Shinigami; Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends in defeating the Bounts." Toshiro said without even looking at her, but she still just nodded, despite not knowing what a Bount even was.

'It feels weird to be calling him 'Kurosaki' when I've only ever called his father that.' he thought as they continued to walk.

"Wait!" Rukia said suddenly, making them both stop and Toshiro to look back at her with a questionable expression; "What is it?" he asked.

"I have something that I'd like to take with me before I go." she said before taking off back to her own division; "I'll be right back!" she called from over her shoulder and left him just standing there with a somewhat confused look.

'Wonder what she's getting? Hmm, whatever...I need to concentrate on the task at hand. If Yoruichi's message is what I think it was...then I better find Yoshino right away. Since shes sucking the souls from humans...then she could be part of Jin's plans. Although...considering the circumstances of what happened...she may be-' but Toshiro's thoughts were cut short as Rukia came running back to him with a blue dress in her arms.

"Sorry Captain Hitsugaya, I'm ready to leave." she said slightly out of breath and a small but nervous smile on her face of what he would think of her just running off.

"Don't worry about it." Toshiro said as they resumed walking down the street towards their destination.

They came up to the Second Division's Senkaimon and stopped before it; "Locate Kurosaki and assist him in tracking down and defeating the Bounts." Toshiro said, opening the doors and standing off to the side.

"Aren't you coming?" Rukia asked, with a hopeful look on her face; "I will be shortly, first I have to stop by at my own division and get something from my office. I should only be a few minutes or so behind you." Toshiro said, making a light but encouraging smirk.

"Alright Captain Hitsugaya. I will see you then." she said with a low bow and walked through the gate.

Toshiro stood there for a moment, then sighed and shut the large doors; "Just don't do anything rash before I get there." he commented, shunpoing away to his new destination.

-Tenth Division office-

"What took you so long Captain?" Rangiku demanded in a whine the very second Toshiro opened the door; "I was sending Rukia Kuchiki to the World of the Living if you must know." he said with light roll of his eyes.

"Hmm, what did ya sent her there for?" she questioned with a raised brow as he walked towards his desk; "She's started her training with me again, so I decided that the best way to judge her level of power right now is to see her fighting against a Bount." Toshiro claimed simply, opening one of the drawers, grabbing a small piece of paper and closing it.

Rangiku raise her brow higher and tilted her head; "But don't you think that its rather reckless to just leave her on her own to fight one?"

"She won't be alone, there isn't a chance that Ichigo Kurosaki will allow any harm to come to her. Besides...I'm heading back there now. I need you to stay here for now and help Soifon, Ukitake and Kyoraku to make sense of the information we sent." Toshiro said with a nod and headed right back out of the office.

"Yes, Captain! But if you don't mind me asking; what did you need from here?" Matsumoto asked, with a failing attempt to see what he took from his desk.

"Well, first; I needed this..." he began holding out his hand to reveal a small folded up note; "A note? To who?" Rangiku questioned, seeming rather confused.

"Its to one of the Bounts actually, probably the only one that were not going to kill off." Toshiro said with a light smirk and sticking the note in his haori pocket.

"And second...I thought it would be a good idea to remind you that the paperwork still isn't finished." he claimed, crossing his arms across his chest, raising a brow and glancing at the stack of papers on her desk.

Rangiku looked at him sheepishly and giggled to herself; "I-Is that so? Well, I would have been done if...um...Nanao-chan hadn't stopped by to...call an emergency SWA meeting."

Toshiro rolled his eyes; "Rangiku...if your gonna try about pull that card...you should really pick up your sake bottles after you finish them." he said pointing and looking over at the empty bottles next to the stacks of paper on her desk.

But when Toshiro looked back over at her, she was in the doorway trying to sneak away; "Matsumoto!" and with that, she took off at a run through and out of the Tenth.

Hitsugaya sighed a deep breath; "She'll get it done eventually...she always does." he commented with small smile before vanishing in a shunpo.

-World of the Living, Warehouse area-

Toshiro arrived on one of the roofs and looked down at the scene before him; Ichigo and Rukia were facing off against Yoshino. But a male Bount was standing before them with its snake Doll wrapping itself around Yoshino's wrists to prevent her from summoning her own Doll. And all the while, they were surrounded by flames, which Toshiro could only guess was from Yoshino's Doll.

"You ought not to disobey for now. My Doll Fried has a bit of a short temper." the man claimed with a smug smirk on his face as his Doll now wrapped itself around Yoshino's neck.

"Hey! Aren't you guys friends?" Ichigo asked, seemingly confused that they would be attacking each other.

"I told you to shut up. You're making my head hurt." the Bount said in annoyance; "Shut up Shinigami!" the snake said as its eyes suddenly began glowing red.

Instantly, a nearby pipe reformed into a snake and launched itself at Ichigo. Even though he was able to dodge the attack, it took a few hairs from his head, but still checked to see if there was any blood. Ichigo's eyes widened in shock and confusion as the snake impaled itself into a wall and changed back into a pipe.

"What is with...this Bount's power?" Ichigo asked more to himself, as he stared in amazement at the man before him.

"We'll be leaving now. Because in the end, nobles and pigs do not sit at the same table." the Bount claimed, raising his arm up.

"Fried!" he called out, before jumping onto the roof behind him, then had his Doll raise Yoshino into the air, place her into his arms and finally ran off into the night.

"Wait!" Ichigo cried to them, but they were already out of sight; 'Hmm, either they're rather disorganized, or...Yoshino isn't really on their side.' Toshiro contemplated with a thoughtful look on his face.

'And if that's the case, then I'll be able to trust her with this information.' he continued, gripping the note inside his pocket and a hard stare at the disappearing Bounts.

'I'll check on Rukia tomorrow, she'll be alright till then.' he thought, with a quick glance at said shinigami, then vanished.

-Bount's mansion-

Toshiro walked down a long dark hallway with many pictures and tapestries along the way; "I won't be ordered around by anyone!" he heard a familiar voice say within the room he spoke to Jin the previous night.

"That's fine. But I worry, you are far too weak and foolish. So much so that I must protect you." he heard Jin speak as he walked up to the large double doors.

"Stop that. I don't want to hurt you anymore." Jin continued, after what Toshiro could only assume was the beginning of a possible fight.

He then grabbed both gold color handles and opened the doors; "Protection huh? From whom exactly?" he asked, walking toward the other white haired man.

"Oh? I meet you once in over a hundred years and now three times in two days?" Jin said in fake surprise; "Your smothering me." he finished with a light chuckle.

Toshiro gave a light chuckle as well and looked off to the side and over at the Bount that took Yoshino away; "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced. Captain of the Tenth Division and Commander of the Onmitsukido, Toshiro Hitsugaya."

The man's eyes became wide and he began backing away as if he had never seen a ghost in his life, he then backed himself into an old desk behind him and almost fell over; "Now don't be rude. Introduce yourself." Jin said, gesturing for him to go forward with his hand.

"Ryo Utagawa." he said with a slight cringe, as if he expected to be attacked at any moment; "Hmm, well Ryo...what are you waiting for? Aren't you supposed to take her away?" Toshiro asked as if it would be completely obvious.

Yoshino looked at Toshiro in surprise; "W-What?" she asked stepping away from everyone and towards the windows behind Jin, she then positioned her hands to call forth her Doll.

But Toshiro suddenly appeared before her and grabbed her hands with one of his ice covered ones; "Now don't be rash, and don't misunderstand me...I'm not helping Jin." he said to her and anonymously put the small note from his office into her pocket.

He then let her go, smirked and turned back to the other two Bounts. Whom of which, were staring at him rather suspiciously; "Well...this has been an eventful night. But I believe its time for me to return to Soul Society. Kariya, Utagawa, Soma." Toshiro said with a light nod to each person called.

"Hitsugaya." all three Bounts said in unison, before he vanished before their eyes; "He really is fast." Ryo commented as he took Yoshino by the arm and began leading her out of the room.

-Outside the Urahara shop-

"I'm guessing you talked to her?" Yoruichi asked as she and Toshiro stood in the shadows next to the back entrance of the shop.

"Well, not exactly. But I left her a message, I'll have more time to talk to her tomorrow night. And hopefully she'll follow my order and protect the Quincy." Toshiro said crossing his arms and letting out a sigh.

"Hmm? What's so special about the Quincy? I mean..Uryu?" she asked with a raised brow after she corrected herself.

"He plays a major part in Jin's plan. Without him...his plans will never succeed." Toshiro stated, narrowing his eyes on the spot on the ground he was looking at.

"And what are Jin's plans exactly? If I'm correct...even Kisuke doesn't know yet. And if you know, won't you tell me?" Yoruichi asked with a tilt of her head.

"Hmm, I suppose if your gonna trust me on this...you'll need to know." he said with a nod in agreement; "Exactly. So what is he planning to do?" she questioned as an expecting look appeared on her face, just about completely missing Toshiro's message to her.

"He wants to get to Soul Society. He plans to open a senkaimon and use Uryu's power as a Quincy so they can transform their bodies into souls. Then he's going to try and take his revenge against us by destroying Soul Society all together." he explained in a rather uncaring tone.

"Oh...um...well...how did you find all this information out?" Yoruichi asked in surprise from all that Toshiro just told her.

"Well to put it bluntly...I discovered that Jin was gathering all of the remaining Bounts to him for a meeting after a few months investigation. Three of them never made it there and another four didn't go back for the next one, but I got all the information I needed and know exactly of how to stop him if Ichigo can't." Toshiro said, but with a voice that reminded her of the day when he became a captain.

'So cold.' she thought to herself with a sad sigh; "So...he plans to use Uryu's power to get into Soul Society. But how will he manage it when he lost his Quincy powers in his fight with Kurotsuchi."

"Jin is going to give him some sort of motive to get them back. What it is...I'm not sure yet." Toshiro said with a thoughtful expression, as if he were trying to put together a puzzle.

"Hmm, so that's one thing left unsolved...but...are we gonna wait till they get to Soul Society to have Ichigo defeat them? Or what?" Yoruichi asked, trying to forget the fact that her best friend had murdered people to get information.

"The only one that we need Ichigo to defeat is Jin. The rest can be killed by any one of us. But yes, we will probably wait till they enter the Seireitei to eliminate them." Toshiro said, finally looking up to meet her gaze.

"So...what have you really done while I wasn't there?" she asked, suddenly taking up a very saddened expression.

Toshiro's eyes slightly widened, but narrowed once more and then closed before he responded; "Trust me Yoruichi...you really don't want to know."

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes on him and took a step closer to him, to which he opened his eyes, looked up into hers but looked away again; "You really don't." he claimed, emphasizing with a shake of his head.

"Please tell me Toshiro. I'm your best friend, I won't think any less of you." she said in a pleading voice that almost didn't even sound her.

"I...I'm sorry Yoruichi. I can't." he replied, attempting to walk away, but Yoruichi stopped him by pressing her body into his and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"If your not willing to tell me...then I guess I'll just wait till you are." Yoruichi claimed with a smile and a tight squeeze around his shoulders.

Toshiro just stood there with a slightly shocked look, then smirked at her and returned the hug; "Thank you Yoruichi." he said with a content sigh.

"I see you two are getting intimate, I'll just come back later." Kisuke said suddenly appearing off to the side of them, but disappearing a split second later.

Yoruichi and Toshiro both let out a growl in annoyance; "I swear...I'm gonna kill him." Yoruichi said as one of eyes twitched.

"I second that notion." Toshiro added as his own eye began twitching; "It looks like he's dead either way huh?" she said with a light giggle.

Hitsugaya nodded and smirked; "Mhmm. I better get back...you coming?"

Yoruichi smiled at him and nodded her head quickly before walking out in front of him; "You betcha. It'll be good to see Soifon and everyone else again, plus it'll be easier for us to get more information on the Bounts if we both look." she claimed widening her smile even more.

Toshiro smirked a little bit more and brought his hand up; "Open." he said then stuck his pointer and middle fingers into a seemingly invisible space and called forth a senkaimon.

"Oh wow, you can open a senkaimon with your fingers? I've never known anyone to do that...kinda stylish." Yoruichi stated with a giggle.

"Hmph, lets get going." Toshiro said and walked through the gate, to which Yoruichi followed closely behind him.

-Early the next day in the Second Division-

"The data was locked you say?" Ukitake asked with a questionable expression and a glance at everyone else present.

On one side, Toshiro was standing in deep thought with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Yoruichi stood next to him with an expecting look, as if Toshiro was going to tell them exactly who did what at any minute. Soifon had a similar look, only hers was more humbling then Yoruichi's.

Then on the other side, Shunsui was sitting on a stool with a thoughtful yet rather care-free look on his face, and a bottle of sake in one hand. Byakuya stood exactly like Toshiro in every aspect; 'It looks like he learned more from Toshiro then just a few techniques.' Ukitake thought with a light smile.

"That's what I said. And I'm more then positive that no one from the Twelfth did it, Kurotsuchi was fuming about not authorizing such a thing." Kyoraku said in a bit of amusement, then taking a swig of sake.

"Whatever the case...we must find out how to unlock the data concerning the Bounts before we can make a certain move on them." Byakuya claimed, but still not opening his eyes or uncrossing his arms.

Everyone nodded at his words, but then turned to Toshiro all at once for an answer; "Mayuri will be able to do that by himself. He's quite brilliant when he needs to be, so we don't have to worry about that at the moment. What we need to concentrate on right now is to merely keep an eye on the Bounts." Toshiro said, opening his eyes.

"Once Mayuri has unlocked the information, we'll put together a team of lieutenants and put them up against the Bounts. More then likely they won't be enough to destroy them, but we will get a better idea of what to expect when they get here. And to discover where Maki Ichinose's loyalties lie." he continued.

Each of them nodded and glanced around between one another; "You seem to have put quite a lot of thought into this Toshiro...as if you knew what to do for weeks...or months." Shusui commented with a grin.

Toshiro looked over at him and gave a very light smirk; "Hmph, maybe...maybe not. But for now, I'm going to follow my own plan." he said, then walked away and shunpoed out of sight.

"Did he really know?" Ukitake asked with an inquisitive look on his face; "Well...kind of." Yoruichi responded before following after her friend.

Soifon looked from the captains that remained to the disappearing figure of the woman she swore to protect since she was born; "Yoruichi-sama! Captain Hitsugaya!" she called out before following after them.

* * *

Wow...for some reason everyone at my house feels the need to distract me from this. Its starting to get ridicules. Oh BTW: His Dolls name sounds like Freed with a slight roll of the 'r', even though its spelled like Fried...odd huh? Please review. :)


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36:**

-Later on that day in the World of the Living-

Toshiro and Yoruichi walk out of the senkaimon and looked around their whereabouts as it closed behind them. They had arrived by the river the ran along the western side of Karakura town; "So what now?" Yoruichi asked with a tilt of her head.

Toshiro looked up at her, then over in the direction he felt Ichigo's spirit energy; 'He really has no sense of control, does he.' he thought to himself in amusement.

"We should check on Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends. Its too early for them to be out of school, yet they're heading in the opposite direction from it." he claimed, narrowing his eyes on where he could sense Ichigo's spirit energy.

Yoruichi looked in the same direction and nodded her head; "Alright. Lets go." she said, receiving a nod and a sudden shunpo from Toshiro.

-Halfway across the town-

Ichigo and his friends were facing off against Ryo Utagawa and his Doll Fried in a truck docking bay, with a young woman being held hostage by the Bount. But across the street; Toshiro and Yoruichi arrived in shunpoes and watched the events from behind the many trees in the forest; "Do you think we should help them?" Yoruichi asked with a glance over at Toshiro.

He shook his head, then looked over at her; "No, we should just let this play out for now. Yoshino should be on her way over here. So lets hide our spirit energy...before they figure out we're here." Toshiro said, as both of them did as he instructed.

"How can you be certain that she's going to listen to you? As far as she's concerned...you may be just another Shinigami trying to exterminate her kind. Why is she going to listen to you?" Yoruichi asked, once again looking over at him on her left side.

"Trust me Yoruichi. She'll do it." was his response as he too looked over at her and formed an assuring smirk.

"Of course I trust you. I trust you with my life...its her I'm worried about." she said, nodding and smiling at him, but then gestured over to her right, as if the person they were speaking about was right there.

Toshiro smirked wider, then looked around the tree he was hidden behind and saw a sudden fire ball hurling straight at Ryo; "Fried!" he called out and brought forth his Doll to shield him from the attack.

The ball of fire hit the snake, broke apart, and covered most of the immediate area in an inferno. But most of the fire still ended up surrounding its intended target, and also freed Uryu from the snake that wrapped around his body. Toshiro and Yoruichi looked up at Yoshino standing atop one of the trucks, with the now unconscious Uryu in her arms; "Ishida-kun!" Orihime called out frantically.

"That woman..." Rukia started but never finished from her surprise; "You bitch!" Ichigo insulted her angrily as everyone just watched her and her Doll with anxious and suspicious eyes.

"Yoshino, you escaped again, didn't you?" Ryo began as the flames that had engulfed him suddenly dispersed and left him just standing there unharmed, with an irritated expression.

"Please don't think that you will always be treated so specialy." he finished, glaring up at her and placing a hand over his face.

"Goethe, please take care of things here." Yoshino asked, to which her Doll responded with; "Request understood." in a deep yet rather humble voice.

"H-Hey, wait a second!" Ichigo called out, just before Goethe blasted three very large fire balls towards Ichigo and everyone else present.

Toshiro looked back at Yoruichi, gestured for her to follow him with a tilt of his head and began walking through the trees; "We better find out where she's going." he said.

Yoruichi nodded and followed him; "Yeah...but you know..." she began, walking in front of him, crossing her arms, then leaned against a nearby tree and looked at him with slight suspicion.

"Even though I am inquisitive about how you convinced her to help us...I'm more inquisitive of how you've been able to just walk around the enemy...without being attacked." she asked, keeping her suspicious look on him.

'At least tell me this Toshiro.' she all but begged in her own mind; "Well, from everything that I've done...its hard to see me as a good guy." he said looking down at the ground and began to walk around her.

Yoruichi sighed sadly and looked down at the ground; "I see. But regardless of what they may think...you are a good guy, to me." she said smirking at him, but whispering and looking away in embarrassment at the end of her sentence.

Toshiro immediately stopped, looked back at her with a slightly surprised expression, but smirked at her nonetheless; "Thanks Yoruichi." he said sincerely, before motioning for her to follow once more.

"We better hurry before she gets too far away." he continued, then turned back in Yoshino's direction and shunpoed toward her.

Yoruichi was a split second behind him and shunpoed right next to him; "What's your plan when we catch up?" she asked as they kept going.

"Nothing. We're just seeing where she's going...just in case." Toshiro responded; "Hmm, don't you think we could have brought Soifon? We could just have had her do this so we could-" but Yoruichi was cut off as Toshiro came to a sudden stop in front of a large building.

She halted right next to him and looked up at the many dirty windows of the facility. She then looked up at the large hand clock on the top and listened to it start ringing loudly, for the old hour to end and a new one to begin.

"This is it." Toshiro said as Yoruichi glanced over at him him with a raised brow then back at the clock that continued to echo its ground shaking sound across the town.

"So now that we know where she is...what now?" she asked, stretching her arms behind her back and cracking her neck loudly; "Oh wow...that one felt good." she laughed out with a smile.

Toshiro glanced over at her with a raised brow, then in the opposite direction and narrowed his eyes into a glare, as if someone was on the other side of him; "You better not be here to start something." he said seemingly to no one.

Yoruichi looked around, yet found no one anywhere near them, she was about to question him, but she was interrupted when Jin Kariya suddenly walked out of the shadowed entrance of the large clock tower.

"Oh don't worry, I have no intention of fighting...till it is necessary." Jin claimed, smiling widely as he walked up to them with his hands in his pockets.

Toshiro and Yoruichi both glared at the man with distrustful eyes; "And how do we know that?" the purple haired woman demanded.

"Hmph, cause he knows that he'd lose. Isn't that right, Jin?" Toshiro said with a light yet somewhat smug smirk.

Jin's smile disappeared and a deep frown took its place in a split second; "Once my plans go accordingly...I will be more powerful then the Head Captain himself." he claimed, now glaring at the two.

"Is that so? Kind of hard to believe...considering how easily either of us could beat you right now." Yoruichi commented with a smirk and put her hands on her hips.

Kariya let out a silent growl in frustration; "You'll be begging for forgiveness when I rise to power." he said, now smirking once more, but keeping his eyes narrowed on her.

Toshiro stepped forward and glared icily at the opposing man; "You know Jin...I don't take too kindly to anyone that talks that way to Yoruichi. So, unless you have a death wish...you better bite your damn tongue."

Yoruichi looked at Toshiro with a surprised expression, but it changed to a proud one after a brief moment; "Fine then. But I request that she does not insult me as well." Jin said through gritted teeth, making it apparent that he wanted to say something else.

"Ha! Your request is denied! You lost the right to make requests to me when you sucked the soul from a human!" Yoruichi declared, becoming fairly angry now.

But instead of becoming offended, as Yoruichi thought he would, he suddenly gained a wide smile; "So your disgusted with anyone that kills innocent people?" Jin asked regaining his very smug tone.

Yoruichi looked at him as if he were crazy; "Obviously." she claimed simply yet annoyingly, as she didn't know why he was suddenly becoming so cocky.

Jin just smiled even wider and took a quick glance at Toshiro and his very icy glare; "If that true, then why are you best friends with the most famous...or infamous, it depends on how you look at it, murderer in history."

Yoruichi's eyes became wide and her attention immediately turned to where Toshiro had just been. But he had shunpoed right in front of Jin, grabbed his throat with an ice covered hand and began choking him; "I warned you to bite your damn tongue." he said, freezing the air with his voice.

"Toshiro...is that true?" Yoruichi asked with a rather shaky voice, to which Toshiro looked back at her with an ashamed yet still rather icy expression.

He then looked down at the ground, but still kept his hand around Jin's neck with an iron like grip. He then closed his eyes and ground his teeth together; "Oh..it's..defin..itely..true. All..of it." Jin claimed in a gargled and very strained voice.

"Shut up! I wanna hear it from him." Yoruichi yelled with a glare at the choking man, then turned back to Toshiro with an almost begging look on her face.

"Is it?" she asked once more; "Yeah." was all Toshiro said before releasing Jin and immediately shunpoing away.

"Toshiro!" she called out, but was too late to stop him; "You see?...If anything..he's far worse then any of us Bounts..combined." Jin claimed rubbing his sore neck, just before Yoruichi too disappeared in a shunpo to try and catch up to her friend.

She shunpoed across the town and almost ran into multiple people as she hurried through it at incredible speeds; "Toshiro!" she called out to him, but no answer ever came.

But then as she was passing by the Karakura park, she saw him walking down a pathway with his head down and his arms crossed across his chest; "Toshiro! Please wait!" Yoruichi cried out, dropping out of her shunpo and running up to him.

Toshiro stopped, opened his slowly, uncrossed his arms, and turned to her with a melancholic expression. Yoruichi run up, grabbed him by his shoulders and slightly shook him; "Why did you leave like that? I told you that I would never think any less of you. I don't care if what you did seems wrong, I know that you only did them for the greater good...right?"

Toshiro just looked at her shocked, but then lowered his eyes and slowly closed them once more; "Not always." he said sadly, then reopening his eyes again.

"But you...you wouldn't..." she began, but her throat tightened and restricted her speech so she was unable to finish.

Then she suddenly pulling him towards her and hugged him tightly as hot tears began to fall from her eyes; "Your not a bad guy. Your not...your not." she said, straining her voice even more and hugging him tighter and tighter for each word she spoke.

Toshiro just stared at her for a while with an extremely shocked expression, but he then returned her hug; "I'm sorry I broke my promise of not to change too much...but I'll make sure to keep it from now on." he whispered to her with a very earnest tone.

Yoruichi loosened her hug, stared into his eyes for a moment, then leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his lips before going right back into her tight hug. Toshiro was too shocked to re-embrace her hug, so he ended up just standing there paralyzed, as if an electric shock surged through his entire body and then froze it solid.

"I'm glad. Cause I don't think I could live without you being you." she said with such a level of sincerity that she barely sounded like herself.

"I..." Toshiro started, but he found himself at a loss for words; 'How can she still be able make me speechless even after all this time?' he thought as he slowly felt the feeling coming back into his limbs once more and halfway returned her hug.

Yoruichi smiled secretly, loosened her hug again and began to lean in for another kiss; 'Even though seeing his reaction would probably be priceless...kissing him doesn't exactly sound like a bad idea.' she thought rather deviously as her tears began to dry.

But just as their lips were about to connect..."Captain..Hitsugaya? Y-Yoruichi-sama?" both of them snapped away from one another and saw Soifon standing not four yards away with a stunned expression.

"What? We were just catching up on old times." Yoruichi said quickly as Toshiro smacked his forehead with an icy palm; "You got to be kidding me." he mumbled out as his right eye began twitching.

Soifon just stood there looking from one to the other; "Catching...up." she echoed back as her jaw all but dropped.

Yoruichi tilted her head in fake confusion; "You mean you've never kissed anyone you haven't seen in a long time?" she asked, trying to hide her amusement.

"W-What? O-Of course not. You don't mean to tell me that you kissed Kisu-" "Nope, I was in my cat form when I saw him again, and its too late for it now. You can relax Soifon. Actually...what are you doing here anyway?" Yoruichi asked, interrupting Soifon before she could make another insult about one of her best friends.

"I was requested to come here by Ukitake to inform Captain Hitsugaya that a meeting will be held tomorrow, to inform the other captains and lieutenants about the blocked Bount information." Soifon said in a very formal matter.

Toshiro nodded his head and glanced over at Yoruichi; "Have you told Kisuke and Tessai about it?" to which she looked over at him and shook her head.

"He'll probably have a pretty good idea of whom it was, so make sure to inform him soon." Toshiro continued with a nod.

Yoruichi nodded back, but then took a wide smirk and leaned in toward his ear; "Its too bad we keep getting interrupted huh?" she whispered to him, her breath tickling his neck and sending a slight chill through his body.

But Toshiro just let out a silent growl of annoyance and gave her a halfhearted glare; "Yoruichi." he mumbled, hoping that she would become at least a little serious.

The purple haired woman smiled, straightened up once more and giggled; "What? Are you saying that you didn't enjoy kissing me?"

Toshiro's eyes became extremely wide and he once again felt at a loss for words; "I...um...uh..." he stuttered out incoherently.

His actions just made Yoruichi giggle even more and give him a light hug; "Don't worry Toshiro...I did too." she whispered to him with a wink.

Toshiro looked up at her as she released him and wore a wide smirk on her face, he then cleared his throat and regained his composure; "Anyway...Soifon, you can inform Ukitake that I'll be there for the meeting, I just have a few more things to take care of here."

Soifon nodded at him and took one last glance at him then Yoruichi before turning around and shunpoing away; "And you...the sooner Kisuke knows, the better. You can go ahead and go over there. I need some time to prepare for Ichigo's next test."

Yoruichi raised a brow at his words; "What do you mean, 'Ichigo's next test'?" she asked with a questionable expression.

Toshiro looked at her with a light smirk on his face; "You'll find out." he said then turned away and shunpoed off.

-That night at the hospital-

Toshiro stood atop the roof of a nearby building and watched the sky fill with clouds and a light rain begin to fall; "Perfect...it should start getting heavier as the night goes on." he said to himself with a satisfied nod.

He then looked into the window that held the only light on the entire floor; "Those Bounts should be making their move pretty soon. I know for a fact that Jin will send the two that can manipulate water, cause next to Utagawa...they're the most expendable." he continued as he focused his senses to find out exactly what was happening inside.

"Hmm, it seems like they're beginning their assault." he spoke, then turned around and looked out to the rest of the town; "I guess I should go, I'll be meeting her pretty soon." and with that, he vanished into the night.

-Near a small antique store-

The rain had begun to fall in larger amounts by the time Toshiro had arrived at the rendezvous point he had given to her. He appeared in a flash about twenty yards away from where Yoshino was standing under her umbrella, he then narrowed his eyes on her and stepped back into a dark alleyway. 'I'll speak to her after Ryo is finished.' he thought as said man suddenly appeared next to Yoshino with his own umbrella, and began talking with her.

Toshiro crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall that faced the two Bounts. He then took one final glance at them before closing his eyes and tilting his head down towards the ground. Though he should have been seen, the shadows of the alley was enough to keep his visual presence hidden. But he was also masking his spirit energy so that they would not be able to sense him no matter how much they tried. Yet despite all of that, one of the two Bounts already knew of his whereabouts and hid smirk upon their lips.

"I will not take orders." Yoshino spoke with an almost casual tone, but upon closer inspection, her words were laced with hate and anger.

"Even if it is an order given by the man you love?" Ryo asked rather smugly, already knowing her answer just by looking at her eyes.

"Love is worn out. It ran especially thin when I realized that he was manipulating me." she said, still with anger mixed in her voice.

"It seems Kariya-san will start to move soon." he stated, now seeming to go into a business mode.

"Doesn't matter, from the very start the Bounts have been of a single mind set. He can do as he wishes." she said, not even caring about their conversation anymore.

"I wonder why Kariya-san is so good to you. No matter how I look at you, your ill-tempered." he said, actually seeming not to understand.

"Appearances aside, you are a little boy. You cannot get by in this world spirit alone." Yoshino started, but then glanced over at the smirk Ryo was now giving her; "Unnecessary suspicions will be your downfall."

"No comment." was Ryo's response as he smiled wider and already began walking away; "Your dismissed." she said, not realizing that he had unknowingly run to the same alleyway that Toshiro was still in.

"Hmph, that woman will get hers." he mumbled to himself as he looked around the corner and looked at the woman still standing in front of the shop.

"Maybe...maybe not." Toshiro commented, making his presence known to the man.

Utagawa turned around faster then he ever had in his very long life and became wide eyed as he stared in horror at the shadowed figure of Hitsugaya. "How?...When?...What are you doing here?" the Bount asked out of shock, almost dropping his umbrella in the process.

"Hmph, visiting an old friend. What about you?" Toshiro asked, pushing himself off the wall, uncrossing his arms and looked up at him.

"I was here..under orders from Kariya-san." Ryo answered, almost stuttering with his words.

"Hmm, well then...shouldn't you be heading back to make your report." Toshiro stated instead of asking.

Utagawa ground his teeth together and glared at the Shinigami before him, then turned around and began walking away; "You too will get yours as well." were his leaving words.

"Tch, still so young." Yoshino said as she walked up to the opening of the alley; "Yeah, no kidding." Toshiro said with a nod.

"I assume you caused this rain?" she asked looking up at the sky from beyond her umbrella; "Mhmm, I had a feeling that Jin would send the two that control water...so I gave them the advantage over Ichigo and his friends." he said with a light smirk.

"Why would you do that? They're your comrades aren't they?" she asked with a questionable expression on her face.

"Yes, but if they cannot defeat those two...then they won't stand a chance against any of the other Bounts." he claimed with his breath slightly visible in the air.

"You really are fixed on making them stronger huh?" Yoshino asked, but nodded knowingly; "Well in order to be at the level they need to be at to fight the Arrancars...they're gonna need to become as strong as possible." Toshiro said turning around to face her.

"I see. So what did you need me for?" she questioned, now getting down to the matter at hand.

Toshiro nodded and looked up at her with a serious expression; "I'm going to need you to take care of the Quincy for now. He will more then likely feel responsible for the attacks on his friends and try to run off. Take him somewhere you know is safe and try to keep the other Bounts away for as long as possible." he explained.

"So he really does have a lot to do with his plans then. Alright, but what if they do happen to take us?" Yoshino asked with a nod.

"If they happen to get you...I'm sure you already know how to get out, and as for Uryu...his friends will definitely make sure he gets out. I'll even go if need be." he said with an assuring tone.

Yoshino nodded and smirked; "Okay, but I really hope that they don't send Go Koga. He's even older then I am, and he's had more experience then me. I don't think I could win against him."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes, looked off to the side and sighed; "If that's the case...then you can more then definitely count on him being the one that shows up. Cause I'm sure Jin also knows that your not a match for him, it would only seem sensible on his part."

She looked slightly shocked at first, but then nodded once more; "That's true. I suppose that when the time comes...there won't be any helping it."

"Unfortunately so. But you know what...I think that when all this is over, you'll finally get what you truly want." he said with a small and rather weak smirk.

Yoshino looked at him slightly confused, but then her expression changed to shock, then to unsure, and finally a halfway smile; "I guess you really are a genius. You even know what I want before even I do myself."

She then made a full smile and walked closer to him; "I wish you were a Bount...maybe we really could have made a such thing as everlasting love."

Toshiro slightly smirked at her and nodded; "Maybe." he said, then stuck out his right ice covered hand.

'I guess I kind of can say maybe. If I was a Bount...I never would have known anyone in Soul Society.' he thought as Yoshino clasped her own hand in his.

"But at least we knew each other at all." he said mostly to himself, but Yoshino still heard him and smiled wider at his words.

"Yeah. And I'm glad for it too." she said as they released each others hands, nodded in unison, turned away from each other, and walked in separate directions.

"I wonder..." Toshiro whispered as he took one last glance at Yoshino's leaving figure before disappearing in the shadows of darkness.

* * *

Okay...that was a bit of an annoying chapter, I got caught up on so many scenes it was unreal. And btw: Toshiro and Yoshino have met more then just twice, I'll include just how many in one of the future chapters. But wow, this is the 36th chapter, I can't believe that this story is already that long? Wow, maybe I should do something special for the 40th or 50th. :) Anyway, hope you all enjoyed...please review.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37:**

-Early the next morning in the Thirteenth Division-

Toshiro, Rangiku, Zaraki and Yachiru all walked together down the hallway that led to the meeting room that Ukitake had designated. Rangiku stepped up to the door and began to announce herself and her captain in a firm and professional voice; "Captain Hitsugaya of the Tenth Division, accompanied by Lieutenant Matsumoto."

Immediately after she had finished, Yachiru stepped forward and did the same for herself and her captain; "Captain Kenpachi of the Eleventh Division, accompanied by Lieutenant Kasajishi."

Then after their introductions were finished, they both spoke in unison; "We're coming in." they claimed and opened the rather thin double doors.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Yachiru said, running inside the fairly crowded room with a large smile on her face.

Toshiro followed after her and began analyzing the occupants of the room; at the front was Ukitake, merely standing with a neutral expression, while waiting for the newcomers to enter the room. Beside him was Kurotsuchi, but because he was facing the opposite direction, Toshiro could not tell what he was doing or thinking. And the last person up front was his daughter Nemu, and as usual had nothing but an emotionless expression on her face, but her eyes were fixed on him.

Then he examined the row of Shinigami second to the front which consisted of: Shunsui, whom had a very rare serious look on his face. Nanao, with her signature business expression, which was mixed with a level of interest. Next to her was Unohana, with her normal gentle look, which hid her worry about the situation. Omaeda was just standing there with a light grin on his face, not even seeming to care much about the meeting at all.

Just behind the large lieutenant was Isane, with a serious but quite worried look. On the other side of her was Sasakibe, Iba, and Hisagi, whom stood grouped together and all wore the same serious expressions on their features. And finally next to them was Komamura and his unreadable look, the fact that Toshiro never tried to read the expression of a dog, and that he only showed human-like emotion was when he was angry or happy about something had much to do with it.

At the sound of Yachiru's voice, Mayuri quickly turned around and showed his displeasure of the new four for coming in so late; "What were you doing at such an important time?" he demanded angrily.

"If you were part of the normal guard, I would feed you to my pets for your incompetence!" he continued, giving them a sever glare.

"Captain Ukitake, what was it that you wanted to tell us?" Rangiku spoke up, not very interested in anything that the Twelfth Division Captain had to say.

"I'm the one who has something to tell you!" Mayuri claimed before Ukitake had the chance to respond to her and pointing a finger to himself to further emphasize it; "Huh?" she asked confused and raising a brow.

"In an attempt to keep this from spreading, Head Captain Yamamoto had me act as a decoy." Ukitake began, then cleared his throat before continuing; "Now then, would Captain Kurotsuchi of the Twelfth Division explain the situation?"

Mayuri sneered at the before he began his speech; "This isn't a 'situation' or anything like that! This was my databank! Someone snuck into the databank and stole from it!" he all but complained and slammed his left foot onto the ground.

"Stole from it? What?" Yachiru asked, staring at the man curiously.

"Bount, I wonder if saying this surprises you." he began, which gained everyone's attention.

"On top of this, he set up a trap. If I tried to remove it from that data, then that data would be destroyed. Do you understand what this means? Huh?" he demanded as a rhetorical question, but still seemed to pause in case anyone actually held an answer.

'A trap eh? Must be some kind of encryption that would destroy the data its attached to if someone tries to tamper with it. Quite clever actually, I wonder if Kurotsuchi will really be able to remove it without my help?' Toshiro thought looking down at the ground and narrowing his eyes on a crooked floor board.

"As the Captain of the Twelfth Division, as well as the person in charge of the data, this is a most contemptuous affront! If there is someone you might think to be the culprit, tell me his name! He needs to be caught immediately!" he claimed, pointing an accusing finger at all the people present.

'Tch...it figures that he would only think that a man did this.' Toshiro thought as a small smirk appeared on his face and he looked back up at Kurotsuchi's staring face.

"Do you find something amusing here Hitsugaya?" Mayuri demanded, as all eyes turned on the short white haired captain.

"Not particularly." was all Toshiro responded with; "It was _you_ wasn't it! What have you done with my data?" he yelled, now pointing his accusing finger directly at him.

But then Ukitake stepped forward and looked at the painted face man; "Don't be so harsh, Kurotsuchi. We all share a feeling of responsibility in capturing the culprit."

Mayuri turned to him now and glared at him angrily; "Have you forgotten that among those responsible Captains there have already been some traitors?"

"This is something that could endanger all of Soul Society. We should avoid acting rashly." Ukitake claimed, trying to keep the other man from starting a fight.

"Hm! Your useless aren't you!" he said in annoyance and turned away from the Thirteenth Division Captain; "Well its okay, but if there is another instance of someone trying to anger me, I'll have an idea who it might be. Be prepared!" Mayuri called out harshly.

After that was said, Ukitake dismissed everyone and told them to return to their normal duties; "So...do you actually know who it was that stole the data?" Rangiku asked as she and her captain walked back to the Tenth.

"I have a theory...but I'm actually not exactly sure yet." Toshiro responded with a thoughtful expression and a glance up at his following lieutenant.

"Hmm, well at least your better off then Captain Kurotsuchi." she said with a light laugh; "I'm sure that he has a few theories and suspects of his own. But doubt any of them even come close to who I have in mind." Toshiro said,looking back at their path and narrowing his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Rangiku asked with a raised brow; "He thinks that the information was stolen just recently...but in fact, no one has looked the Bounts up in the archives in a little over a hundred years. Its possible that this data has been gone for quite some time, but only now has it been realized." Toshiro said glancing up at her.

"So it was stolen between this week and a hundred years ago...but that means it could be any number of people. Who exactly do you think did it?" she asked, leaning over towards him to get a better look at his face.

"Don't worry, its no one that you would know. Plus she's technically on our side." he responded as they finally arrived at the Tenth Division.

"No one I would know? Oh so its a 'she'...no wonder why she's on our side." Rangiku said in a giggle.

Toshiro looked at her and raised a brow; "Whats that supposed to mean?" Toshiro asked, only somewhat confused at her words.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all." she said smiling widely and giggling a bit more; "Hmph, whatever. I assume that the paperwork I left you with has been completed." he said as walked towards the door to their office.

But before Toshiro could reach his hand out to the door handle, Rangiku stepped in front of him and blocked his arms with her body; "That paperwork...um...that paperwork was..uh..mostly..totally..com...comp...compared to other divisions that have completed theirs of course." she claimed with a sheepish smile.

Toshiro sighed deeply and shook his head; "How much is left?" he asked knowingly.

"A stack about this thick." she claimed as she brought her thumb and pointer finger up in a little less then an inch apart.

He looked at her fingers and nodded his head; "So that means there's about three times that much sitting on my desk." he said aloud, which slightly shocked his lieutenant at how well he knew her.

Rangiku stood off to the side, then opened up the door for her captain and allowed him to walk through first. But Toshiro stopped a few steps into the room and just stood there, Rangiku looked inside and saw Soifon at Toshiro's desk filling out the last of the paperwork.

"Captain Soifon? What are you doing here?" Rangiku asked with a raised brow as she walked into the office.

Soifon looked up and immediately shot out of Toshiro's chair, ran up to them and bowed down to the ground a few feet from Toshiro's feet; "Forgive me Captain Hitsugaya! I was only attempting to help with your divisions paperwork, I did not mean to insult you or your division." she said in the humblest way that any human or soul could muster.

"Don't worry Soifon...its not like your in trouble. Thank you for your help." Toshiro said with a sigh and an encouraging smirk.

He then stepped towards her, knelt down and helped her back to her feet; "You really don't have to do that, I'm glad that you came here to help us out." he said putting a frozen hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"Thank you Captain Hitsugaya." she said with a bowing nod; "Actually, if you don't mind...I have a favor to ask of you." he claimed, now hardening his stare on her.

"Of course. Whatever you wish Captain Hitsugaya." Soifon said as Rangiku walked around them with an amused smirk on her face.

"I need you to head over to the World of the Living, tell Yoruichi to go to the Bounts hideout at these coordinates." Toshiro began as he walked over to his desk, wrote a few numbers on a spare piece of paper and handed it to her.

"Then I want you check on Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends, just see what they are doing and report back to me." he finished with an unintentional commanding voice.

"Yes sir! As you command!" Soifon said before bowing at her waist and heading for the door; "But before you go...I have a quick question." Toshiro said before she reached the doorway.

"Yes Captain Hitsugaya?" she asked, turning around and bowing once again; "How did you know where Yoruichi and I were yesterday?" he asked with a raised brow and an actual interested expression.

"I...um...I sensed a sudden spike in your spirit energy and followed it till I found you." she responded in a stutter at first, but finished it as quickly as possible.

Toshiro smirked at her, then nodded in approval; "Alright then, your dismissed. And thank you again for your help." he said as she bowed even lower and left the office with an; "Of course Captain Hitsugaya."

Rangiku raised her brow from her place at Toshiro's desk; "Why exactly did you want to know that?" she asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"Just because I did." was his blunt response, but she just continued her suspicious stare and then smirked deviously; "Did something happen between you and Yoruichi?"

Toshiro's eyes became wide for a split second, but returned to normal and then narrowed on her immediately after; "So some thing did happen!" she exclaimed after seeing his reaction.

But he just rolled his eyes, walked past her and sat down at his desk; "What happened? What did you two do? Was it something the SWA would make a fortune on?" she asked like a giddy little school girl.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Even if it was...do you think I would tell _you_, the main reason why I'm a popular item in that organization in the first place." Toshiro said in irritation.

Rangiku just smiled at him and waved off his words with a dismissive hand; "Oh come now Captain, you were always a popular item in the SWA, long before I started taking those pictures of you while you were sleeping or eating. Or even before I started the segment of 'An Ice Dragon's Passion' in the Seireitei Communications monthly magazine."

Toshiro looked up at her with a suspicious raised brow; "And what exactly does this segment feature?" he asked seemingly far too calm for what he just heard.

It was because of his calmness that Rangiku actually forgot whom she was talking to and answered his question without a care; "It features you and every woman that you've interacted with for the whole month. It's kind of like getting a know-how on what type of woman you might be attracted to."

Toshiro's right eye began to twitch and the right side of his upper lip began to curl up and reveal his teeth in a slight snarl; "But of course at the beginning of every article...it has a picture of you and me together, I mean we do interact the most you know." she continued, not even noticing the drop in temperature inside the room.

"I have recently gotten a few pictures of you and Yoruichi though...and I think one of them would make quite a few woman blush if they saw it. I haven't quite figured out if I'm going to publish that specific one though, but I do know that any of them would definitely make the article sell even more then normal. I mean _you_ with the Head of the Shihoin clan? There would be an insane rush to get as many copies as possible!" she finished with a wide smile and a look of accomplishment.

"Matsumoto." he mumbled out through his grinding teeth, which seemed to bring said woman out of her daze and realize that she was talking to the one person that wasn't supposed to know any of the information she gave.

"C-C-Cap...tain." Rangiku stuttered out nervously, while smiling sheepishly; "Matsumotoooo!" Toshiro yelled out as the room began to fill with a cold fog that froze everything on contact.

"C-C-C-Cap...tain? Your not...that angry at me...are you?" she asked in an almost frightened voice, as she began to constrict her body from the cold.

Toshiro growled at her for a moment but relaxed in his chair once more; "I am quite angry Rangiku...but fortunately, just not enough to want to freeze you into a block of ice." he said in a loud sigh.

Rangiku sighed in relief and unconstricted herself after the cold resided; "Well its a good thing that I didn't tell you about the poll that has people vote on which woman you'd fit best with." she said, but clamped her mouth shut after the words left her lips.

"Matsumotoooo!" Toshiro yelled out again as said woman went running out of her division at speeds that blew everyone over as she passed.

-Later on that day in the Tenth Division office-

"I said that I was sorry Captain. Why are you still punishing me with paperwork?" Rangiku whined as she sat at her desk, scribbling on the piece of paper in front of her.

"I'm not punishing you anymore...these just came today therefore should be done on time." Toshiro said as he finished the last page of his stack.

"But they're not due for another week!" she said continuing her whining voice; "Its better to be ahead then to fall behind. Besides...once your finished here, you won't have much to do for the rest of the week." he claimed as if it should have been obvious to her by now.

"Yeah I know...your paperwork motto; 'better to be ahead then to fall behind'. But what about my paperwork motto? Just so long as it gets done, why worry?" Rangiku said with a wide smile on her face.

Toshiro sighed and looked at her with a raised brow, he was about to say something but was interrupted by a knock at the door; "Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Soifon reporting in!" was heard from the other side.

"Come in." he said and a split second later, Soifon did just as she was told and kneeled down before his desk; "I'm back from the World of the Living with a completed mission." she began, looking up at him from her spot on the ground.

"Yoruichi-sama went to the Bount hideout and returned without any problems, she also wished for me to tell you that Jin Kariya will be making his move on the Quincy and Yoshino Soma soon." Soifon continued.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and then nodded for her to keep going; "I also looked into what Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends were doing as you commanded. They were merely looking for the Quincy the entire day, other then that...they did nothing." she finished.

"Alright...thank you Soifon. You can return to your division." Toshiro said with a thankful nod; "As you wish Captain Hitsugaya." she responded and vanished in a shunpo.

"She needs a hobby. All she thinks about is work, I think that getting a hobby would be a good thing...what do you think Captain?" Rangiku spoke up cheerfully and a glance over at Toshiro.

"Hmph, she's just very loyal and duty bound. Which is rather admirable...just so long as its not a blind loyalty. If you follow someone blindly, it can lead to disaster." he said, making it rather apparent that he was talking about the Aizen incident.

"Do you think that I follow you blindly?" she asked, now seeming to become rather serious and looking at him with a very solemn expression.

Toshiro looked over at her with a raised brow, but his eyes softened and then lowered to his desk from the look she was giving him; "What do you think?" he questioned back, giving her the chance to decide for herself.

"Honestly? Yeah..." she said seeming to be somewhat saddened but also proud by the fact, making Toshiro's eyes become wide; "But I don't care. I'll follow you no matter what your decision is. Even if it means going against everything else I believe in." she claimed, without a single shred of doubt in her voice.

"Cause out of everything and everyone...I believe in you the most." she finished with a small smile, but Toshiro just stared at her with his eyes wide, which returned to their softened stare after a few moments.

"But...you know that, that kind of attitude is-" "I know, but...I would rather betray the Soul Society before I betray you." she interrupted, which only made Toshiro's eyes widen once more.

"Rangiku..." he whispered to himself; "I know that you must be kinda disappointed, but...I can't help it. I hope you don't think of me as weak, Captain." she said, lowering her gaze to the ground.

"How can I? Your one of my best friends and my Lieutenant. Its not always a bad thing to want to follow someone that you just about know everything about." Toshiro said with an encouraging smirk.

"Captain..." she whispered to herself, but then smiled widely at him; "Thank you." she said, holding back her temptation to run over and hug him so she wouldn't ruin the moment.

* * *

Alright, another update finished. :) I hope everyone enjoyed it. Just to let all of you know, I plan on trying to update every Tuesday from now on. And I'm also holding a poll on my profile of which you would prefer for me to use with the Captain suffix; either keep it as 'Captain', or to go with 'Taicho'. I hope everyone votes. Don't forget to review as well, I'm hoping to reach at least 200 reviews after this one. :)


	38. Chapter 38

Alright the result of my poll is to stick with 'Captain'. Thank you to all that voted. :) Here's the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 38:**

-The next day in the Tenth Division-

Toshiro sat on the outside deck that led to his own personal barracks, while watching the cherry blossom petals slowly fly by in the wind. He would choose one out of them, observe it as it sailed by him till it vanished out of site, and restart the process over and over again; "Something is going to go wrong. This feels like the calm before the storm." he said to himself.

And no sooner that the words left his lips, a hell butterfly fluttered by him and landed on his shoulder; "_This message is to Captain Hitsugaya of the Tenth Division from Yoruichi Shihoin:_ 'Toshiro! I have some bad news. It seems that Jin somehow knew that I was spying on them and gave out fake orders. He said that they would go after Uryu tomorrow night but he sent Go Koga last night and captured them both. I'm on my way to tell Kisuke about this, I'm gonna head back over there to save Ichigo and his friends before they get themselves killed.' _End of message._"

Toshiro dismissed the butterfly and sighed deeply; "Hmph, I suppose its about time for me to get the last piece of this puzzle." he said to himself, narrowing his eyes and vanishing in a shunpo.

-Bounts mansion-

Toshiro landed on the roof of the house, then kneeled down, grabbed the edge of the roof and swung himself through an open window. He landed quietly on the wooden floor, stealthily made his way through the room, down the hallway and out to the main hall where he saw Kariya walking up to Ichigo, whom was trying to stand himself up. Jin then placed his left pointer finger right on the teens forehead, which instantly made his entire body freeze.

"Not as great as I had thought, huh?" he said to himself in a sigh, then retracted his finger and flung it back at the teen, causing Ichigo to fly backward into the wall behind him.

"Kariya-sama, the final blow." Ichinose said in a questioning tone as he walked closer to his master and kneeled down a few yards away.

"It seems that this person will not make my world as rich as the Quincy will. Do as you like." was Jin's response as he walked away from the seemingly defeated Substitute Shinigami and passed his now standing subordinate.

Ichinose watched as Jin continued walking, then looked back at Ichigo as he pushed the ruble off his body and stood up; "Wait! Damn it! What's going on?" he demanded to not only Jin but himself, while thinking about how the white haired man had immobilized him with just his finger.

"I will give the final blow after all." Ichinose said, continuing to stare at the wobbling teen and beginning to unsheathe his sword.

But a sudden explosion and shake of the ground made everyone forget about the fight; "What?" Maki asked aloud, looking around the trembling house.

Many more blasts, that seemed to come from outside, erupted onto the house and cause many paintings, chairs and even parts of the ceiling to fall to the ground. Then out of no where, Yoruichi appeared as a group of bug-like creatures headed for Ichigo to attack him; "Yoruichi-san?" the teen said in surprise.

Toshiro shunpoed down to them and landed behind Ichigo and Yoruichi; "Don't worry Kurosaki...we'll take it from here." he said finally making his presence known.

"Toshiro." Ichigo said as he turned around to the short captain; "Wow...I'm surprised you got here so fast." Yoruichi said with a smile over at him.

She then looked to the attacking creatures and yelled out; "Shunko!" then a split second later, a blinding white kido surrounded her, destroyed the attacking Doll, and much of the house itself.

"Look out!" Ichinose called out as he lept towards his master to protect him from a falling support beam; "Come on! This place is crumbling down!" Yoruichi said as she grabbed Ichigo by one of his arms and readied herself for a shunpo.

"Go ahead...I'll meat you later." Toshiro said and turned his attention to Jin, Yoruichi was going to protest but she just nodded; "Be careful." she said and disappeared.

"What do you need to speak with me about that is so important that your willing to take the chance of being crushed?" Jin asked as all the other Bounts ran out of the mansion.

"The one thing I haven't figured out yet...how do you intend to get the Quincy to regain his powers?" Toshiro asked, narrowing his eyes on the other white haired man.

"He he, I wouldn't worry too much about it. No one will die...that doesn't already want to." Jin claimed in a light chuckle and a wide smile.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened slightly as he understood what he was talking about; "Damn you." was the last thing he said before shunpoing out of the crumbling and burning house.

Toshiro halted a few feet from the flames around the mansion and just stood there watching it burn; "Yoshino...it looks like you may be getting your wish sooner then either of us expected." he whispered, looking at the ground somewhat sadly.

He then glanced over in the direction of where he could sense Yoruichi and the others' spirit energy; "I might as well get back to-" but he cut himself short when he saw another hell butterfly flying towards him.

"Am I _that_ popular today?" he asked himself sarcastically, as he listened to the message the black and purple insect began relaying after landing on his finger.

As Toshiro continued to listen, his eyes narrowed on the butterfly, then he nodded his head in understanding and breathed out a deep sigh; "Looks like I'm going to have to stay a bit longer then I thought." he muttered as he followed after the now leaving Yoruichi.

"Took you long enough Toshiro!" Yoruichi called out to seemingly no one, but no one said anything as Toshiro appeared right next to her a brief moment later; "What did you find out from him?" she asked.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, I have some more pressing news for Ichigo and his friends." Toshiro said as they continued on towards their destination.

-Urahara Shop-

Toshiro glanced over at Ichigo at the front of the small table everyone was gathered around, and let out a sigh in annoyance and slight boredom; 'He's starting to get on my nerves...he doesn't have much reason to be so depressed.' he thought as he noted the pitiful expression Ichigo was wearing on his face.

He then looked at everyone else around the table and they were reaction to the situation; Yoruichi and Rukia were on either side of Ichigo, while both of them had fairly distressed looks on their faces. Beside them were Orihime and Kisuke, but while Orihime had a very caring expression, Kisuke's was more of a half-way worried, half-way puzzled one.

Next to them were Renji and Chad, whom had similar looks of hidden concern, only Chad's was better concealed due to his lack of expressions over the years. And at the end, opposite of Ichigo, were the modified souls merely sitting there, not showing much emotion from their plush doll bodies.

Toshiro rested his head back against the wall he was leaning on, which was directly behind the mod souls; "Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime whispered, her uneasiness about her friend being very evident in her voice.

"Um...could you be a bit more cheerful?" Kisuke asked, making an attempt at getting Ichigo to lighten up, but all he managed was to bring the teens head back up a few inches.

"The air has gotten stuffy, its even gotten darker in here." Renji commented, looking around the room to further emphasize his point.

"So what is this new information from Soul Society?" Rukia asked, attempting to get the business out the way before they concerned themselves with Ichigo's depressed state.

"Apparently The Department of Technology has found something." Yoruichi started, then looked over at Toshiro for him to continue.

"Ukitake sent me a message stating that Kurotsuchi has broken through the encoding that was set on all the Bounts data. He also sent me information on all of the Bounts that you encountered today and a little history lesson for you, so you'll know what your up against." he began, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"As it turns out, the Quincy and the Bounts once had a large battle against one another, but since the records were so old...no one knows how the battle ended. It was clear that the Bounts were targeting the Quincy during their fights, so we can assume that they didn't win nor succeed in getting their hands on one. And shortly afterward, they began to absorb human souls, more then likely to make themselves stronger. Other then that, we don't know much else about their history." Toshiro looked at everyone's faces drop as their hope of knowing your enemy diminished.

"But since they didn't succeed in getting a Quincy back then...they'll be doing anything to get their hands on one now. And to do that, they're going to be sucking the souls from living humans to become strong enough to get him again." he finished with a hard stare at everyone.

"Is that true Yoruichi-san?" Ichigo asked in shock, to which she nodded and looked at him with a serious expression; "Yes, Ukitake is probably the most reliable person in Soul Society right now." she said with a quick glance at Toshiro and much stress on her words 'right now'.

Toshiro lightly smirked at her and nodded in agreement; "Kariya is trying to use Ishida's powers as a Quincy in order to break a hole into Hueco Mundo. Perhaps the energy of living people's souls is necessary for this. But how does this operation require the abilities of a Quincy?" Rukia questioned.

"Right now we are just gathering information together. We can't make any decisions lightly. At any rate, right now we need to stop Kariya and the Bounts from attacking living huma-" but Yoruichi was cut off when Ichigo called her name; " What is it?" she asked him as he place his head into his hand.

"There's one thing I don't understand...absorbing human's souls, building up their power and even using the Quincy's power, then going to the Hollow's world...Why are they...? Why is Kariya doing this?" he asked, now lifting his head back up and placing his arm in his lap.

"If we knew that, then we wouldn't be working so hard." Yoruichi claimed, with such a quick glance at Toshiro that no one noticed it, save for the person it was directed at.

"That guy...even now he's plenty strong. Just what is trying to do that he needs to get more power?" Ichigo asked more to himself as he began to recall just how easily Jin had defeated him.

"Ichigo, you..." Rukia started, but didn't finished; "He's incredibly powerful...its not about purpose or future plans, so why?" he continued, making just about everyone wonder the exact same thing.

"Kurosaki-san, are you afraid?" Kisuke asked, making Toshiro raise a brow at him; 'Hmph, trying to motivate him with the thought of being scared of his enemy? Not a bad idea.' he thought as a light smirk appeared an his lips.

"That's not it. Its just, when I think about it, I...don't feel that I could win against him as I am now." Ichigo responded, which made Toshiro raise his brow at him now; 'I guess Kisuke didn't do too bad of a job this time...all he needs now is to get his will to fight again.' he thought, smirking wider then before.

"Ichigo..." Rukia whispered, finally allowing the concern in her voice rise, but a sudden rumbling of the ground interrupted them.

"W-What is that noise?" Renji asked, as everyone but Ichigo stood up from their places on the floor.

Then a sudden crash of glass and a mans scream was heard just before Ganju burst straight through the door behind Ichigo. He sailed over the orange haired teens head and crashed onto the round table they still surrounded, which broke on contact; "Ganju-kun!" Orihime yelled in both surprise in seeing him and worry of his well being.

"Its been a long time since I made an appearance!" Ganju laughed out, then sat himself up as Ichigo gave him a glare that said; 'What the hell are _you_ doing here?'

"You really broke it. Please fix it up later." Kisuke said, seeming to care more for his broken table then the mans sudden and rather odd arrival.

"Don't worry about the little stuff!" Ganju claimed, still laughing and speaking in a carefree voice; "Why are you here? And you even rode a boar, where in the world did you find it?" Rukia asked, now very confused.

Ganju merely got himself off the destroyed table, and sat down on the back of the boar that was running back and forth in the room; "Well, this world really has a lot of various rare animals, doesn't it?" he claimed, trying to pass off as if he just happened to find the boar wandering around.

"Could you have gotten it from the zoo?" Chad asked, as the mental picture of a boar gone missing from its cage came to mind.

"Well, its not as if I can go get my Bonny-chan." Ganju proclaimed, but then realized something; "Ah, yeah my bad. You don't know my cute Bonny-chan." he said, looking at Rukia, whom seemed to not even want to know who or what a 'Bonny' was.

"So then, what are you here for?" she asked, now just wanting to know the simple answers; "Ah! That's right! That's right! It seems that some sort of depressed spirit energy hit me, and since I'm the curious type...I came to see what it was and found you in this condition." he began as he came closer to Ichigo, while still riding on the back of the boar.

"So it was you! You depressed bastard!" he continued as he yelled in Ichigo's face; "What did you say?" was Ichigo's rather poor come back.

"Its true. I didn't notice." Rukia said, finally realizing that there was indeed a depressed aura radiating off of Ichigo; "Now that you mention it, it is awful." Renji said in agreement.

"Everyone, lets open up the windows. Open the windows." Kisuke said, waving a hand in front of his face, acting as if the room smelled of something horrible.

"Don't talk as if I'm garbage!" Ichigo demanded angrily, but then he was grabbed by the front of his shirt by Ganju; "Your the same as stinky garbage! I'm gonna clean you up a bit! Hey, old man? Do you know of any good places?" the raven haired man asked.

"Old man? Although I may look like this, I'm the same age as your sister." Kisuke claimed, becoming slightly offended at the thought of being called 'old man'.

"Well, if that's the case..." he began, then walked over to the floor door that led down to the training grounds, opened it up and continued; "Go ahead and use the basement."

Toshiro took this time to leave the room before anything else happened, while the last thing he heard from the group was Ichigo's screaming as he fell through the trap door. He made his way through the narrow hallway till he arrived at the door that held the chosen Quincy, Uryu Ishida and the Bount, Yoshino Soma, who's fate was drawing closer by the second. Toshiro slid the door open and gave Tessai a hard look, to which he nodded and got Jinta, Ururu and Kon out of the room, with little difficulty.

He walked over to Yoshino and kneeled down in front of her with a weak and rather small smile; "I suppose this will be the last time we meet. But there's one thing I'd like to say to you before I say good bye..." he began, leaning down to her.

"Thank you, for everything." he finished, leaning further down a planting a gentle kiss on her lips, then stood up, walked to the door but stopped in the doorway; "Good bye...Yoshino." and with that, he walk out of the room and slid the door closed behind him.

As the door shut, Yoshino's eyes opened and a tear escaped from her eye; "Good bye...Toshiro." she said seemingly full of sorrow, but her lips curled up into a smile, showing that she was only happy because he was able to say those words to her.

The young looking captain sighed sadly, swallowed down the lump forming in his throat and continued out of the shop; "What leaving already?" Yoruichi asked as she walked up behind him.

"Its about time for me to return." he responded with a glance over his shoulder; "Well...you could just stay a little longer." she said more as a question then a statement.

He turned himself around to look at her completely, but she seemed to mask whatever she was feeling behind a practiced smile; "Come on...it won't be too bad. I'm planning on going at sun rise anyway, just wait for a few more hours." she requested, while continuing her smile.

Toshiro sighed once more and close his eyes for a brief moment; "Alright, I'll stay." he said now sporting a very light smirk, to which Yoruichi smiled genuinely and nodded in acceptance of his answer.

"Good, cause I already had an idea of what we can do till then." she claimed with a wide grin on her face; "And what would that be?" Toshiro asked with a raised brow, seemingly slightly afraid to make his question.

"Star gazing of course! We haven't done that in years." Yoruichi said widening her grin into a smile and gesturing to the top of the shops roof with her head and her thumb; "Yeah...it has been years." Toshiro commented silently.

The two of them jumped on the top of the shop, laid themselves across the convex shingles and looked up at the cloudless sky. Toshiro kept his main focus on the constellation of Draco, one that Yoruichi had claimed was _his_ constellation many years ago. While Yoruichi herself watched for shooting stars, but she always looked for a specific one; "Still favoring Draco are we?" she asked without even having to look at him.

"Still hoping to see the two tailed shooting star?" Toshiro questioned back, also not looking at her; "Hey, I know that it'll pass by eventually." Yoruichi claimed with an amused smile.

Toshiro let out a light chuckle, then a deep sigh; "I'm sure you will Yoruichi...I'm sure you will." he said with a very content-filled voice.

Yoruichi nodded, widened her smile and finally looked at him; "Yeah...someday. And I hope your with me when it does." he looked at her as well but he wore a shocked expression, then it changed to a light smirk.

"Me too." Toshiro said, then along with Yoruichi returned to his 'star gazing', but a sudden shutting of a door snapped them from their daze.

"What the..." Yoruichi mumbled as she and Toshiro stood themselves up and watched the shadowed figure of Yoshino running off into the dark filled night.

"There she goes." Yoruichi said as the two of them jumped down from the roof and right next to where Kisuke walked up; "She's going to die this time." she continued.

"There are some humans who must do that in order to finish the fight." Kisuke spoke with a somewhat saddened tone; "The fight?" Yoruichi asked with a raised brow, looking over at the blond haired man.

"Yeah, this fight called life." Toshiro explained in a deep and fairly depressed sigh; "We're heading off to Soul Society now. We can't be shaken up by this ambiguous information, we'll find out the truth behind this soon enough." Yoruichi said with a knowing smirk at Toshiro.

Kisuke nodded to them and said; "Right." and with that, the Tenth Division Captain and Former Second Division Captain disappeared into a senkaimon made by the former.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed this one. Till next time. ;)


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39:**

-Tenth Division later that day-

Toshiro sat at his desk filling out the most recent paperwork sent to his office, while his lieutenant slept on the sofa that had been in the office since he had become captain. He continued his repetition of dipping his pen into the ink cartage, writing on the sheet of paper before him and sliding it over to his 'finished' pile on the right side of his desk. After almost an hour of this rhythm, he had finished both his side of the work and his lieutenants; "Your welcome." he whispered, leaning back in his chair with a loud sigh.

But his rest was short lived when Rangiku decided to awake from her rather lengthy nap; "Ehh...Captain? What are you doing in my room?" she groaned out tiredly.

"Sorry Rangiku, but the office isn't your bed room. And your wel-" "Thank you Captain. I guess I slept a bit too long...again." she interrupted with an apologetic expression on her face.

Toshiro sighed once more and waved her off with an ice covered hand; "Don't worry about it, I know how hard it can be to run the division in my absence."

Rangiku smiled at him, stood herself up and walked over to the left side of his desk; "So what did you find out in the World of the Living?" she asked with a knowing look.

"Well...I received the last piece to my puzzle. I now know Jin's entire plan." he answered with a hard stare at the wall opposite of him; "Hmm, so you know exactly what's going to happen from here on out?" Rangiku questioned further, to which Toshiro simply nodded.

"So...what do you see me buying in the World of the Living?" she asked with a wide smile and a fake expecting look on her face.

Toshiro raised a brow at her and smirked; "Something nice." he claimed as his smirk widened slightly; "Aww, that's not what I wanted to know. What about the details? Are they going to be cute? And if they are, are they also stylish?" she questioned in a cat-like pout.

He merely rolled his eyes at her and sighed deeply; "I'm sure that whatever you choose will be up to your expectations." he said in light amusement.

"I'm not worried about _my_ expectations...I'm worried about yours." she claimed, now forming a rather flirty expression on her face, to which Toshiro responded with another raised brow.

"What? Who else am I suppose to try to impress? Everyone else could care less what I wear, they just think of the same thing; what's under the clothes." Rangiku said with a shrug in the beginning but a frown at the end.

"Hmph, well you probably shouldn't wear such revealing clothes." Toshiro stated crossing his arms across his chest and closing his eyes.

"Well they shouldn't make them so nice and cute looking." she countered with a silent giggle; "Uh-huh." was all Toshiro said before opening his eyes once more and standing up from his desk.

"Where are you going now?" she asked tilting her head to the side; "The Second Division...we're gonna need the Onmitsukido to do a little spy work." he said walking towards the door.

"Well then I'm coming with you...and don't tell me to stay here, cause I like to get out once in a while too you know." Rangiku claimed following him through the door and sliding it close behind her.

Toshiro merely kept walking through and out of his division while hiding a small smirk on his face from his lieutenants words. But the moment they exited the Tenth, Kenpachi was standing not four feet from the gate with an expecting look on his face. Toshiro and Rangiku raised their brows at the very tall man, stopped walking and waited for him to explain himself.

"Hey shrimp! I bet your wondering why I'm standing here eh?" the very spiky haired man asked rhetorically, now with a large grin curling his lips; "Actually...yeah." Rangiku said in a fairly confused tone, for it was not in the nature of the 'war hungry' captain to just stand in front of a division's doors waiting for someone or something to come out.

"Well I came here to challenge shorty here!" Zaraki claimed loud enough for most of the Tenth Division to here; "Challenge...Captain? What for?" Rangiku demanded, taking it upon herself to answer for Toshiro.

"Cause I heard about his fight with Aizen and now I know just how strong he is! Plus this is the only time I've been able to actually even talk to him. After that incident, he disappeared for five damn days and then he disappears for another frinkin' three days after finally coming back. So I decided to just wait till you came out so we could fight!" he explained, making his eagerness for the fight very evident in his tone and body language.

Rangiku sweat dropped and sighed as she shook her head in slight annoyance, for it _was_ in the nature of the large man to do exactly as he had said. Toshiro's expression had remained the same throughout the entirety of the conversation, a blank look that mixed with a certain level of annoyance and boredom.

"So what do you say? You feel like having a fight?" Zaraki asked as his blood began to boil in expectation, but he only received a raise brow from the short captain.

"Why do you suddenly wanna fight my Captain? You never showed any interest of fighting him before." Rangiku inquired with a similar raised brow to Toshiro's.

"Cause I know that he can give me a good fight! What other reason do ya need!" he claimed; "Now come on! Let's do this!" he continued, gripping the handle of his sword and grinning maniacally.

"Ken-chan is going to have a fun fight!" Yachiru spoke up happily, suddenly popping up from over her captain's left shoulder; "How does she do that? She just appears out of no where." Rangiku whispered to herself in amazement.

"Very well...I'll fight you." Toshiro said with a sigh, and in such a casual tone that it seemed as though he were merely speaking about the weather for the hundredth time that day.

"W-What?" Rangiku stuttered out as she stared at him as if he grew another head and all but jumped into the air from her surprise.

Kenpachi smiled incredibly wide and unsheathed his sword; "Alright! Let's get this thing started!" he yelled out as if his words were a battle cry, and lifted his sword in the air to send it down on Toshiro's head.

But Toshiro lifted his hand up and made Kenpachi halt his attack in mid air as he pointed one of his fingers up in a 'one moment' gesture; "Let's take this somewhere a little less public." he said, once again in a very calm tone.

"Tch, whatever! That's fine with me!" Kenpachi said continuing to smile widely; "Rangiku...I need you to keep going to the Second and tell Soifon to send squad five of the Onmitsukido to the World of the Living, to see precisely what the Bounts are doing." Toshiro said, turning to the woman in question and giving her an assuring nod.

Rangiku looked at him with a worried expression before curling her lips to a smirk and returning his nod; "Try not to hurt him too much." she whispered to him before vanishing in a shunpo.

Toshiro smirked lightly in her direction, then turned back to the exceedingly large man with his normal icy expression; "Follow me." he said and began walking back into his own division.

The two captains and the small pink haired lieutenant made their way to the Tenth's training area, while the word of their fight spread like wild fire, from not only Rangiku, but the entire Tenth Division as well.

-Second Division office-

"Captain Soifon, my Captain has requested that you send the fifth squad of the Onmitsukido to the World of the Living to see what the Bounts recent activities are." Rangiku said as she walked up to said petite woman and kneeled down.

"Alright, thank you lieutenant. Your dismissed." Soifon said with a nod and a wave to further emphasis her words; "Thank you ma'am. I don't wanna miss Captain's fight with Kenpachi after all." Rangiku claimed with a hidden smile, knowing that Soifon would be _very_ interested, also that a member of the Second was walking by and now listening intently to their conversation.

"W-What?" the raven haired woman asked with widened eyes; "That's right. I'm heading over there right now to watch." Rangiku said, smiling wider and slowly making her way out of the office, as if to challenge her of how long she could resist the urge to run out the door.

Rangiku quickly glance back at the now fidgeting captain, then smiled extremely wide when the small woman shunpoed right by her and ran out the door. The strawberry blond giggled loudly, walked out the open door and smiled once more, as she saw the squad member that had been listening to their conversation, running towards a large group of his fellow squad members. He stopped before one of them and passed the word about the fight on, the person eyes on the receiving end became wide and then passed the word on to the shinigami next to them.

-Tenth Division's Training Field-

By the time the two contenders had even positioned themselves in the large field almost half of the Seireitei had caught wind of the fight and began arriving around them. Soifon was the first to arrive after the Tenth Division's members had gathered, but following right after her was Rangiku and most of the Second Division's members. Toshiro looked at them as they appeared in shunpoes and began gathering in a large circle as if he and Kenpachi were preforming some sort of show.

Kenpachi noticed them as well and only smiled wider; "It looks like we're gonna to have an audience!" he called out holding his sword in front of him.

"It appears so." was Toshiro's bored sounding response as he sifted his body to the side for his own fighting position; "Yachiru, get yourself a safe distance from us." Kenpachi said with a quick glance at his pink haired lieutenant.

"Aye aye sir!" she said happily, then jumped down from Zaraki's shoulder and ran over to where Rangiku was standing; "Ready when you are." Hitsugaya said, now narrowing his eyes on his opponent.

No sooner had his words reached the large captain's ears, Kenpachi leapt forward and swiped down at Toshiro with his very dented, yet extremely sharp sword. But Toshiro had merely stepped off to the right and dodged the attack with ease; "Hiya!" the widely grinning man called out as he swung his sword horizontally to the ground and straight at Toshiro's head.

Yet Hitsugaya easily dodged by side flipping over Zaraki's head and landing on the ground behind him without making a sound. But Zaraki's attack wasn't finished yet, he swiftly turned himself around and thrusted his sword at Hitsugaya's chest. This time the white haired captain made no move to dodge and merely lifted his ice covered hand, then halted the man's sword as his hand came into contact with it, neither breaking or cracking under the immense pressure.

"Come on kid! Make this a good fight!" Kenpachi yelled, smiling extremely wide, then brung his sword back up over his head and swung it down.

Toshiro once again dodged by side stepping away, only this time it was to the left; "Who the hell are you calling kid?" Toshiro demanded, now beginning to loose his composure over the fight.

The only thing Kenpachi did was smile and think to himself; 'I just gotta get him riled up and we'll have a true fight!' he then swung his left fist to back hand the shorter captain, but Toshiro was already gone.

He looked around his immediate area, but found no sight of the white haired ice wielder; "What? Did you give up or something?" he demanded loudly.

"Ken-chan! Look up!" Yachiru called out from the side, but just as Kenpachi did as he was told, Toshiro swung his body around and delivered a round-house kick to the side of his head.

The large man's body was lifted off the ground, sent flying across the field at least forty feet, before he finally crashed into the ground with an earth shattering smash. Toshiro's icy feet touched down silently and he turned his icy glare to the fairly large hole in the ground; "It looks I'm not as much of a kid as you thought." he muttered to himself.

The crowd, whom had been fairly quite during the scuffle, had now turned dead silent as they stared at Toshiro standing before the motionless Kenpachi. But after a few moments, a voice was heard from the fairly large hole Kenpachi laid in; "Fantastic! Now we're talkin'! Lets do this full force!"

A split second later, a huge spirit energy was felt all across the Seireitei and a large pillar of yellow light stretched from around Kenpachi's body to the cloudless sky. The air around everyone within a hundred feet of the fight became heavy and made some of the spectators strain for a single breath. Only Kenpachi's constant laughing was heard over the roaring sound of his monstrous power; "This time...our fight starts for real! Kid!" he claimed, keeping up his insult and leaping at Toshiro, whom hadn't shown any emotion until the 'child' comment.

Zaraki was within a few feet of Hitsugaya before he jabbed his sword straight towards the shorter captains chest, but Hitsugaya just turned his body to the right and allowed the sword to pass him by, with mere centimeters of space. Then Zaraki retracted his zanpakuto and repeated his attack hundreds of times within a few seconds, but Hitsugaya just dodged each thrust with ease.

"What's wrong? Not in the mood to fight?" Kenpachi yelled as he lifted his sword over his head to once again slice the white haired captain in half; "I've had enough." Toshiro whispered to himself as he brung his left ice covered hand up.

Steal and ice made contact, then an enormous wave of Kenpachi's spirit energy exploded around the two fighters and blew strong gusts of wind at everyone watching. Which was now every Captain, Lieutenant, Seated Officer and many of the Unseated in the Seireitei, but only the Captains and Lieutenants were able to stay standing after the collision. After the winds and spirit energy died down, everyone narrowed their eyes to try and look through the dust cloud that had been kicked up from the tornado like wind.

The dirt had finally cleared and allowed everyone to see Toshiro just standing there holding the jagged sword in his frozen grip with an effortless expression. While Kenpachi was pushing with much of his strength, but not managing to even budge the iron like hold Toshiro had; "Your pretty strong for a little-" but he was interrupted as Toshiro tugged him down to his level.

He then grabbed the black haired man's wrist with his free ice covered hand, leapt into the air, spun his right leg up and delivered a strong kick to Kenpachi's face. But as the large captain's head was snapping backward from the force, Toshiro let go of Kenpachi's wrist and sword, then wrapped his icy claws in his uniform, keeping him from moving any further.

Hitsugaya then brought his fist back, while at the same time, pulling Zaraki forward and slamming a powerful punch into his head. Zaraki's body flew across the field and crashed once more with a thunderous boom. The crowd gasped all at once at the sheer strength and ease the white haired captain had threw Zaraki around, one of the most powerful captains the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had ever seen. Hitsugaya walked up to Zaraki, whom was getting himself up somewhat slower then he usually would, then Toshiro spun around to kick him in the face again, but Zaraki blocked his strike with his sword.

But Toshiro just flipped his body over it, kicked his head with his opposite ice covered foot and sliced a large gash in his cheek; "Call me anything remotely close to 'kid' and your dead." he threatened as Kenpachi stood himself up once more as he smiled widely.

"Is that so? Well if that's what it takes for you to get serious...then bring it on SHRIMPY KID!" Kenpachi declared loudly and readied himself for an even better fight.

"Fine then...you asked for it." Toshiro said, narrowing his eyes and making the sky fill with storm cloud; "You'll regret this." he continued as flashes of lightning and heavy pouring rain was seen, while loud booming thunder was heard echoing across the Seireitei.

"I only regret not doing this sooner!" Kenpachi yelled, releasing his spirit energy just as he had done before; "Now lets finish this!" he screamed, as his spirit energy began to take the shape of a human-like skull.

Toshiro's eyes began to glow a bright blue color, but flashed gold for a split second and returned to normal, the only people that saw it was Yoruichi, Rangiku and Soifon. But only Yoruichi understood why as she hid herself in the shadows of the entrance archway; "As you wish." Toshiro muttered as he allowed his spirit energy to just start pouring out.

An enormous beam of blue light, three times the size and five times more powerful then the one that Kenpachi had surrounding his body, wrapped around Toshiro and shot up into the storm cloud filled sky. Both fighters stared each other down, then jumped forward at one another, Kenpachi sounding off his attack with a maniac laughter, while Toshiro just flew through the air without making a single sound. As soon as both spirit energies collided a gigantic wave of incredibly powerful energy blasted from them, and caused just about everyone to be blown away, even some of the captains. Then when everyone got back to their feet, they saw Toshiro standing unharmed with an unconscious and rather bloody Kenpachi in his icy grasp; "A day or two in the Fourth and you'll recover." he said with a rather emotionless voice, then just tossed the large mans body almost ten feet till it landed on the ground.

Yoruichi, Rangiku and Soifon were the only three people smiling at the site of Kenpachi's defeat, but Yoruichi also had her arms crossed under her chest and a light smirk on her face. She also held a knowing expression as if she had known the outcome of the battle before it had even started; "That's my Little Ice Prince." she whispered to herself, now smiling widely.

Toshiro began walking away, but stopped after a few feet and snapped his fingers. Instantly, five Onmitsukido members appeared before him on their knees; "Sir!" they said in unison.

"Take Captain Zaraki to the Fourth Division." Toshiro commanded, to which the Onmitsukido shunpoed to the unconscious captain, lifted him off the ground and shunpoed away.

Rangiku appeared the moment they left and walked up to her captain; "That was a good fight Captain. I think everyone really enjoyed watching it." she claimed in a smile, and gesturing to all the people around them.

Toshiro looked around and only took note of the captain's and lieutenant's expressions, Soifon was still smiling widely, Omaeda had a dumbfounded look as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Izuru had a similar expression as his fellow lieutenant, Unohana had a look of acknowledgment on her face as if she were proud of the outcome. Isane's seemed to be one of amazement and slight fear, Byakuya was straight faced as always but his did hold a hint of amazement as well for his teacher.

Komamura and his lieutenant were both in a state of utter shock at the display they had witnessed, Kyoraku was grinning widely and simply nodding in a knowing way. Nanao was near dumbfounded but had managed to keep herself from staring at Toshiro with her jaw slacked, Hisagi was looking more at Rangiku but his expression towards Toshiro was one of shock. Yachiru had a rare serious look on her face until she suddenly smiled out of no where, shunpoed up to Toshiro and jumped on his back; "Thank you for giving Ken-chan a good fight Snowball-chan! I hope you can do it again some time!" she said happily, then jumped off him and ran towards the Fourth.

Toshiro shook his head and continue to look at the remaining division leaders, Mayuri was giving him nothing but a fascinated smile. But his daughter was looking at him with an expression of admiration and a slight look that he had only really seen on Yoruichi and Rangiku, which Toshiro had yet to completely place. Ukitake had a smile towards his fellow _Shiro_-_chan_ and nodded in a similar way to his best and oldest friend Kyoraku; "So what now Captain? I already delivered the message. Sooo...what?" Rangiku asked in an expecting tone and a light smirk.

"Well since the entire division is already here, we might as well hold a squad training session." he said with a tone that all but told her that he had it planned since the beginning, which she wouldn't doubt knowing her captain.

"Aww, and here I thought that we could finally do something fun!" Rangiku pouted as she walked over and gathered all the squad members together.

Toshiro took this time to glance over at the shadowed figure of Yoruichi, whom was still smiling at him as he nodded to her. As they stared at one another, they seemed to speak unspoken words to one another, both of them knowing exactly what the other was saying without the use of words. She then waved at him, turned around and disappeared out of his sight; " I'll see you soon Yoruichi." he muttered to himself, before turning to Rangiku and walking up to his squad members.

'I'm actually surprised at myself. That fight shouldn't have even lasted _that_ long. I guess my mind was elsewhere...I hope you had a good death, Yoshino.' he thought somewhat sadly, but also contently as he stared up at the now cleared up sky.

* * *

Alright, I know that this didn't have too much to do with the actual plot line, but...I needed a FIGHT! XD I hope you all enjoyed. ;) I plan to make something special for next chapter, so I'm going to ask for what you'd like to read for it...please give me your suggestions. :)


	40. Chapter 40

This is my special, for my 40th chapter to this story. It takes place while Toshiro's still at the academy, and btw: this will have some significance to the story itself so it won't be completely out of the plot line. I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 40:

-After four months at the academy-

Sitting on a tall grassy hill, not far from the place that a white haired boy used to call his home, was the same young man watching the cold December day pass by. As the sun reached its peak in the center of the cloudless sky, a cool yet gentle breeze blew around him, making his hair and dark blue robes flow like the waves of the ocean. He sighed contently, then closed his eyes to the calmness of the day and allowed his lips to curl into a small smile, to represent his peacefulness. When he reopened his eyes, he was met with the very close up face of his closest and best friend, which had caused him to fall backward onto his back and yelp out a silent shriek of surprise.

Yoruichi giggled at his actions and leaned her face close to his once more; "What are you doing up here? I thought you would be training or something...but what do I find you doing? Lounging around on a hill, doing nothing."

She then, straightened herself up and crossed her arms over her chest and the gold robes she wore; "I am very disappointed in you Toshiro." she claimed, trying her best to sound serious, but failing rather miserably.

Toshiro just raise a brow at her, sat himself back up and shook his head at her, gesturing to her that she wasn't fooling anyone; "Oh alright, you win." she said, then allowed her laughter to come forth.

"So, what are you doing up here? Its late December...even you'll catch a cold." she said, placing her hands into the sleeves of her kimono to further emphasize her words.

But Toshiro just smirked at her and shook his head; "I'm fine, I've spent days outside in much colder weather then this." he said, showing her that he was indeed not cold by breathing out a breath that drifted down instead of up.

"Yeah yeah, I've seen your breaths that freezes anything and everything on contact, but they don't prove anything." Yoruichi huffed, then sat herself down next to him.

Toshiro looked over at her with a raised brow, but his eyes became wide when she wrapped her arms around him and leaned her body against his; "Sorry, but its freezing out here." she claimed, letting out a shiver.

"I suppose it is." Toshiro sighed out, then looked away from her, wrapped one of his arms around her, and started rubbing her shoulder to help her stay warm; "Thanks." she said, after a moment of shock.

"Yeah..." he muttered out in response, then tilted his head up to look at the sky once more, but instead of the sky, he was met with the faces of Isshin, Kusaka, Kisuke and Tessai.

"What do you four want?" Toshiro asked in a sigh, while removing his arm from around Yoruichi and crossing it across his chest along with his other arm.

"Well actually I invited them." Yoruichi claimed as the four new comers smiled at the two sitting so close to one another, that they could have been mistaken as a couple.

Toshiro looked at Yoruichi and raised his brow once more; "What for?" he questioned, but only received a smile from the purple haired girl.

"What other reason, then for your birthday." Kusaka said, widening his smile in the process, but earning Yoruichi a set of narrowed eyes from Toshiro; "Sorry...I couldn't help but tell them, besides...you'll enjoy your birthday this year. I promise." she claimed with a loving smile, which somewhat shocked the white haired boy.

"So...shall we get a move on?" Yoruichi asked, suddenly jumping up from her spot, grabbing Toshiro by his right arm, picking him up off the ground and dragging him away; "Those two really need to go on a date or something." Isshin said with an amused smile as everyone else nodded in agreement.

-Shihoin manor-

"Alright...now that we're all here, its time for the karaoke!" Yoruichi announced loudly; "The what?" Toshiro asked, raising his brow high in question.

"Karaoke of course! Each of us come up to the microphone and sing their favorite song on the list!" Yoruichi claimed, pointing to the large stage at the far wall of the stadium sized room.

"Why?" Toshiro asked, not understanding the point of doing such a thing; "Cause its your birthday and we have to do something fun and special for it!" she declared with a proud smile on her face, then walked up to the cordless microphone on a stand.

"I'll start it off!" Yoruichi said into the microphone, then cleared her throat as she searched through the song list on a pedestal in front of the microphone; "Lets see here...oh! I got it!" she said, smiling and pressing a few buttons on the large computer screen that held the lyrics of each song.

"Be prepared to be blown away." she claimed, winking at the five males watching her, as the music began playing.

"Sakki made to itteru koto chigau janai,  
chotto dake sugao misete keredo,  
zutto ira ira ira ira shite wa atashi wo,  
mono mitai ni atsugatte,  
saki made to itteru koto chigau janai." she began, with a voice so beautiful that could have made an angel from heaven weep from joy.

"Dareka no sei ni shite wa nigekakure shiteru hibi,  
ate ni nara nai wa,  
I'm sorry, toriaezu sayonara." Yoruichi sang as the beat began to take on a new tempo, but she stayed perfectly in synchronization with it.

But as the next segment started, an extra voice from the speakers was heard along with Yoruichi's;

"Anata ga inai to iya iyatte ieru wagamama."  
_"Zutto kienai you ni kesanai you ni."_ the other voice sang, halfway through the purple haired girls verse.  
"Aijou, yuujou, shiritai koto wa nandemo."  
_"Aimai sugite wakaranai yo."_  
"Itsukakokoro no oku no doa wo tataku,  
anata wo matteiru." both voices sang in perfect unison.

As the music continued, Yoruichi began to dance to the beat, swaying her hips, and moving her free hand smoothly and gently like water flowing down a river. While in her other hand she held the microphone a few inches from her lips, and gave each of the young men a wink.

"Sakki kara jibun no koto bakkari janai,  
chotto gurai kizutsu ite mita ra,  
sou yatte yasashii kotoba de,  
goma kasanai de shinji rare nai wa,  
kakko tsukenaide yo." then an instrumental began to sound from the large speakers, to which Yoruichi began dancing even more sensually then before, swaying her hips slower but with more feel.

"Nan nen tatte mo,  
itsu ni natte mo,  
yamenaide." she started again, gaining a wide smile on her face as she now staring directly at Toshiro, whom was still in his state of shock.

"Atashi ga inai to dame damette itsutte sunao ni."  
_"Motto hoshigatte yo tsuyo ga ranai de."_ the extra voice added, midway through Yoruichi's part of the lyrics.  
"Ai no zanzou, yume miru shoujo esukeepu."  
_"Tsukamattari nigekittari."_  
"Itsuka kokoro no kagi o kowasu you na."

"Anata ga inai to iya iyatte ieru wagamama."  
_"Zutto kienai you ni kesanai you ni."_  
"Aijou, yuujou, shiritai koto wa nandemo."  
_"Aimai sugite wakaranai yo."_  
"Itsuka kokoro no oku o dai tekureru,  
anata wo matte iru."

"Hokani wa nanimo iranai ya iya iya,  
ashita mo shinjite itai ya iya iya iya iya iya iya." she finished with a smile and a glance at everyone still standing in awe, despite the fact that there were chairs right behind each of them.

"Alright, next." Yoruichi said, holding out the microphone out to whom ever decided to come up and sing; "I'll go next!" Isshin claimed loudly, ran all the way up to the stage, grabbed the microphone and began searching for a song.

As he looked through the entire list, Yoruichi walked down from the stage and joined her friends in front of it; "So what did you think?" she asked to everyone, but more directly at Toshiro.

"Fantastic!" Kisuke claimed happily, "Excellent!" Tessai said with a wide smile, "Absolutely amazing!" Kusaka declared, "Awesome!" Isshin called from over the microphone.

Then all eyes turned to Toshiro, to which he crossed his arms and closed his eyes; "In my honest opinion..." he started, which made everyone look at him with a expecting expression; "It was, angelic." he said, opening his eyes and smirking at the dark skinned girl.

His response caused all the other males to make an awing noise, and for Yoruichi to become wide eyed before hugging Toshiro affectionately; "Thank you Toshiro. That means a lot to me." she said, mostly into his hair.

Toshiro smirked lightly and was about to return her hug, but was interrupted when Isshin announced that he found the song he wanted the sing; "Alright everyone! Here I go!" he said as the music started and immediately began singing in a somewhat deep voice, but still held his youth in it.

"Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari,  
inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe,  
iroaseru koto naku todoku,  
kirari hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi,

kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo,  
chikara aru kagiri ikiteikunda kyou mo,  
bokura no omoi mo itsuka dareka no mune ni,  
hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni." he began singing off the words from the computer at an incredible speed, but doing so with a very wide smile on his face.

He then began bouncing his body up and down with the beat and bobbing his free hand as if he wanted everyone else to dance with him, which no one did; "Did you know he could sing?" Kisuke asked to Kusaka, to which the raven haired young man looked at him and shook his head; "I didn't even know he could talk properly."

"Hitotsu futatsu kane no ne wa hibiku kokoro no naka e to hiroku fukaku,  
monogatari no youna hoshi no shizuku sono naka ni hosoi senro wo kizuku,  
jikan to tomo ni jidai wa ugoku nagareru hoshi wa shizuka ni ugoku,  
me wo tojite mimi wo sumaseba good bye."

Isshin kept up his bouncing throughout all of his lines and even jumped off stage, and began singing next to each of his friends. Causing them to look at him with shock at how he knew the song so well and the fact that he could actually sing at all.

"Oozora ippai no shirokuro shashin nabiku mafura- shiroi iki,  
sukoshi demo chikazuki takute ano takadai made kakeashi de,  
omotai bouenkyou toridasu to renzu hamidashita suta-dasutto,  
jikan wo ubawareta jikan jidai wo koete kuru roman." he sang going up to Kisuke and wrapping his arm around his friends neck, then swinging around and going on to his next 'victim'.

"Hanate hikari makezu ni shikkari ima,  
toki wo koe dareka ni todoku made,  
eikou no hikari wa kono mukou ni,  
kimitachi to tsukutteiku suto-ri." Isshin continued, now back to back with Tessai.

"Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari,  
inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe,  
iroaseru koto naku todoku,  
kirari hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi,  
kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo,  
chikara aru kagiri ikiteikunda kyou mo,  
bokura no omoi mo itsuka dareka no mune ni,  
hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni." he then swung around to Kusaka, grabbed him by one of his shoulders and tried to get him to dance with him, which he did not succeed at.

"Ubugoe ageta chiisana hikari ookina hikari jikuu wo koe deai,  
subete no kagayaki ga hitotsu to nari tsukuridasu monogatari,  
ten to ten wo musubu seiza no you ni,  
dareka ni totte bokura mo kirei na e egaketetara ii ne,  
miagete goran yo hora fuyu no daiamondo,  
yuruyaka na amanogawa sugu yuuki torimodoseru kara." just as he made his way to Toshiro, the young white haired man looked at him with a death glare as if saying; touch me and your dead.

"Hanate hikari makezu ni shikkari ima,  
toki wo koe dareka ni todoku made,  
eikou no hikari wa kono mukou ni,  
kimitachi to tsukutteiku suto-ri." he sang out with his nervousness aparent in his voice, moving slowly away from Toshiro.

"Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari,  
inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe,  
iroaseru koto naku todoku,  
kirari hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi,  
kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo,  
chikara aru kagiri ikiteikunda kyou mo,  
bokura no omoi mo itsuka dareka no mune ni,  
hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni." he then jumped back on the stage and started his jumping dance to the beat, surprisingly in synchronization with it.

"Kono sora wa hitotsu dokomade mo hiroku sou umi no mukou,  
ima umareru ibuki tatareru inochi hoshi wa terasu megami no gotoku,  
nagaku tsuzuku kurikaesu shunkashuntou no isshun demo ii sukoshi de ii,  
omoi wo kizamu tada hatenaku toki wo koe kagayaki dasu." Isshin then pointed the microphone to everyone as if allowing them to sing the next phrase.

But when they showed no sign of singing for him, he brought the microphone back to his lips and sang it himself.

"Monogatari wa kokoro no naka de tsuzuite iru,  
ano hi no kimi wa itsuka yogisha ni notte."

"Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari,  
inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe,  
iroaseru koto naku todoku,  
kirari hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi,  
kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo,  
chikara aru kagiri ikiteikunda kyou mo,  
miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari,  
inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe,  
iroaseru koto naku todoku,  
bokura no omoi mo itsuka dareka no mune ni." then Isshin began swinging his arm around, all the while keeping up his bouncing and his wide smile.

"Hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni,

hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni."

As Isshin finished his song, Kusaka, Kisuke and Tessai took it upon themselves to walk behind Toshiro and push him forward; "Go ahead Toshiro! Your next!" they claimed together.

Toshiro looked at them over his shoulder with a shocked expression, but just as he was about resist, Yoruichi grabbed him and helped pull him to the stage. Isshin saw them pushing and pulling Toshiro forward and decided to help out by grabbing Toshiro's legs and lifting him into the air, to keep him from getting any leverage in his favor.

"Let go of me! I am not going to sing!" Toshiro yelled out, struggling to get himself free from their clutches, but a sudden creaking of a door interrupted them.

They stared innocently at the open door and the shadowed figure walking toward them; "Wow...I come here for a friends birthday, but instead of an actual birthday party...I find a karaoke party gone wrong." it spoke, which made Toshiro realize that there was no hope of escape anymore, and everyone else to smile widely.

"Its about time you got here...I thought he was going to get away from us before you arrived, Kukaku." Yoruichi claimed as said girl walked up to them and gently placed her hand on Toshiro's halfway exposed chest.

"Now Toshiro...I know that you don't want me involved, do you?" the rather busty girl asked with a flirtatious voice, for it was not her strength or power that Toshiro feared, it was her so called 'feminine charms'.

Toshiro just sighed and relaxed his body, to which everyone put him down; "Fine. I'll sing...only once." he said, making the last part of his sentence very forceful.

"That's more then enough for us." Yoruichi said with a wink and a wide smile; "Hmph, whatever." he mumbled out incoherently and walked up to the stage and began looking through the song list.

"What song do you think he'll choose?" Yoruichi whispered, to which everyone shrugged in response; "Not sure, but I don't care what song he chooses...I just wanna hear him sing." Kukaku said with a wide smile on her face.

After a few moments, Toshiro finally began pressing a few buttons on the computer and the music began playing, followed immediately by Toshiro's voice that sounded strong yet silent, crushing yet embracing, and deep yet soft.

"Ienai itami kanashimi de kizu tsuita kimi yo,  
kesenai kako mo seoi atte ikou ikiru koto wo nage dasanai de,  
tsunaida kimi no te wo." he started, which amlost cause for everyone to fall backward, at how much feeling and raw intesity his voice held.

"Oh my..." Kukaku said in shock; "Yeah...no kidding." Yoruichi agreed as they all nodded their heads.

'But the song itself is odd, and the way he's singing it...it's as if he's singing it mostly to himself.' Yoruichi thought with slight sadness; 'But he is definitely an amazing singer.' she added with a dreamy sigh as she continued watching and listening to Toshiro sing.

"Itsuka ushinatte shimau no kana,  
usurete iku egao to kimi wo mamoritai kara,  
hibiku boku wo yobu koe sae kare,  
toki ni sou kaze ni kaki kesaretatte,  
kimi wo mitsuke dasu."

"Ienai itami kanashimi de kizu tsuita kimi,  
mou waraenai nante hito girai nante kotoba sou iwanai de,  
mienai mirai ni okoru koto subete ni imi ga aru kara,  
ima wa sono mama de ii kitto kizukeru toki ga kuru daro,  
sabikitta hito no you ni." he sung, bobbing his head a bit to the beat of the song.

"Kasanari au dake ga munashikute,  
hitori de ikite ikerutte itta,  
arifureta yasashisa kotobajya,  
ima wa mou todokanai hodo ni kimi wa uzukidasu." he then closed his eyes but continued singing, not bothering to even look at the computer screen anymore.

"Tsunai da kimi no te wa nanigenai yasashisa wo motome,  
Do you remember,  
itami wo shiru koto de hito ni yasashiku nareru kara,  
Drive your Life." after the last few words he reopened his eyes and continued, only he seemed to put more emphasis into his words.

"Ienai itami kanashimi de kizu tsuita kimi,  
mou waraenai nante hito girai nante kotoba sou iwanai de,  
mienai mirai ni okoru koto subete ni imi ga aru kara,  
ima wa sono mama de ii kitto kizukeru toki ga kuru daro."

Toshiro then began to make the exact remix type sounds with his mouth with the music, which only further awed his audience; "Oh wow...now that's impressive." Kusaka commented.

"How can I see the meaning of life,  
kieteku you're the only. . ." he sang, staring right at Yoruichi with a hard stare as if he were directing that line towards her.

"Kowarenai you ni to hanarete iku kimi,  
mou waraenai nante hito girai nante kotoba sou iwanai de,  
ima wa by and by mie nakuttatte subete ni imi ga aru kara,  
kesenai kako mo seoi attekou ikiru koto wo nagedasanai de." he began tapping his foot and bobbing his head further to the beat, showing that he was truly devulged into the song.

"You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . your different Life?  
You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . modoranai kedo,  
hizunda kioku no you na toki no naka de itsuka wakari aeru kara."

The moment the music ended and Toshiro stopped singing, all six watchers erupted into a clapping frenzy and whistles; "Alright Toshiro! Way to go!" Kisuke yelled out with a wide smile on his face.

Yoruichi and Kukaku then ran up to the white haired boy, tackled him to the wooden stage and hugged his head into their chests; "Amazing Toshiro! I never knew you could sing so well! You have to do it more often!" Yoruichi squealed.

"Yeah! And you have to sing for my birthday! And Yoruichi's birthday! And for Kusaka's birthday! And even Tessai's birthday!" Kukaku announced gesturing to each person with her left arm.

"Hey, what about us?" Kisuke and Isshin asked in unison; "Cause you two don't deserve that honor yet." Yoruichi claimed with a playful smile and a wink.

The two boys groaned their protest and crossed their arms as Toshiro stood himself back up; "I am not singing for anyone's birthday." he declared in an aggravated tone.

"Ha! Too bad for you!" Isshin said, pointing a finger at the two girls in a slightly mocking way, but he quickly stopped when he received death glares from them.

After the others went through their songs, bad and good alike, they all went to the manor's kitchens and had a large feast. During of which, Toshiro stayed fairly silent until Yoruichi asked him a question that he barely heard; "Huh...what?" he asked back.

"I said, aren't you going to blow out your candles?" Yoruichi asked pointing to the cake sitting right in front of him; "Oh...yeah." he said.

Toshiro looked down at the fairly large cake, which had icy blue frosting covering the top and sides, with 'Happy Birthday' written in a dark blue frosting and eleven candles placed around the writing. He smirked at it, then looked around at all his friends; "Thank you guys...for everything. This is the best birthday I've ever had." he said as his smirk turned into a smile.

Yoruichi and the others smiled as well, then leaned forward as Toshiro took in a deep breath; "Make sure you make a wish." Kukaku reminded.

Then as Toshiro paused for a moment, he made his wish and blew the candles out with a cool breath; "Alright!" Yoruichi exclaimed happily, then ran over and hugged the birthday boy.

"So what did you wish for?" Isshin asked eagerly; "He can't tell us that...its against the rules." Yoruichi claimed.

"Aww come on...what's the harm of telling us just this once?" Kisuke asked with an expecting smile; "Well its up to him of whether or not he wants to share." Tessai said calmly.

All eyes then turned to Toshiro, whom was busy slicing multiple pieces of cake and placing them on plates for himself and everyone else; "I just wished for a good ending to my birthday." he said with a light smile.

Everyone just stared at him with amazement in their eyes, and a content smile on their lips; "Well then...we'll be sure to make that one come true." Yoruichi said, wrapping her arms around him and placing her cheek on his white hair.

Toshiro smiled wider and started passing out the slices of cake, then after everyone had eaten their fill of it, they all went their seprate ways except for Yoruichi and Toshiro. She had taken him up to the roof of the manor, laid a backet across it and sat herself and him on it; "It may not be the hill...but at least you get a good look at the sky." she said looking over at him with a smile.

He smirked at her and nodded; "Thank you Yoruichi." he said, earning a slightly confused expression from his purple haired friend.

"For what?" she asked, but somewhat already knowing the answer; "My normal birthday's were always spent on that hill just watching the day go by. I think that sending it with you and them was the best thing that could have ever happened." he said laying himself down on the blanket.

Yoruichi smiled and laid down as well; "So that's why you sang that song." she said staring up at the darkening sky.

"Yeah...but I think that I can start singing a different tune now." he said smiling once more; "That's good to know." Yoruichi said, inching herself closer to Toshiro as they continued to stare at the stars that were halfway covered by clouds.

"You know...maybe we could make this a 'thing'." Yoruichi claimed, smiling widely and glancing at Toshiro; "Make what a 'thing'?" he asked raising a brow at her.

"Watching the stars...you know, star gazing." she said, nudging him lightly with her elbow, to which he raised his brow higher and returned to staring at the sky; "I suppose it would be nice to do this every once in a while."

Yoruichi smiled widely at his response, turned over onto her side, wrapped her arms around Toshiro's arm and nuzzled her face into his shoulder; "Its a date then." she said, sounding rather sleepy, but snapped awake as she felt something cold hit her cheek.

Toshiro too felt a small hint of cold touch his face, which caused both of them to look at the cloud directly above them; "Snow." Yoruichi muttered with fasination in her voice.

"Looks like a snow cloud developed right over us." Toshiro speculated, to which Yoruichi looked over at him with a fake suspicious expression; "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with this? Would you?" she asked, holing in a giggle.

Toshiro smirked at her question and shook his head; "Not this time." he said, letting out a content sigh.

Yoruichi nodded and hugged his arm tighter; "I don't mind...I always loved the snow since I was born. Besides, with you here...the snow feels warm to me." she said smiling affectionately at him, making Toshiro's eyes widen slightly but also a smile to develop on his lips.

"Thank you...Yoruichi." he said as they continued laying on the blanket and watched the snow fall.

* * *

Alright, the special is over...I hope you liked it. The story will continue next week, so look forward to that if you didn't like this. ;) The songs I used by the way are; Shojo S by Scandal, Asterisk by Orange Range, and D-tecnoLife by UVERworld. You can see their english translations on bleach wiki .com. ;)


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41:**

-Later on the next day in the Fourth-

Toshiro leaned against the wall of a fairly large yet dark room, just staring down at the figure of a small girl lying on the bed before him with his arms crossed. But due to the only source of light being from the computer monitor, he was unable to see the entirety of Hinamori's face and just focused on what he could see. Toshiro sighed somewhat sadly, walked over to the side of the bed and moved a stray hair out of the young girls face with his ice covered with hand; "I'll come back to visit soon Hinamori." he whispered with a small smile.

He then turned around and walked out of the room, where he was met by a group of three Onmitsukido members bowing down; "What is it?" Toshiro asked with a raised brow as he closed the door behind him.

"We received a report from the squad you sent to the World of the Living sir; they were on their way to discover the location of the Bounts headquarters, but they were intercepted after a human was attacked by one of the Bounts small Dolls. They tried to destroy them after the human had its soul sucked from his body, but one of our operatives was wounded and they were forced to retreat." the lead member explained.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and nodded; "Very well, I assume you took the injured operative here to be healed?" he asked looking at one of the other members for the answer.

"Yes sir! Captain Unohana told us your location and we came here to give our report." the man in black spoke with an extra bow before his commander.

"Alright, go report to Captain Soifon and take further orders from her. Dismissed!" Toshiro said, then the three men in black vanished with a; "Sir!"

Hitsugaya stood there for a few moments as if gauging what he heard into something that he already knew; "I'm beginning to wonder just how far you have thought these events through." a sudden silent and gentle voice spoke out from around the corner a few feet from Hitsugaya's position.

"Unohana." he said, acknowledging her presence; "So how far have you planned all this out, Hitsugaya?" the raven haired woman asked, stepping out into view.

Hitsugaya looked over at her with a slightly raised brow, then turned away, gave a light smirk and closed his eyes; "You already know, Unohana." he said looking back at her, his small smirk becoming slightly wider.

Unohana smiled and shook; "I'm not just talking about the Bounts..." she said, allowing her sentence to hang because both captains understood one another perfectly.

Hitsugaya nodded, then walked up to and past her; "Your exceedingly smart Unohana, I'm sure you'll have quite a bit of it figured out yourself." he said just before vanishing from the Fourth.

-The next afternoon-

"The Onmitsukido were beaten?" Hisagi asked as he, Rangiku, Izuru and Yumichika stood lined up before Toshiro with interested and worried expressions.

"Impossible..." Rangiku commented, knowing full well that it would take more then simple hollows to even injure an Onmitsukido member.

"Not the whole team, just one member. It seems that they cut through his stomach" Toshiro explained with a hard stare to each of them to see their reaction to his words.

"In addition, the Dolls that attacked the human and drained his soul dry, escaped afterward." he continued; "Terrible isn't it? What an unattractive way to attack." Yumichika added with a hand under his chin.

"Captain Hitsugaya, what is their objective?" Kira asked, taking a step forward to make sure that his question was heard; "I'm having the Onmitsukido look into it now." Toshiro responded.

"The human world?" Rangiku mumbled out loud, changing the subject back to the task at hand; "Yeah, I want the four of you to go. I've already informed the Head Captain of our intent." Toshiro said with another glance between each of them.

"Why us?" Hisagi asked, somewhat confused at the picking of their team; "Each of your specialties are destroying monsters that pop up in the World of the Living, even if they aren't hollows." Toshiro explained.

"So our target is a group of monsters?" Kira asked somewhat confused of what monsters had to do with Toshiro's talk about the Bounts; "No, its the Bounts themselves." Toshiro said looking at Kira as if it were obvious.

"Umm..." Yumichika started to get everyone's attention; "What is it?" Toshiro asked, looking over at him with a slightly raised brow.

"This is pretty dirty work, right? For the Lieutenants, this should be no big deal. But why is someone like me, who abhors ugliness, have to-" the feather eye browed man began but was interrupted by Toshiro; "When I spoke to Zaraki in the hospital, he said that you would be the one with the most free time."

Yumichika looked comically shocked, while his jaw dropped; "N-No way!" he exclaimed as all the lieutenant looked at him and rolled their eyes.

"What?" Toshiro questioned as if daring him to have an objection; "N-Nothing. I understand." he said, turning away and faking a sob.

"The Bounts are probably planning something much bigger then what they have come up with so far. We can't just rely on Kurosaki and Abarai for this...I'm counting on you." Toshiro said, once again looking at each of them, but stopping on Rangiku as if he were saying his statement mostly to her; "Yes sir!" they all called out.

Toshiro nodded and dismissed them with a wave of his arm, to which they all vanished in shunpoes; "I know that this is all part of your plan, but you know as well as anyone that they don't stand a chance against them." a sudden voice claimed from behind Toshiro.

He just stared in the direction that the Lieutenants and fifth seat shunpoed to; "I know...but like I said before, this is just to test the power level of the Bounts." Toshiro said, finally turning to face Yoruichi and her hard stare.

"Hmm, aren't you worried about Rangiku? I know that shes the most powerful Lieutenant out of all of them, but I'm sure that even she wouldn't be able to beat them." Yoruichi said with a slightly saddened expression.

Toshiro looked away and hardened his stare where Rangiku had just been standing; "I trust her...and her abilities. She'll be fine." he said, without any doubt in his words, but with a hint of concern in his tone.

Yoruichi smirked at him and nodded confidently; "If you say she will be, then I'll believe you...and I'm sure she does too." she said, winking at him.

He smirked at her then began walking toward the Second Division; "Where are you going?" Yoruichi asked with a raised brow, but followed after him.

"To see Soifon. I want her to deliver a message to Kisuke." Toshiro said glancing back at her from over his shoulder; "Alright...but what's the message?" she asked catching up to him and matching his pace.

"Just that we're continuing our investigation and to be weary of the Bounts movements." Toshiro said, suddenly going into a shunpo.

Yoruichi followed his example and shunpoed along side him; "That's all? Do you really need to send Soifon for something so simple?" she asked, once again raising her brow.

Toshiro smirked lightly, then shook his head and halted himself in front of the Second Division's double doors; "Not really...I have another mission for her to carry out, and the best way for her to do it is for everyone to think that she is still in the World of the Living." he explained and opened the large doors effortlessly.

She looked at him with a questionable expression and placed a hand on his shoulder, to keep him from moving any further; "And what would this mission be?" Yoruichi asked, seeming very interested but with a large smile on her face.

"You'll fine out." was Toshiro's response before walking through the division and towards the office; "Always such a mystery with you huh?" Yoruichi said with a light giggle, causing Toshiro to smirk lightly.

As the two walked up to the open office doors, a few members of the Second Division and the Onmitsukido bowed before them and said; "Good morning Commander Hitsugaya and Your Highness Lady Shihoin." to them as they walked by.

Soifon looked up from her desk and the paperwork stacks upon it, and saw Toshiro and Yoruichi standing in the doorway. She immediately jumped out of her seat, circled around the desk and bowed low to the floor; "Captain Hitsugaya! Yoruichi-sama! I apologize for not greeting you properly!" she claimed, humbleness pouring from her voice.

Yoruichi smiled at her and chuckled lightly; "You know that we don't like really formal greetings. Besides...your one of our best and oldest friends, you have no reason to keep bowing and stuff."

Soifon looked up from her place on the ground and wore an expression of uncertainty; "But...doing so would be disrespectful to the both of you."

Both Yoruichi and Toshiro sighed deeply and gestured for her to stand with their hands; "Aside from that...I have a mission for you Soifon." Toshiro started with a hard stare at the woman in question.

"Yes sir! What is this mission that you have?" Soifon asked respectfully; "I want you to go to the World of the Living and inform Kisuke Urahara that Yoruichi and I are continuing our investigation, and to be weary of the Bounts movements." Toshiro said, but his tone made it apparent that he had more to say.

Soifon caught onto this and narrowed her eyes, ready to take more orders; "What further actions do you wish for me to take?" she asked when she realized that he was waiting for her to speak first.

"I want everyone to believe that you are going to be in the World of the Living for a while, so after you've delivered the message, I want you to come back as stealthy as possible and spy on Kurotsuchi's new research. I found something about it that I find quite interesting, report back to me and tell me what you find tomorrow morning. I should be back by then." Toshiro said with a stern look on his face.

"Yes sir! But if you don't mind me asking...where are you going?" Soifon asked; "I have something to deliver to my Lieutenant...but I have to give it to her at the appropriate time." he said, to which Soifon bowed further to the floor, accepting his answer, and then vanished in a shunpo.

Yoruichi raised a brow at her white haired friend and placed her hands on her hips; "Why are you so interested in Kurotsuchi's research?" she asked, slightly ignoring the comment about giving something to Rangiku.

"From what I know...he's creating an item for Unohana to help with healing her patients faster then ever before. Under the Head Captain's orders of course." Toshiro explained with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What do you need this item for?" she questioned further; "Its not the item itself, all I need is his current research." he responded.

"And what do you need that for? Are you going to make your own?" she asked in a sarcastic tone, but the moment the words left her mouth, she realized that he was going to do precisely what she had just said.

"You _are_ going to make one your own! But how? Its not like you have a laboratory to make it." she stated, but Toshiro just smirked at her; "Don't worry Yoruichi...I already have that covered." he said and began walking out of the office.

Yoruichi followed after him and continued questioning him of how he was going to create this invention, but all she received was silence. Once they reached the doors of the division, Toshiro shunpoed away, leaving Yoruichi in mid-sentence; "Oh now that was cold Toshiro!" she called out and shunpoed towards him, smiling the whole way.

'I keep asking him _how_, when I should be asking _why_. But I trust him enough to have a good reason for doing it. He always has a good reason...and he'll tell me eventually, once he's ready.' she thought with a content sigh.

'It looks like he still has his sense of humor. Even if it is a bit mean...its still a sense of humor nonetheless.' she thought, changing the subject within her own mind.

She then spotted Toshiro's figure within a couple yards in front of her and smiled widely; "Slowing down for me, eh? Nice...but not entirely necessary." she said to herself and shunpoed faster to try and catch him.

"I'll eventually get you back for that Toshiro!" she yelled out as the two played tag as if they were still children, she then giggled to her self as he looked at her with a smirk from over his shoulder.

-Later on that night, in the World of the Living-

Toshiro walked through a senkaimon on the top of a tall skyscraper, as the gateway closed, he immediately began sensing all the spirit energy within the town. He quickly located Ichigo, then each of his friends, and finally his team of three lieutenants and one fifth seat; "They all split up...typical." he mumbled, then jumped down from the building, but descended fairly slowly.

The moment he landed on a rather busy street, he immediately saw a young man with brown hair just staring at him with a bewildered expression from across the street; "Who..what..where..huh?" the young man stuttered out rather incoherently, but because of Toshiro's acute hearing he heard him perfectly.

Toshiro sighed, walked across the street, up to the shocked teen and stared up at him; "So you can see me?" he asked halfway rhetorically, for it was quite obvious that he could see him, very clear at that.

"Follow me." Toshiro said, then walked around him and continued on; "B-But who are you? What are you" the teen asked, finally regaining the ability to speak after looking at Toshiro for a while.

"I'll tell you once we're away from people that think you're crazy." Toshiro claimed, pointing to the people looking at the brown haired teen as if he were insane.

He immediately began running toward Toshiro, once he was beside him, he whispered in his ear; "You could have told me about that sooner."

Toshiro just sighed and shrugged; "What's your name?" he asked, to which the teen blinked, then looked up and became somewhat serious.

"I'm Keigo Asano, a friend of Ichigo's. I assume you know him, right?" he asked, looking down at the white haired captain, to which Toshiro nodded; "Yeah...and I assume that you have seen Ichigo wearing something similar to this." Toshiro said, picking at his shinigami uniform.

Keigo nodded; "Mhmm. But only from a distance." he began, then down at Toshiro once more; "So what's your name?"

Toshiro stopped as he felt someone's spirit energy spike; "Renji." he whispered to himself and narrowed his eyes.

Asano looked back at him and raised a brow; "What is it? You don't like giving out your name?" he asked, unsure if he had insulted him or not.

Hitsugaya shook his head and walked up to Asano once more; "My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, I'm Captain of the Tenth Division of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and Duel Commander of the Onmitsukido." he claimed, which made the taller teen go wide eyed.

"Wow...so your a major V.I.P then, huh?" Keigo said with a light smirk; "You could say that." Toshiro smirked as well.

Then another burst of spirit energy was felt by Renji and Toshiro narrowed his eyes toward the source once again; 'He must be having a pretty hard time.' he thought to himself, then turning to Keigo and his confused expression.

"What is it?" he asked, blinking a couple times; "I have to go, see you some time later Keigo Asano." Toshiro said before jumping into the air and literally flying through the night sky.

"See you 'round Toshiro!" Keigo called as said captain disappeared; "Freaky kid with ice on his hands, feet and neck? I gotta lay off the bean paste rice...must be making me hallucinate." he continued, then started walking towards his own destination.

-Across town-

Toshiro flew through the air at remarkable speeds, while pondering the same question over and over again; 'Why do get the feeling that I really will be meeting that kid again?'

But just as he was flying over the Karakura town park, he saw his lieutenant, Chad, Ururu, the mod-soul Noba, and before them was an old looking man, sitting in a wooden-like chair. Toshiro sighed and halted himself; "I suppose I'll just watch for now...it'll give me a good idea of how powerful the Bounts are...and how far Rangiku has come along." he said aloud with a light smirk.

Then the old man slammed his walking cane onto the ground, which cause the ground to ripple as if it were water. As soon as the rippling seized, the old man suddenly sank into the ground, which made each of them look around cautiously. But then they all jumped and a giant fish-like creature burst out of the ground, attempting to attack them; "What is that?" Rangiku asked herself as she hovered in the air.

"Figure it out Rangiku." Toshiro said, suddenly appearing beside her; "Captain!" she said in surprise, but then focused her attention on a large shadow swimming around the three still on the ground.

"A whale." Chad guessed as he too watched the shadow; "A shark." Ururu said; "It looks like a scorpion fish." Noba claimed as he narrowed his eyes on it.

"It doesn't matter what type of fish it is!" Rangiku declared, swinging her sword in a reverse hand grip, dropping from the air, leaving her captain behind and stabbed the ground where the shadow passed through.

But when nothing seemed to happen to it she stared at the ground in disbelief; "There's no response." she said in shock.

"Behind you!" Noba called out, just before the fish Doll erupted from the ground and attempted the swallow her in its large mouth.

But Rangiku pulled her sword from the ground, shunpoed just off to the left of it and kicked the fish's head with all her might. To which the Doll flew across the park and slammed into the ground; "Not bad." Toshiro commented with another light smirk.

The Doll flopped around for a brief moment, but burrowed itself back into the ground and disappeared once more; "You only got lucky Shinigami-chan!" the old man's voice echoed from beneath the earth.

Then the ground began rippling and the Doll appeared once more, only it had no intention of attacking at the moment; "Allow me to introduce you...this is my Doll, Baura." the old man announced as he seemed to rise up from the Dolls head.

"You called me out on a pleasant night. It feels nice." Baura spoke in a very deep sounding voice; "It talked!" Rangiku said in slight shock.

"The Doll should already have a consciousness of its own." Noba reported as he and the others stared at the Bount and his Doll with narrowed eyes; "I see." Rangiku said, understanding what Noba meant.

"He can manipulate space by generating a special dimensional space that allows him to swim freely within it. And my name is Sawatari, one of the oldest Bounts in history." the old man claimed with a proud smile.

"Do you always have to be so proud of yourself? You maybe one of the oldest...but you are far from being the strongest." Toshiro spoke as he appeared with his arms crossed and leaning against Baura's left fin.

"Of course...you don't need me to tell you that, do you?" Toshiro asked in slight amusement, with a light smirk on his face; "Y-You..." Sawatari said with wide eyes as he stared at Toshiro in both shock and anger.

"But you should know...one of them have a similar power to your own. Why don't you show each other the extent of your power." Toshiro suggested, pushing himself back to a standing position, walked a few yards, turned around and just stared at them.

"I won't interfere...go ahead and continue." he finished with another light smirk; "Very well then, I will show you the difference in our powers!" Sawatari claimed loudly.

"We're the ones who will be showing you the difference in our powers! Growl, Haineko!" Rangiku cried out, and the real battle began.

* * *

Alright, that's it for this chapter. And don't worry, I'll pick up right where I left off at. ;) So you'll get to read the entirety of the fight, and yes...it will be quite different then normal. :)


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42:**

"We're the ones who will be showing you the difference in our powers! Growl, Haineko!" Rangiku cried out as the blade of her sword dissolved into a large cloud of ash.

Rangiku then pointed the hilt toward the large fish and the man sitting on its head; "Baura!" Sawatari called, making his body sink back into his dolls body.

"Okay." Baura said in a deep voice, opening its large mouth to its full size, which was big enough to swallow ten people at once.

But Rangiku's eyes widened as the ashes headed straight for the mouth; "Come back!" she called, pointing the hilt away from the Doll, which made the ash retract and come back to its master.

The large fish closed its mouth as the ash formed back into a blade on the hilt once more; "Rangiku-san, why?" Chad asked confused.

"The Shinigami's decision was correct." Sawartai's voice echoed from within his Doll, then a small area on its odd skin shifted and revealed the old man's face but nothing else; "If she had not recalled those ashes, Baura would have consumed them all, and she would have lost her zanpakuto." he claimed with a smile on his wrinkly face.

"What did you say?" Chad demanded in disbelief, then Noba took a step forward and narrowed his eye on the Bount; "It seems that its mouth is also connected to a different dimension." he speculated.

"And here I thought that I may finally get my hands on a Shinigami's Zanpakuto!" Sawatari said loudly, with an even wider smile then before.

Rangiku smirked at him and merely shrugged at his words; "Well sorry to disappoint you...but your not going to get that chance." she claimed, narrowing her eyes and suddenly disappearing from everyone's sight.

"What?" the Bount demanded in surprise as he looked around to try to find the missing lieutenant; "You should look behind you." Toshiro said, with a somewhat smug tone.

But just as Sawatari was about to bring his head back into his Doll to go underground once more, Rangiku had kicked the side of the fish and brought it completely out of the ground. Then as Baura hit the grassy hill, it bounced back off and was met by yet another kick from Rangiku after shunpoing in its path; "Now Chad!" she called out.

"Got it!" he responded, ran in the line of the giant fish's approach, wound up his now transforming arm and swung it full force, making Baura fly up into the air.

Then the large end at the top of his shoulder, split into three parts and blue fire erupted out of the two openings; "El Directo!" he called out and sent an enormous ball of blue fire straight into the bell of the fish, causing it to flip in the air uncontrollably.

"Noba! Ururu!" Rangiku ordered, taking command over the fight completely, to which Ururu and Noba nodded to her and ran directly under Baura.

Then the red haired teen used his teleportation ability to get Ururu into the air, just beside the Doll. She then kicked Baura with almost as much force as Rangiku and sent the Doll smashing into the ground with an earth shattering crash. The impact had dug a crater twice the size of the large fish and dazed it to the point of being unmoving, but the assault didn't stop there. Rangiku shunpoed into the air, gathered her strength into her right fist, then drove it into and through Baura's back; "Ahhhhh!" the Doll screamed in pain.

Rangiku jumped away from the giant fish and looked over at her captain standing not far from them. She had an expecting expression on her face, waiting for him to comment on how she commanded everyone without making any sort of strategy ahead of time; "Its not over just yet." was all he said.

She immediately turned back around just in time to see Baura fling itself into the air, open its mouth and attempt to swallow her; "Yeah right." she said, shunpoed out of the way and sent yet another kick to its side.

Once again the fish flew through the air and collided with the hill; "I'll give him this...he certainly is persistent." Rangiku commented, staring at Baura turning itself over and its master rising out of its head.

"You'll pay for that you bitc-!" he began, but was cut off when Toshiro was suddenly in front of him and wrapped an ice covered hand around his throat; "Don't even think about calling her that." Toshiro said, glaring icily at him.

Sawatari glared back at him but did not say anything; "Good...now continue on and die with what little honor you have left." he said releasing him, turning around and just walking away.

"You bastard!" the old man yelled and was about to run up to attack Toshiro, but he was interrupted when a sword pierced straight through his chest and out his back; "No one touches my Captain." Rangiku said with a glare that matched Toshiro's all too well.

"Damn..it!" Sawatari yelled weakly, just before falling to his knees and turning to dust before everyone's eyes; "Noo!" Baura screamed, before he too was reduced to dust.

Toshiro looked back at Rangiku, whom sheathed her sword, sighed in relief and smiled at Toshiro as she turned around; "What do ya think Captain? Was that as good as you expected?" she asked with a playful wink.

"Actually...yeah." he said with a light smirk and nod; "You did well Rangiku, keep it up." Toshiro continued, just before walking up to her, giving her light pat on the back and vanished in a shunpo.

Rangiku raised a brow at his odd action, but just smiled, lifted her arms up and flexed her muscles; "As expected from the Lieutenant of the Tenth Division!" she claimed proudly, then turned to the other three.

"Well that's one down. Good job everyone." she said smiling, to which they all nodded; "We should head over to Urahara's, to let him know that we defeated one." Noba suggested silently.

"Sounds good to me." Rangiku said, walking up to them and smiling even wider, but was interrupted by a sudden voice; "Rangiku!"

Everyone turned to voice and found Yumichika running up to them; "I found the Bounts' hideout!" he called out, causing everyone's eyes to become wide.

-Warehouse District-

'I knew Rukia would need help...I should have come here first.' Toshiro thought as he arrived on a warehouse roof viva a shunpo.

Just as he looked down at the scene, Rukia suddenly threw Orihime into the air with great force, which surprised him slightly, while Kurodo stood nearby watching with wide eyes. But then he noticed the orange haired Bount standing not far away with a large grin on his face; 'What's going on? I thought they were fighting that Bount Yoshi. When did Mabashi come in?' he asked himself as he shunpoed in the air and caught Orihime.

'Mabashi has the Doll that can control someone's body or soul. perhaps I should have came here first...but what's done is done.' Toshiro continued, glaring down at the frowning Bount; "Toshiro-kun." Orihime whispered in surprise.

Toshiro set Orihime back on the ground and looked over at Rukia; "I'm guessing your Doll has complete control over her." he said, narrowing his eyes at Mabashi.

"Yeah...and what's it to you? Snowman-san!" Mabashi said, laughing loudly in a mocking way; "Tch...snowman-san huh? That's a new one. Out of a hundred and forty years...no one has ever used that one before." Toshiro said, sounding somewhat amused at the nickname.

"Whatever! This is the end for you! Rukia! Get ride of him!" he yelled out with a maniac-like grin; "You really became a power hungry moron, didn't you." Toshiro said with a roll of his eyes.

"Way of Destruction No. 33: Sokatsui." Rukia said emotionlessly and fired a large blue lightning bolt straight at Toshiro, to which he easily and effortlessly deflected it into the air with a flick of his wrist.

"W-What?" Mabashi demanded in shock; "You don't know who I am do you?" Toshiro asked, seeming to be slightly confused by the fact that he actually did not know who he was.

"Should I care? Your going down all the same! Ritz!" the Bount called out, still with an insane looking smile; "You're a very young Bount, aren't you?" Toshiro asked as an actual question.

"Way of Destruction No. 33: Sokatsui." Rukia repeated, firing off yet another bolt of lighting, this time Toshiro did not even move, he allow the blast to hit him full force, kicking up a dust cloud as it did; "Toshiro-kun!" Orihime yelled out.

But as the dust cleared, Toshiro stood there without a single scratch on him or his uniform; "She's only powerful enough to make a lower seated officer right now...she doesn't stand a chance at even touching a captain level." Toshiro claimed, glaring at the Bount with an icy look.

"You bastard! I am more powerful then you! I'm more powerful then everyone!" Mabashi screamed, then pointed his hand toward Toshiro; "Ritz!" he called, to which the Doll exited Rukia's body and flew at Toshiro.

"Going forward!" the small Doll announced in a light and rather squeaky voice; "Idiot." was all Toshiro said as Ritz impaled his chest.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Kurodo called out; "Toshiro-kun!" Orihime screamed in horror, expecting the worst to come from this.

Rukia staggered on her feet but remained straight; "C-Captain..Hitsugaya..." she whispered breathlessly, but when she saw the Doll in his chest she gasped.

"Don't worry...Captain Hitsugaya doesn't go down that easily." a voice said from off to the side, causing everyone to look.

"Its about time you got here Hisagi...I thought I'd have to do this myself." Toshiro said, raising a brow at the raven haired man.

"My apologies...I was pretty far away. I will take it from here if that's what you wish." Shuhei said with a bow; "Enough of this! Ritz! Why aren't you controlling him?" Mabashi demanded angrily.

"I'm trying...I just can't get through." it said in a strained voice; "What?" he asked as his eyes began to widen slightly.

Toshiro sighed, grabbed the Doll, tore it from his chest and tossed it aside; "Your such a fool. Your Doll couldn't get through because I froze it right as it was entering my body. There's no possibility that you can control me." he explained.

"Way of Destruction No. 1: Sho." Toshiro said, bringing up his hand and sending forth his kido spell, which sent Mabashi through the wall behind him and ten more walls after that.

Toshiro then turned to Shuhei; "He's all yours Hisagi. See you at the shop." he said to Hisagi for the beginning statement, but looking at everyone else for his last one.

"See you Toshiro-kun! Thanks again!" Orihime said with a smile on her face, to which he smirked at her and gave the others a quick nod and then vanished in a shunpo.

As Toshiro shunpoed through the town, he watch the lit up buildings and houses go by him while continuing on towards Urahara's shop. But the moment he passed by a house with a familiar spirit energy within it, he felt the presence of someone following close behind him; "Going to follow me all the way?" he asked, immediately stopping on the roof of one of the many houses around him.

"Well its been quite a while since I've seen you, so I figured; what the hell." the person spoke, but stayed just right in front of the moon so they're face was unseen; "How have you been?" Toshiro asked with a light smirk.

"Not too bad. How about yourself?" the pursuer responded with a wider smirk then Toshiro's; "Alright. How's the family?" the white haired captain questioned.

"Well you tell me? Is my son staying out of trouble?" Toshiro's follower asked, finally stepping away from the front of the moon, revealing the person to be Isshin Kurosaki; "Not a chance, but then again...trouble always seems to find him." Toshiro said with another light smirk.

"He he, that sounds like Ichigo." Isshin claimed in a light laugh; "He has been doing fairly well in becoming stronger." Toshiro commended, giving his long time friend a hard stare.

"But?" the raven haired man asked, despite already knowing what Toshiro was about to say; "But...I'm not sure if he'll be strong enough to fight Aizen when the time is right. He has to relearn Bankai all over again, which can take from a week to a year for him." Toshiro explained.

Isshin looked down at the roof shingles and nodded to himself; "Do you think that he can do it?" he asked, seeking the answer to the question he had been worrying about since he found out about everything with Aizen and Ichigo going to Soul Society.

"Truthfully...I think that the most he'll do is provide us with an ally that is not under his complete hypnosis, but not much more." Toshiro said with another hard stare; "So more or less...no." Isshin spoke, slightly frowning, but also with an understanding expression.

"Yeah." was all Hitsugaya could say; "Well...I suppose its better to have a part, then to have no part at all, eh?" Kurosaki said, with a smirk on his face.

"Don't worry...I have a plan to increase his strength ten fold." Hitsugaya said, now gaining a light smirk on his features; "Is that so? What what might that be?" the older looking man asked inquisitively.

Toshiro just lightly smirked at him and turned away; "You'll find out." he responded, now hiding his growing smile.

Isshin raised a brow, but shrugged it off; "Well if you say it'll help. You went through more grueling training then I could have possibly thought of, so if you say that he'll get ten times stronger...then I'm sure he will." he said smiling.

Toshiro turned back around and smirked at Isshin once more; "I'll try to open my schedule the next time I come here." he said, to which his friend nodded and smiled widely.

"Sounds good to me...see you round! Tell everyone I said hi!" Isshin called as he turned his back towards Toshiro, then waved at him with his left hand, over his right shoulder; "Chao!" he said then vanished from the white haired captain's sight.

"See you later, Kurosaki." Toshiro said, smirking once more and disappearing just like his friend.

* * *

Alright there's the next chapter, I hope you all liked the fight. ;) If not, then I'll make up for it later on. And sorry about about the short length, I'll try to make the next one longer.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43:**

-Early the next morning in the Bounts hideout-

All of the Bounts were gathered within a large cavern, around the two level platform in the center, where of which Jin Kariya stood on the first level. Go Koga, Yoshi and Ugaki stood off to the right of the steps that Jin was standing before, while Mabashi sat on the ground with a very aggravated expression on his face. On the left side, Ichinose was leaning against the side of the steps, with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"I have failed." Koga said, breaking the silence that was cast over them; "What? I don't care." Jin said in a rather disinterested tone.

"You were able to discover just how much power you've gained by absorbing such a small amount of human souls." he continued, looking out at his rather upset comrades.

"Its not bad." he said as if shrugging with his words; "Its not enough. It still isn't enough!" Mabashi yelled out, being the most angered out of them all.

"Mabashi, don't be greedy. There will be no turning back." Koga claimed, turning to face the rather battered man; "No, you did very well. Don't worry about a single loss." Jin said, stepping forward, but stopping midway through his statement.

"I didn't lose! I didn't freakin' lose!" Mabashi responded, looking up at the white haired man with a hard stare; "I was about to deal the finishing blow! I could have done it! He would have-!" but he was cut off by Ichinose.

"If you continued to fight with them, you would have been reduced to sand. Especially after the blow Captain Hitsugaya delivered to you, there was no possibility of you having the strength to fight any of them off." he said, stepping away from the wall.

"That's not true! That's not..." Mabashi claimed, but stopped from the over use of his still very bruised lungs; "They're coming." Jin said, looking up from Mabashi to the large archway that made up the entrance.

"Don't worry. Continue absorbing souls through the Bitto." Jin said, turning towards Ugaki, but as he focused his eyes on the man, he saw someone else about ten yards behind him; "Ah...so one of them is already here." he said with a smile.

Everyone looked at their leader in confusion, but the moment they turned to look at what it was Jin was smiling at, they immediately became wide eyed and slightly weak kneed. But then Mabashi jumped to his feet and charged at the intruder, followed closely by Yoshi; "Your dead!" Mabashi yelled, drawing back his fist.

Yoshi summoned her Doll, readied her sword in front of her, and her fan out behind; "I wouldn't, if I were you." Jin warned, but neither of them listened and kept charging.

Just as Mabashi threw his punch, the infiltrator dodged the fist, grabbed his arm with its ice covered hand and tossed him into and through the air. Mabashi yelled out in pain as he hit the ceiling, then immediately dropped to the ground in a heap. Then, without hesitation, Yoshi thrusted her sword toward the newcomer, to which it lifted a frozen hand and easily stopped the sword; "Damn..." she muttered out, with a strained expression and voice.

"Now come come everyone. Have no worries about him being here. If he was here to kill us, he would have done so already. Correct? Hitsugaya-kun?" Jin asked, still with his smile.

Toshiro easily moved Yoshi's sword away from him, walked around her and towards Jin; "I'm merely here for an investigation. Even though slaughtering all of you doesn't sound like a bad idea." he said, glaring up at the taller white haired man.

"Well a slaughter doesn't sound so good to me so please...investigate away." Jin said, gesturing to the entirety of the cave to him; "Very well then." Toshiro shrugged and nodded.

As Toshiro walked up to the top of the two level platform, he looked up at the Bitto swarming around a large cluster of crystals on the ceiling of the cave. He then brought his hand up and pointed it at one of them, to which caused it to freeze in midair and drop straight into Toshiro's ice covered hand. As he did this, all of the Bounts stared at him with tension filling their bodies and hostility filling the air around them.

Toshiro broke open the Bitto and took out the long purple vile contained within it, he then undid the cap, brought the opening to his nose and sniffed it; "Purified souls huh." he said, looking down at the Bounts with narrowed eyes.

Jin merely shrugged and smiled; "What can I say? We worked on this for years." he claimed, sounding very proud of himself.

"Tch, this is pathetic. But considering the fact that you're only able to work with items from here in the World of the Living...its not half bad." Toshiro commented, with a voice that could have almost be mistaken as arrogant.

"What was that?" Ugaki demanded angrily, stepping forward with clenched fists as the rest of the Bounts rejoined the group; "Now now Ugaki. Be polite, Hitsugaya wasn't called a genius for nothing. Its quite possible that he truly is smarter then either of us." Jin said, but though he was praising Toshiro with his words, his tone was laced with bitterness towards him.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on Jin and walked down next to him; "Would you mind if I watched?" he asked, but his tone showed that he would not accept any answer he did not approve of.

"Of course...but are you going to interfere with us?" Jin questioned with a raised brow, to which Toshiro raised a brow right back to him and smirked lightly; "Not at all. I merely want to watch." he said.

"Very well." Jin started, then turned to Ugaki and called out his name, gaining his attention quickly; "It's finally my turn, isn't it?" he asked, forming a smile on his face.

"Before that..." Jin started, staring hard at the men with glasses; "What is it?" he inquired, keeping his smile.

"What is that Quincy brat doing?" Jin called out, to which one of Ugaki's glasses lenses showed a picture of Uryu in a river with his bow formed and shooting a slightly shaky arrow.

Ugaki began chuckling lightly; "He's struggling. It seems that he has not regained his powers." he responded as the picture disappeared; "I see. Go!" Jin said, raising his arm to the entrance.

"Of course." Ugaki said in a bow; "And be prepared. This will be no commonplace sight. You will not be bored. At the very least, it will be a golden performance. It will be a unique show." he claimed, waving his hands around to further emphasize his words.

"Excuse me." he finished, walking out of the large cavern with a large grin on his face; "He's far too arrogant. I assume your just going to get rid of him once he fails." Toshiro said, turning to Jin with a hard stare.

Jin smirked at his words but did not respond, he just looked to Ichinose and called his name to gain his attention; "Sir." the raven haired Shinigami said, to show his leader he was listening.

"How about that matter we spoke of earlier?" Jin asked, his smirk disappearing as he spoke; "Yes. I believe they are about to move." was his response.

"I see." Jin said, regaining his smirk, only this one seemed more psychotic then the previous; "They're already moving." Toshiro said as four bug-like Dolls came flying towards them and began projecting images of the team Toshiro had formed running through the cave from different angles.

Toshiro watched as the three lieutenants and one fifth seat slowed their pace and merely began walking through the many pathways that made up the dark and somewhat gloomy cave. Rangiku was up in front with the others following behind her, but once they heard a silent noise, Rangiku stopped walking and looked around; "What?" Rangiku asked, as the others followed her lead in looking for the source of the noise.

"This doesn't feel quite right, does it?" Yumichika said, looking straight ahead; "Let's go." Hisagi said, trying to keep himself and everyone else from getting paranoid.

They continued walking over the fairly rocky terrain, until they came up to a large cavern with many large pillars on the left and right sides, and one much larger one straight ahead; "What is that?" Kira asked, looking up at the pillar before them with a questionable expression.

"Why is it like that?" Hisagi asked, staring at the top of the structure, where were strange carvings could be seen; "It isn't done very well, is it? It isn't even beautiful." Yumichika commented.

"Look, the same thing is over here as well." Kira said, pointing to one of the pillars on their right side; "Isn't it just some decoration?" Rangiku asked, seemingly uncaring about it, but Toshiro could tell she was examining it very carefully.

"You're probably right." Hisagi said, turning to her with an agreeing expression; "Let's hurry on." he continued, taking the lead and walking toward an open archway.

But before they reached it, a few bug-like Dolls circled behind one of the pillars and cast a light behind it, which caused them to turn around and look. Then the pillars' shadow became three dimensional, formed into a long spear and thrusted at Yumichika. He was able to unsheathe his sword in time to block it, then knock it away; "Everyone, you're too careless." he said, sarcasm almost dripping from his tone, but he still prepared himself for the spears' next attack.

"Yumichika!" Rangiku called out, ready to jump it to help him, but another light appeared on her right and a spear came hurling at her.

Just as it came within a few feet of her, she dodged the spear, spun around on her right foot and back kicked the tip clear off; "Where are they coming from?" Hisagi demanded, as he and Kira stayed back to back so neither would be caught off guard.

They looked around and saw that the Dolls were casting lights all around them from behind the pillars; "We're surrounded! Let's break up!" Hisagi continued, slicing the tip off yet another spear.

"That's right. It would be best that way." Yumichika agreed, looking at him over his shoulder, then running off in his own direction.

A split second later, Rangiku followed his lead and started running toward an archway as fast as her feet could take her; "Let's go." Kira said, then both he and Hisagi leapt away from a group of spears that came from every side, all at once.

The Dolls' then switched their screens to focus in on each Shinigami individually, and though Toshiro was somewhat concerned for all of the members of the team, he watched only the image that held Rangiku on it. She ran through a rather narrow pathway, but then came up to a 'T', stopped immediately and looked around very carefully. She examined both sides of the split path, first she looked at the multiple pillars on either side and then felt the faint presence of one of the Dolls. Rangiku narrowed her eyes straight ahead and unsheathed her zanpakuto; "Growl, Haineko." she called.

Her swords' blade diminished into ash, then spread through the air like a swarm of flies and began encircling each of the pillars and everything else that could cast a shadow. The pillars crumbled and fell to the ground, which made Toshiro smirk lightly as he watched; "She already figured out that it uses the light to create its attacks." he muttered to himself, quietly enough so no one could hear him.

Rangiku sheathed her sword and looked around; "Where did those Dolls go?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, but began walking forward anyway.

As she went, a light suddenly lit up behind her and cast a shadow on a stalactite on the ceiling above her. She immediately jumped off to the side, dodging the crushing spikes that came down right where she would have stepped. As she slid across the ground, a set of ropes tried to wrap around her, but she took out her sword and cut them before they could reach her. Rangiku looked around once more as the light behind her disappeared, but then another one came up off to her left, blinding her too much for her to see the spears coming straight at her from her right.

The screen then went blank and the Doll flew away, which made Jin look back at Toshiro with a smile; "Its too bad she had to die...she was quite beautiful." he said, smugness lanced clearly in his voice.

Toshiro just smirked and looked back at him; "Hmph...your only right about one thing." he said, now narrowing his eyes on the other white haired man.

"And what is that?" Jin asked, unable to resist asking; "She is beautiful." Toshiro claimed, smirking once more, then turning around and walking away.

This time it was Jin's turn to narrow his eyes on Toshiro; "Do you really believe that she lived through that?" he asked, seemingly trying to make Toshiro become filled with either anger or sadness.

"Tch, its not a question of whether I think she's alive or not...its a question of whether or not I gave her permission to die." Toshiro said, smirking wider as he walked to one of the walls of the cavern and leaned against it.

Jin's eyes widened at his response, but then he smiled widely as he saw Hisagi and Kira crushed by a cave in as they tried to limp away from the falling rocks, but seemingly to no avail. Then he chuckled almost madly when Yumichika was caught by a giant hand and was slammed against a wall of the cave; "I just hope that Ichigo Kurosaki will arrive soon. This group just went way too fast." he said in a sigh as all the screens became blank and the Dolls flew away.

But almost as if on cue, Ichigo's wild spirit energy was faintly felt as he and his friends made their way through the cave. Jin smile even wider; "Fantastic. At least things will stay interesting." he claimed, glancing at Toshiro, whom had crossed his arms, closed his eyes and tilted his head down as if in deep thought.

As the new group traveled along the same path the previous one had, the Dolls flew back into the cavern of the Bounts and began projecting images of the intruders' progress through the cave. The first thing they saw besides more cave was a swarm of the bug-like Dolls; "So they've finally come out." Renji said as he and Ichigo placed a hand on their zanpakutos.

But the swarm flew away immediately before they could even attack; "Their running away!" Ririn yelled out, to which the group gave chase.

They eventually came to a large cavern with many arches and corridors leading to many different pathways through the cave; "What is with this place?" Ichigo demanded, confused on how anyone could find their way through the enormous subterrane.

"These are ruins, aren't they? It splits into five different paths."Rukia claimed, examining her surroundings carefully; "Tch, this is the Bounts' defense against hidden intruders, huh?" Renji asked with a light laugh.

After deciding that the swarm of Dolls had gone elsewhere, they continued on and began walking once again, until..."Kurosaki-kun! Is that...?" Orihime exclaimed, looking up towards the ceiling of the cavern.

Everyone looked up and saw an enormous group of the Dolls just hovering a few inches from the top, but then every one of them came hurling down at Ichigo and his friends. Ichigo and Renji immediately sprang into action, unsheathing their swords and slicing the Dolls in two; "Way of Destruction No. 4: Byakurai!" Rukia called out, joining the fight alongside Chad and Orihime.

They sliced, destroyed and disintegrated dozens upon dozens of the Dolls, yet there never seemed to be an end to them; "We're getting no where at this rate! We need to draw them into a more confined space and attack them all at once!" Rukia suggested, to which everyone agreed.

But before any of them could move, some of the Dolls circled around the pillars, stalagmites and stalactites, then began emitting the lights from their eyes. Orihime was the first to notice this and tried to warn Rukia as a large hand rose up from the shadow that formed behind her. Rukia was too slow and ended up getting punched by the fist, Renji was able to shunpo behind her and take the impact of her hitting not only the ceiling, but the ground as well.

Then a swarm of Dolls came down to try and attack them while they were down, but Chad stepped in and destroyed them with his El Directo before they got too close. Rukia laid in Renji's arms, all but defenseless as her childhood friend and Chad protected her from the enormous swarm of bug-like Dolls that began a never ending attack on them. All the while Ichigo was fighting against the giant hand that punched her, but when it suddenly formed itself into a sword, he was now beginning driven backward. As the sword continued to push him back, two more Dolls flew behind the rock opposite of the one he was facing, shown their light on it, casting a shadow and created a giant spinning saw from it.

But just as the saw was about to slice Ichigo in two, Orihime came up, used her defensive powers to stop it and attempted to use her offensive powers to destroy the Dolls, but they disappeared before her attack hit, the saw along with them. Though Orihime and Kurodo were confused at the sudden action, Ichigo took this time to try and finally defeat the large sword. But before he could, the sword transformed again, only this time into a large set of moving ropes, which wrapped themselves around Ichigo and Orihime.

The ropes then began dragging the two towards its source as if to consume them into it; "Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime called out in a frightened voice, hoping that he would be able to get them out of their predicament.

Chad tried to run over and help them, but the swarm of Dolls thickened and wasn't even able to make it two steps closer; "Ichigo!" he yelled out helplessly.

But just as they were about to be fully dragged into the dark, a sudden voice came up; "Growl, Haineko." then a wave of ash swept towards them and cut the ropes.

They all look over in surprise as they saw Rangiku standing before them without a single injury, instead, she had a large set of ice wings on her back and a neck guard similar to Toshiro's. Everyone's eyes became wide, including the Bounts, save for Toshiro, whom was smirking but still with his eyes closed and head down. Jin looked over at him and saw his smirk and narrowed his eyes; "So you that's how you knew. You protected her from that attack." he said.

"Obviously." Toshiro said, looking up at the screen that showed Rangiku with the wings; "Rangiku-san, how did you-?" Ichigo asked but he was cut off by a giant hand suddenly rising from where the ropes had come from.

Rangiku pointed her left hand toward the Dolls casting the light, to which the ashes hurled forward, destroying the two Dolls and even the rock they were hiding behind; "My Captain...he gave me a pat on my back last night after we killed the Bount. But it looks like he had a double meaning for it." she responded with a wide smile and pointing to the wings on her back.

"But...how can he do tha-?" Renji asked, but he too was cut off when the large swarm of Dolls tried to go behind the other surrounding rocks and pillars; "The Dolls spring forth from the shadows cast by the light from the eyes. We gotta smash everything that casts a shadow!" Rangiku called out, with slight urgency in her voice.

"Alright!" Renji said, holding up his sword, then swinging it at all the tall rocks and pillars, knocking them down easily.

The others, sent out their attacks and soon, there was nothing that could cast a shadow in the cave; "Alright! Now time for these bastards!" Ichigo said as he narrowed his eyes in determination and cocked his sword back.

"Getsuga Tensho!" he yelled out, sending a large wave of blue spirit energy straight into the small Dolls, destroying them all as it hit.

After the enemies were gone, they all regrouped around Rangiku; "So how exactly did he do that?" Renji asked, restarting his question from before.

"I'm not really sure myself...but I'm not about to complain." she responded with a smile; "You kinda look like an Ice Angel..." Orihime commented as she examined the wings.

"Really? Thank you Orihime!" Rangiku called out, running over and hugging the red headed girl; "Your not an angel! Your a Goddess! A Goddess with heavenly-!" Kon claimed, running toward her chest, but was met by her fist instead.

Jin smiled at the display they had put on; "That's the type of fight I wanted to see. I'm glad that your Lieutenant is alive...it would have been quite boring if they died so quickly." he said, sounding smug in his tone.

Then Ugaki's voice was suddenly heard, as if over a speakerphone; "I can hear you." he began, causing the small group to look up in surprise.

"Greetings humans and Shinigami, I am called Ugaki. I am a Bount of course and just so you know...the name of my Doll is Gesell. You would do well to remember that from now on." he continued, his smug voice echoing throughout the entire cave; "You bastard! What are you gonna do?" Ichigo demanded, looking up at the Dolls.

"Well, just listen to what I have to say. We Bounts have collected and consumed a large number of living souls by means of the Bitto. Having done so, we gained an amazing amount of power for ourselves and our Dolls." Ugaki said, sounding proud of himself.

Renji looked up now and narrowed his eyes; "You think you can keep us busy with your ridiculous bugs?" he asked loudly; "Ridiculous bugs? That's rude of you." Ugaki commented, with a fake offended voice.

"These are new Dolls that were given birth by Yoshino's life, you know." he continued, once again seeming quite proud of himself; "Having acquired the concentrated extract of living souls, we Bounts have made progress in our attempt to further evolve." he claimed happily, almost having a giddy sounding tone

"But now, we Bounts are filled with sorrow. We are human after all! We are not monsters or anything. We are human!" he started, with an actual sad tone, but making sure to put the most emphasis on the point of being human.

"In spit of this fact, we have been forced to constantly endure terrible mistreatment by other humans, just because we possess slightly different abilities." now his voice was one of anger and bitterness.

"Exclusion! Persecution! And we have no way to leave heirs! The total number of Bounts are limited, so all we can do is dwindle in number. That pain...you cannot begin to understand!" Ugaki claimed, enraged now, slamming his hands onto a table in the beginning of his speech.

"I don't friggin' get it!" Renji yelled, suddenly stand up on his feet; "It's not that we can't sympathize with your circumstances! But that does not mean that it's okay for you to steal peoples lives! I will not forgive you guys." he continued angrily.

"It seems somehow that my words do not reach you. It can't be helped then. Let me beat it into your body. I am waiting in the heart of these caves. Can you make it this far?" Ugaki taunted them, then his voice died down and vanished.

Toshiro looked over at the screens, saw Ichigo and Renji devising a plan and turned away with a light smirk; "This should be interesting." he muttered, looked up to the ceiling, continuing his smirk.

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Alright, the end of this chapter has come. ;) Hope you all enjoyed, and remember...press that button below and leave a review, comment or even some ideas if you'd like. I'd like to see if there's anything you guys would like me to add to this story. Or even an idea for a new story *shrug*. ;) Till next time. Chao!


	44. Chapter 44

Before I begin, I wanna give a big thanks to Tuliharja, whom without I would not have such a great story to share with all of you. So thank you Tuli-chan! I love you! ;)

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**Chapter 44:**

-Cave of the Bounts-

Toshiro glanced over at the screens that the Dolls were projecting and saw Ichigo and Renji, running through one of the many long tunnels of the cave; "Nothing left for me to do but wait for Ishida to get here." he muttered quietly in a sigh.

Though he hadn't heard his words, Jin still looked over at him with a questionable expression. Jin continued to watch Toshiro for a few moments, but eventually gave up when he did not return his stare; 'Tch, none of them have even looked at me since Rangiku returned until now.' he thought in slight amusement, not even paying attention to what was happening on the screen, despite looking right at it.

'Oh well, but I must admit...even though I'm usually not one to sit on the side lines, its not so bad really. Plus, its important to get everyone to Soul Society, it'll make it easier for Kurosaki to reachieved Bankai, with all of the reishi to help increase his spirit energy. There's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it then. And since someone needs to help things along on this side...who better, then me?' then he heard loud crashing noises and refocused his eyes on the screen.

He realized that Ichigo and Renji were now destroying every pillar and large rock in site as they continued on their path; 'All they're doing is wasting time. He can always find something to create a shadow, including them.' Toshiro thought, sighing once more.

Then, just as he had predicted, the Dolls shone bright lights in front of their faces, making long dark shadows appear behind them and obscuring their eye sight. As they stood there blinded, two large swords rose from their shadows and swung down at them before they could react. But just before they were about to be sliced in half, both the swords were stopped by the sudden appearance of Hisagi's and Izuru's swords before them.

Toshiro smirked and nodded by the site of the two; "Looks like they can take care of themselves pretty well." he muttered silently.

Mabashi, Soma and Koga each began glaring at Toshiro after his very confident comment; "Tch! He sure is full of himself." Mabashi claimed angrily, clenching his fists.

Though Toshiro heard the man, he just ignored him and continued watching his comrades fight; "Don't think the same trick will always work!" Hisagi said confidently, then he and Izuru pushed the swords away and began slicing the bug-like Dolls in half.

As soon as they were all gone, the two swords disappeared and they all sheathed their own weapons; "Thanks, you really saved us." Ichigo said with a thankful expression.

"Kira, your okay?" Renji asked in slight surprise and concern; "I could ask the same thing Renj-" but the blonde man was cut off by a sudden pain in his chest, causing him to fall to his knees.

Izuru's body shuttered and he started coughing out blood; "Kira!" Renji called out, running over to his long time friend and kneeling down in front of him.

Renji placed his hand on his shoulder and muttered his name in concern once more; "Don't worry..." Kira said, but in a very shaky voice that told otherwise.

"What happened to you guys?" Ichigo asked Hisagi, walking over to the blonde man's side, to see for himself if he was alright; "Well..." Hisagi began shakily, but better then his friend kneeling beside him.

"We were just about crushed by a cave in. Fortunately we got away from most of the large rocks, but we ended up trapped under a bunch of smaller ones. Even though they were a bit smaller...we were still injured pretty bad." Hisagi explained, his voice becoming more coarse with each word.

"What about you?" Ichigo asked looking Hisagi over, as he just stood there, seemingly mostly unharmed on the outside; "I can't say I'm completely okay, but I'm much better then Kira. He pushed me out of the way of the rock that hit his chest." he said, pointing the blood he was coughing up, as if saying that that's what he would be doing now if it weren't for the blonde haired man's action.

"I'm sorry, but in that condition you-" but Hisagi interrupted Ichigo as he shook his head lightly and began speaking; "I don't mind. We underestimated those damned Bounts, it's our own fault."

Then as Renji was about to lift Izuru up by his left arm, to help carry him, but Hisagi stepped forward; "I'll help him, he saved me back there...it's the least I can do for him." he claimed, not allowing any room for debate.

Renji just nodded, and allowed Hisagi to help Kira to walk by draping his arm over his shoulder and gripping his wrist with his opposite hand. Once they were ready, they began walking through the cave once more; 'If they can help those two through the cave, they should be here much faster.' Toshiro thought, before closing his eyes, retreating into his own mind and ignoring everything else, but keeping his senses open so no one could sneak up on him.

Mabashi once again looked over to Toshiro as he continued to keep his eyes closed; "He's getting too comfortable being around us. We're the ones that will eventually kill him, yet he's just standing there as if waiting to have some damn tea!" he yelled out, clenching his fists once more and grinding his teeth.

Toshiro heard not only his shouting, but Renji and the others hollering, with some clashing of metal and a few crashes as well. But Toshiro continued to ignored it and keep his focus on his own task; 'Ishida _should_ be on his way by now. What is taking Nemu so long? I guess I'll just see for myself.' he thought, sensing every spirit energy within a five mile radius.

But instead of finding Nemu's, he found a faint hint of Yumichika's spirit energy; 'So, even Yumichika survived.' he thought to himself, then looked up at the screens once more and saw Ichigo and Renji standing a few yards from where Yumichika laid on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Toshiro looked away once more and sighed; 'Looks like Hisagi and Kira got left behind, but if they're already that far into the cave, then the Bount will probably be sending out a much more powerful attack against them. More then likely something similar to what he did for Yumichika. He'll probably go as far as to send out the true form of his Doll; Gesell.' he thought, closing his eyes once more and going back to sensing spirit energy.

Then he started hearing more crashes, clashes of metal, and even a sickening and very vial sounding roar. But he just kept ignoring it; 'It sounds like I was right. He sent out his grotesque Doll to fight them off. I don't want to sound like Yumichika, but that thing really is pretty ugly looking.' but then Toshiro finally found whom he was looking for and forgot that train of thought completely.

'There she is...Ishida should be on his way soon. Thanks Nemu.' he thought, opening his eyes and turning to the screen just in time to see Renji jump to a high rock and away from a large black and red humanoid-looking creature with no eyes or nose, but with a large, no lipped mouth.

"Bankai!" Renji called out, raising his sword up as it began glowing red, and instantly spiking his spirit energy to extremely high levels; "He knows Bankai? That red headed pineapple freak knows Bankai?" Soma yelled out in surprise.

"It appears so." Jin said calmly, glancing back at Toshiro with a raised brow, as if asking him if he knew about it; "He is a Lieutenant, it shouldn't be that surprising." the white haired captain said, pushing himself off the wall and walking over to the Bounts.

"Hihio Zabimaru!" Renji announced, holding his bankai's snake-like weapon in his hand, ready to attack at any moment.

Just then the large black and red Doll came forward with a punch, while Renji sent his Zabimaru hurling down at Gesell at the same moment. But just as their attacks were about to collide, Gesell's right arm transformed into an ax and swung it at one of Zabimaru's joints. But the attempt failed as the ax was unable to cut through it, Renji then explained how the joints were held together by his spirit energy; "That level of attack won't be able to shatter them!" he claimed proudly, with a light and somewhat smug smirk.

"I'll finish this in one hit!" Renji declared loudly and prepared to use his most powerful attack, but Gesell suddenly disappeared, leaving everyone bewildered; "What happened?" Renji asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"It seems that fighting your way is not in my best interest." Ugaki's voice echoed, just before three spears formed behind Renji, then sliced him deeply over his right shoulder.

The sudden attack caused Renji's eyes to widen as far as they could go, then fill the cave with a loud and echoing scream as he cried out in agony. It had also sent him flying across the ground, and even bouncing over the rocky terrain as he hit the earth hard, losing his grip on Zabimaru as he did. He finally came to a halt before two large rocks, which, to Renji's misfortune, the Dolls where casting shadows behind. A sword suddenly formed on the shadowed face of one of them, then an ax formed on the other, which both came at him at once, but in different directions. Though he was able to dodge the ax, the sword sliced his left arm, from his wrist all the way up to his shoulder.

The blow sent him tumbling back across the ground once more, and making him let loose yet another scream in pain the echoed loudly in the large cave. As he continued rolling, multiple large fists came hurling down at him from above, but he was able to get away from them as he helped his tumble by pushing himself farther with his hurt arms. Renji came to another stop just in front of a large shadow, which Gesell's head suddenly appeared from and tried to kill him with its large mouth, but Renji scrambled back to his feet, grabbed Zabimaru and readied himself. He looked on, completely out of breath as Gesell just vanished once again, leaving Renji to just bleed on himself and cringe in pain as he stood.

"Doesn't look like they'll be lasting much longer!" Mabashi claimed in arrogance, glancing once again at Toshiro, to which he just glanced at him with mild interest, then smirked lightly and looked back to the screen.

'There's no chance Abarai would be able to lose, even though Kurosaki and Yumichika are standing off to the side, he's more then powerful enough to beat this thin-' but then Mabashi walked up in front of him and glared down into his turquoise eyes; "Did you hear me? Your so-called 'friends', won't be making it out alive!" he yelled out, not only interrupting Toshiro's thoughts, but also blocking his view of the screen, which was all he was interested in at the moment.

'He is becoming quite annoying, I want to see how much progress Abarai has made over the years. He could be useful against the Arrancar.' Toshiro thought, but not showing any emotion as he focused his icy eyes on Mabashi.

"Now Mabashi, if you don't step away from him soon...well, let's just say you won't have anything to step in front of him with afterward." Jin said lightly, but his voice had hidden envy towards Toshiro.

But neither the white haired captain, nor the orange haired Bount moved a single inch, Mabashi challenging him into fighting him, while Toshiro was merely uninterested in doing so; "Make a move shortie." he commented mockingly.

Toshiro just continued staring at him, then raised an ice covered hand, making Mabashi prepare himself for an attack, but Toshiro's movement was too fast for anyone or anything to follow. He swiftly moved forward, brought his icy fingers to Mabashi's chest and then jerked his hand down to send a palm into his ribcage. The orange haired Bount didn't move for almost a full thirty seconds, during of which Toshiro walked around him, crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

As soon as thirty seconds passed, Mabashi dropped to the ground, completely unmoving as he lay there with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. Each of the other Bounts looked at Toshiro in surprise and slight fear, but then another Doll flew in to the cavern and up to Jin; "Kariya-sama, it seems that a Shinigami has appeared before the Quincy." Ugaki's voice claimed from it.

"She came?" Jin asked knowingly; "What should I do?" Ugaki asked through the Doll.

"The situation has changed. Ugaki, finish this off immediately." Jin said, but though his words sounded slightly encouraging, they seemed to hide a knowingness that it wouldn't be possible; "Understood." Ugaki responded, obviously not hearing the actual tone Jin was using.

Toshiro listened to the conversation and slightly frowned; 'So its a matter of how long it takes for Ishida to get here after all. And judging by how far he is, it should only take about sev-' but his thoughts were cut short as Mabashi suddenly screamed out in pain, which frightened everyone but Toshiro.

"Ahh! It hurts! Shit it hurts! Make it stop! Make it stop!" he yelled out as loud as he could, but though Jin was staring at Mabashi, he spoke to Toshiro; "You really do pack a punch. You hit him so hard that his body couldn't process the extreme pain till now...frightening, very frightening, Captain Hitsugaya." he said, with such a level of knowingness that it even shocked Toshiro slightly.

Then a loud screech interrupted Mabashi's screaming, which was already echoing throughout the cavern, but the screech caused everyone to look over to the screen in surprise; "What's going on? His Doll is going out of control." Ichinose said in slight astonishment, finally speaking up after a long time of staying silent and just keeping his eyes closed.

"Of course...what better way of eliminating him then to have his own partner do it for him?" Jin asked rhetorically, but then he looked over at Toshiro and smirked; "I got that one from a story I heard about you."

Each of the Bounts looked to the white haired captain in surprise, but Toshiro merely shrugged; "Well they were both supposed to die, so I just had them kill each other." he said in an icy and very emotionless voice.

His words froze the very air and made a chill ride up everyone's spins as they all looked away from him quickly, but Jin recovered first and called forth one of the bug-like Dolls; "Ugaki, well done" he began, once again regaining a rather smug tone.

""What did you say?" the other man demanded, sounding scared, even through the Dolls communicator; "Farewell." Jin finished with a smirk and then ended the transmission.

He then looked around at everyone and smirked to each of them; "It seems that we've lost our entertainment till they get here. Which should be within a few minutes." he claimed, looking around at everyone, but his eyes lingered on where Toshiro used to be.

"Leaving without even saying good-bye, how rude." he said, smirking in amusement as Mabashi finally recovered and stood himself up gasping; "I thought...I was...going...to die." he breathed out, clutching the place that Toshiro hit him like it would kill him to let go.

Jin just looked at him with amusement, walked up to the top of the two level platform and then gestured for the rest of them to come up with his hands, before placing them into his pockets. The other Bounts followed him up and placed themselves on either side of him, then Ichinose walked up and placed himself on Jin's right side as if to make it his own. They stared at the entrance of the cavern for a few moments, before a bunch of ruble and sand began falling in front of it.

Toshiro looked down at the Bounts and the Shinigami from his place near the ceiling of the cavern, he was in the shadows of a small tunnel that lead to an unknown location in the cave. He narrowed his eyes on them and looked over at the entrance as the ruble and sand cleared, revealing only one person standing there. Though he was facing away from him and frantically looking around, his orange hair made his identity very apparent; "So you're the lone survivor, eh?" Jin called out, disappointment in his voice, but held some smugness to it.

Ichigo turned around immediately, then began walking up to the Bounts and narrowed his eyes on Jin; "You bastard!" he claimed angrily.

"How many Bounts must you people kill before you are satisfied? What's more, our noble race is so few in number." Jin said calmly, making Ichigo stop and just stand there with his sword unsheathed; "What did you say?" he demanded, not sure why the white haired man was trying to make him feel guilty.

Jin just chuckled lightly, then began walking down the steps, the whole cavern turned suddenly silent, the only sound being the foot steps caused by his feet. Once he reached the bottom, he took a few more steps towards Ichigo then stopped; "I had wanted Gesell to be our last martyr." he claimed, a light but smug smirk forming on his face.

"What?" Ichigo asked, confused at what he was talking about; "Ah, well. It looks like we'll need more time before we are able to achieve our objective." but the moment Jin finished those words, Ichigo realized that he had been the one to kill the Bount that called himself; Ugaki.

"You bastard!" Ichigo yelled out again; "Don't tell me you destroyed that guy's hide out on purpose!" he declared, though already knowing the answer, he wanted to hear it from Jin's mouth.

"I wonder. That red haired Shinigami's attack was quite powerful after all, and the earth was already unstable. Either way, that wall would have fallen apart on its own." Jin claimed honestly, shrugging as if he did not care one way or another.

"What about that 'noble race' bullshit? You sacrificed your friend just to slow us down a little?" Ichigo demanded, becoming quite angry now; "That was not my intention. It's just that our plans have taken on a new urgency. We must now prepare to leave the World of the Living." Jin claimed, smirking slightly once more.

"Leave the World of the Living? Are you really planning to connect the World of the Living and the world of the Hollows?" Ichigo speculated, then stepped forward before continuing; "You bastards! Don't tell me your planning the same thing as Aizen!"

A moment of silenced stretched between them, during of which Toshiro shook his head and slightly rolls his eyes; 'You quite slow Kurosaki, its obvious that they are only using their ability to manipulate dimensions to create a Senkaimon to get them to Soul Society.' he thought in a light sigh.

But then Jin broke the silence and lightly smiled as he stared at the rather clueless teen; "I'll handle this. I want all of you to begin the preparations."

Then Koga nodded and began talking in German; "Andere welt anschliessende port, tauch' dich sofort auf." he continued saying this till a large door way began to appear behind them in a burst of white flames.

"'The portal which connects to another world, appear now', huh? Such a pathetic and old fashion way of summoning a Senkaimon." Toshiro commented silently to himself, almost sounding like Mayuri Kurotsuchi for a moment.

"That's..." Ichigo began, but didn't finish because he already knew what it was; "It's our Senkaimon." Jin claimed, smiling lightly at the orange haired teen looked at the gateway in shock.

"You mean...you've already gained the power to create one?" he asked, in surprise; "I have possessed the power for many years, Koga on the other hand, has just recently obtained the correct amount." Jin responded as if it were simple.

"I'll begin the ceremony." Ichinose claimed, looking over to Koga; "Please do so." he said, then looked to Ichigo with narrowed eyes.

"I knew I should have killed him with my own hands back then." Koga continued, causing Ichigo to become slightly wide eyed; "What?" he whispered to himself.

"Well, let's get started, shall we?" Jin suggested, sounding slightly bored; "I'm anxious to test my own power." he continued, leaning slightly forward to show that he was ready.

"Bring it on!" Ichigo claimed, readying his sword in front of him and narrowing his eyes; "I'll smash you and that gate to rumble!" he yelled out, then began running forward.

Jin just chuckled lightly, then as Ichigo swung his sword up, Jin easily blocked it with his right arm; "What?" Ichigo said in surprise.

"Idiot...he always rushes into fights blindly, never takes the time to examine his foe before hand." Toshiro muttered in annoyance, then sighed and rolled his eyes to the orange haired teen.

"Perhaps I should try being his teacher. At least he'd improve enough to beat Jin." he continued as said white haired man pushed Ichigo's sword to the side, then flicked him with a single finger, sending him flying across the cavern floor.

"Tch, it looks like he hasn't really improved much since the first time I met him." Toshiro claimed in a disappointed tone and a light shake of his head.

Ichigo rolled all the way across the ground till he hit the opposite wall with a loud crash, he laid there for a moment with blood beginning to pour down his face from his forehead. He slowly made his way to his knees and propped himself up with his zanpakuto; "What the hell? I know I hit him!" Ichigo said in surprise as his eyes widened.

He ground his teeth together as he tried to ignore his pain, while Jin just stood there with a wide smirk on his face the whole time; "Mabashi." Koga said, gaining the still injured man's attention.

"If you have time to be drunk on living souls, then you should watch this battle closely. This is the true essence of a Bount that has attained power." he continued, to which the other man smirked lightly and turned back to the fight.

Jin decided to take this time to attack, he ran forward just as Ichigo was getting to his feet, out of reflex, the orange haired teen tried to stab Jin before he got too close. But he just caught the blade with his right pointer finger and thumb, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen once more. Then Jin moved the blade out of the way and sent his left hand straight through Ichigo's stomach, causing blood to spurt from his wound and his mouth.

Ichigo looked up in slight horror at Jin's face as it went from a simple smirk to a rather psychotic expression, just as the man suddenly threw Ichigo into the air, he delivered a powerful kick to his face before he could even hit the ground. Ichigo was so dazed that he could no longer see or think straight, which caused him to lose his grip on his sword and dropping it just before he crash into the steps in front of the other smiling Bounts and single Shinigami.

Jin walked over to him with a rather disappointed expression, then placed his right foot on one of the steps, grabbed Ichigo by his hair and looked at him face to face with narrowed eyes; "Done already?" he asked, tossing him to the side, no longer finding any point in fighting such a weak opponent.

Toshiro stared down at the site and narrowed his eyes as well; 'If that's all you've got Kurosaki...then you shouldn't even bother getting up.' he thought coldly with a visible breath escaping him mouth.

* * *

Okay, there's chapter 44. The next chapter will have the conclusion of Ichigo's and Jin's fight, I hope you guys look forward to that. ;) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hit that awesome button below...I'm aiming to have 270 or higher before I update again. It might be wishful thinking, but I hope everyone will chip in and help me. I'd greatly appreciate it. Till next time. :D


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45:**

'If that's all you've got Kurosaki...then you shouldn't even bother getting up.' Toshiro thought coldly with narrowed eyes and a visible breath escaping his mouth.

Jin sighed lightly in disappointment as he looked over his shoulder at Ichigo's shaking body; "If that's all you have, then this isn't even close to being a test of my power." he claimed, hardening his eyes on the orange haired teen, whom was straining every part of his soul just to move an inch from the ground.

"What happened to your Bankai?" Jin continued, raising a brow to him, seeming actually inquisitive on the subject; "What?" Ichigo muttered out shakily as he began picking himself up, not sure if he should answer the question or not.

"I know all about you. You are the only one who can achieve Bankai in the Human World without restrictions in your power." Jin began, turning slightly to face the still struggling teen.

"That's why I said this would be a test of my power." he claimed with a sigh in his words, showing his high disappointment in how little strength he had used in the fight thus far.

Jin's words made Ichigo narrow his eyes and grind his teeth together in aggravation from his own weakness; "Damn it!" he cursed, clenching his fists.

"Tch, even Jin should know that Ichigo needs the help of all the reishi he can get to achieve Bankai. It's nothing short of a miracle that he was able to do it in the first place." Toshiro whispered to himself, rolling his eyes at the two below.

"Take your Zanpakuto!" Jin called out, then walking over to Ichigo and kicking him in the ribs, causing him to roll towards and over his sword.

Ichigo yelled out in pain, which echoed loudly through the cave and causing all the Bounts to smirk as their leader chuckled darkly at the orange haired teen's weakness. Ichigo trembled as he reached out toward Zangetsu, all the while breathing very course breaths and spurting blood for each one. As he reached for his sword, he cursed out loud many times over, for his vision was too blurred to even see it's white wrapping correctly.

Then Jin decided that he had enough of Ichigo and stepped on his other arm, causing him to scream in pain from the extreme pressure on his limb; "If you don't have your sword in your hand in five seconds, I'm just going to kill you." he said, looking down at the orange haired teen as if he were nothing but mud on his shoe.

Ichigo's eyes widened as far as they could go and a look of horror formed on his face, then stretched his free arm and just barely grazed the handle; "One." Jin said, beginning the count with a psychotic grin on his face.

He reached out father, but still did nothing but barely touch the sword; "Two." he continued counting, all the while, pressing down on Ichigo's arm harder and harder.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on the scene and clenched his icy hands together; "You better get it Kurosaki. Otherwise you can't call yourself Isshin's son." he whispered, but his tone showed his dislike for the whole situation.

Ichigo cried out, looking up at Jin with narrowed eyes, to which the man just smirked even wider and kept counting; "Three."

The orange haired teen ground his teeth together, turned back towards his sword and made yet another failing attempt to get Zangetsu; "Damn it!" he yelled out in frustration and pain.

"Four." Jin said, getting his fist ready to kill him, but the moment Ichigo heard that number, he lifted his legs up slightly and made a final push to his sword.

Jin smirked as he saw this, then noticed that Ichigo was now grasping his sword in his right hand, but he just readied his fist and said his last number; "Five."

He sent his fist hurling at Ichigo just the teen lifted Zangetsu up to block, but he was too slow and Jin's fist hit...an ice covered hand. The neither budged or cracked from the force, it just stayed there as if defying some law of nature; "Whatever happened to not getting involved?" Jin asked, slightly smugly as he looked into the turquoise eyes of Toshiro.

Ichigo's eyes widened and his jaw slacked at the site of the white haired captain's arrival; "Toshiro." he muttered in a surprised tone.

"Then you should learn to keep your word. He got his Zanpakuto in time, so give him the chance to fight once more." Toshiro said back, making his tone show his aggravation for the man and keeping his eyes narrowed on him.

Jin sighed lightly, retracted his hand and removed his foot from Ichigo's arm; "Very well then." he said with a nod, then raised a brow to Toshiro.

"So will you be staying out of this fight now?" he asked, in actual curiosity, to which Toshiro merely shrugged and turned away; "Maybe." was all he said before starting to walk away.

But then he stopped and began speaking once again; "Oh, and Kurosaki..." his words gained the teens attention quickly and respond with a questioning, "Yeah?"

Toshiro turned towards him with a hard stare, yet it differed from the emotionless one he gave to Jin and the other Bounts; "It's Captain Hitsugaya to you." he said, showing a slight smirk before vanishing as quickly as he had appeared.

Jin frowned slightly at the spot Toshiro was just at, then turned to Ichigo as he stood up to his feet with more confidence in himself now; "Let's go!" he called out, jumping at the white haired man with his sword ready.

Just as Ichigo's sword came forward, Jin lifted his hand to block it, but as the metal made contact with Jin's palm, his flesh parted and immediately made way for blood. His eyes widened in surprise as the sword buried deeper into his hand, then he narrowed his eyes, pulled his blood covered hand away and used his other hand to throw a punch at Ichigo. But he dodged out of the way, then readied another slash toward the white haired man and swung full force at him; "This is it!" he yelled out as if a battle cry.

Ichigo's sword came within a few inches of Jin's head before he suddenly vanished from sight, which caused the teens eyes to widen in shock and quickly look around. But he was too late, Jin slashed his bare hand across Ichigo's back, cutting him deeply, making him spin through the air with a trail for blood following him. The injured orange haired teen yelled out in pain as he shut his eyes tightly and hit the ground with a loud crash; "You may have had a slight power boost...but you are still too weak to defeat me." Jin claimed, with a quick look of disgust at his bleeding hand.

Ichigo slowly lifted his head off the ground, stared at Jin with narrowed eyes and shakily got to his feet once more; "I'm not going to give up!" he said, steadying himself on his feet with the help of his zanpakuto.

Jin merely raised a brow and shrugged off his words; "It's no use...you're going to die by my hand whether you decide to give up or not." he said, taking up his confident smirk once again.

"Damn it!" Ichigo muttered angrily, clenching fists and jaw together; "Well...it would be a pity for you to die ignorant. Shall I tell you the Bounts' true goal?" he said, sounding full of confidence and smugness.

"What?" Ichigo asked, becoming just as wide eyed as the rest of the Bounts in shock from what he was about to do; "Kariya-san!" Koga called out, hoping that he had merely heard him wrong.

Jin shrugged off everyone's shocked expressions and smiled a care free looking one; "Don't worry. I don't recall ever having hid our aims." he began, as if he were just explaining something very simple.

'Is he really going to tell him? Hmph, perhaps he's much more smug then I previously thought.' Toshiro thought, standing back to his original spot and narrowing his eyes on Jin as he continued.

"Tie together the Human World and the Hollow World? That is nothing more then the arbitrary interpretation of people like Yoshino and Soul Society. And to what ends would we do something like that?" Jin began, still sounding uncaring in his tone, which only confused Ichigo as he raised a brow.

But Jin's words had a different effect on Toshiro, they made him snort and shake his head; "Now that's insulting. Both Yoshino and I already knew what you were up to long before this." he said to himself, sounding slightly offended.

"The place we are headed for is not Hueco Mundo. It's Soul Society." Jin claimed, causing Ichigo's eyes to become wide and his other brow to join the other as his expression changed to shock; "Wh-Why?" he asked, not able to see why their destination would be to Soul Society.

"To seek revenge against Soul Society for having brought we Bounts to life." he finally finished, making the young teens eyes to widen even further as everything fell into place in his mind.

Toshiro simply rolled his eyes to this; 'Now he gets it...I'm not sure if he plays dumb like his father, or just forgot to use more of his decreasing brain cells.' he thought, crossing his arms across his chest.

But then he felt a familiar spirit energy close by and turned towards an entrance, led up to by as set of zig-zaging steps; "So Ishida's finally arrived. He should be heading straight here after meeting with the others. It shouldn't be long now."Toshiro said silently to himself, then turned back to the scene just as Jin confidently placed his hands in his pockets.

"But why?" Ichigo asked, wanting to know answers now, all but forgetting about his injuries; 'Good Ichigo, keep him talking till Ishida can come and get this over with.' Toshiro thought, looking between Ichigo and the entrance.

"Long ago, Soul Society conducted some experiments. Its not even clear of why they were doing so in the first place." Jin began, obliging with Ichigo's question.

"All that _is_ known is that in those days, they only thought of humans as research subjects. What we found in the records was the name of the person responsible for these mortal sins." he continued, sounding almost like some sort of instructor at the end of his statement, making Ichigo feel almost as if he were back in school, learning a new and interesting subject.

"But it all began because of their insanity. They had made some sort of mistake in their calculations and caused a great explosion, which gave birth to something brand new. A type of soul that was related to humans was let loose." he said, looking up to the ceiling and seeming lost in thought as he proceeded, to which Ichigo narrowed his eyes and take on an expression of understanding.

"These souls ended up scattered all over the World of the Living. They were the Bounts, born through normal human births yet none of us were even close to normal. At first, all of us worried about how we were different from other people. We spent days seeing to it that no one noticed it." then his tone lowered and eyes as if recalled something from his own past.

'Tch, like he's really saddened by any of that.' Toshiro and Ichigo thought in unison; "But, it was impossible for us to hide it. When we were on our own, we were treated as if we were demons or devils, forcing us to live in a world of darkness. And then Soul Society, which was aware of our existence, kindly reached their hands out to us." Jin's voice now filled with resent and slight hatred, narrowing his eyes as well before continuing.

"However, that was their plot. Without realizing this, a great number of us were trying to live together with the Shinigami. This cave is where a great deal of our brethren tried to hide in an attempt to escape persecution." he claimed, looking around the cavern with his eyes to further emphasize his words, but it only caused Ichigo to become wide eyed.

"They...but...how could they?" Ichigo whispered incoherently as Jin continued; "It's fairly big, isn't it? This was the only place where we could live. Now, only a few of us remain."

Now he and the other Bounts began showing a bit of sadness on their features, seeming quite saddened at his true words; "You understand, don't you? Those bastards used a dirty trick in order to erase us from history. But we will not let Soul Society do this, we will have an eternal future. When the day of the Bounts arrive, we will annihilate Soul Society." he declared, now changing his tone for one of pride and slight anger.

"Not likely." Toshiro and Ichigo muttered confidently, once again in unison, both thinking about the same thing as Jin narrowed his eyes on the orange haired teen with anger burning in his eyes.

Toshiro turned toward the entrance once more; 'He should be hear pretty soon. Then I can truly end this stupid charade.' he thought in a slightly impatient sigh.

"This is the truth." Jin finished, just before he suddenly appeared before Ichigo and effortlessly backhanded him across his face, which tossed Ichigo to fall to the ground.

Ichigo immediately began coughing the moment he hit the floor, but as he commenced in getting himself back to his feet, he started speaking once more in a confident tone; "I can't understand what Soul Society did to all to you."

"However...regardless of how rough you've had it. No excuse will even be enough for it to be okay for you to steal human's lives!" he declared, holding his sword out in front of him, standing fully to his feet and allowed a bright blue colored spirit energy to cover his body.

"Like I could forgive you! Getsuga Tensho!" he called out, sending out an extremely large wave of blue spirit energy hurling towards Jin, to which he just stepped out of they way.

"Idiot. That attack isn't fast enough yet to catch him off guard." Toshiro whispered silently; "So you still had that much power?" Jin said, not surprised in the least bit, which had left Ichigo in a state of shock.

"But, this is the end." Jin announced, before he once again appeared right in front of him, but instead of just hitting him with the back of his hand, he slashed him deeply across his chest.

Fortunately, Ichigo had instinctively jumped backward and saved himself of a fatal wound, but he has still suffered too much damage and slightly swayed as he readied his sword once more; "You son of a bitch!" he cursed.

But Jin just smirked at him; "It's pointless. You don't have enough power to defeat me." he claimed, just before Ichigo lept forward at him with his sword ready to swing.

'Your such a fool Kurosaki...even more so then your father.' Toshiro thought, just as Ichigo slashed his sword at the place where Jin was the split second before, which caused Ichigo's eyes to widen and for him to turn around before he was attacked.

But he was too late, Jin delivered a powerful knee into his stomach, causing him topple over in extreme pain as his eyes widened even further, blood to spurt from his open mouth to open to try to regain the breath he lost from the impact. Then, as he was about to fall down, Jin lifted his leg once more and sent a knee into the orange haired teens face, causing him to fly into the air with a trail of blood in his wake. He smacked into the ground face first, but just bounced right off and was about to land on his back, but Jin came forward with a side kick to his ribs and sent him rolling across the ground.

As he rolled, he lost his grip on Zangetsu once more, which bounced into the air and stabbed into the ground a few yards away from him, as he himself crashed into the side of the two story platform. Ichigo attempted to get himself back to his feet, but Jin stepped on his back and prevented him from moving.

"Living souls have increased my strength far more then anything you're capable of. We Bounts can become infinitely powerful. Just how great are those damned Shinigami from Soul Society now?" Jin demanded, his words full of anger as he and all of the other Bounts looked down at Ichigo with narrowed eyes and disgust on their faces.

"Soon they will kneel down before us!" he continued, still sounding angry but also slightly arrogant, yet regardless of his words, Ichigo still moved towards his sword to continue fighting.

'But at least he picked up your way of never giving up.' Toshiro thought with a slight smirk as he continued watching the fight, then when Ichigo stood himself up, began limping his way towards his sword and uttered its name he smirked further.

"Zangetsu? Is that the name of this Zanpakuto?" Jin asked, sounding slightly interested, but Ichigo just kept up his half walking, half limping regardless; "Shut up." he muttered out, which only made Jin smirk with intrigue.

Toshiro stared at him with narrowed eyes and slightly raised a brow; 'He's trying to make contact with his Zanpakuto. Hmm, he could end up achieving Bankai before even getting to Soul Society.' he thought with another slight smirk curling his lips.

But then he frowned as Jin came up, took Zangetsu from the ground and held it as if it were his own; "What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo demanded, not liking the idea of someone else having his sword.

"I've heard that for a Shinigami, a Zanpakuto is like a piece of their soul. This could be called your partner. How does getting killed by your partner sound?" Jin asked with a wide yet somewhat demented smile.

"You bastard!" Ichigo exclaimed angrily through his constricted throat; "I'll bury you with this blade." Jin said, widening his smile.

But then he frowned and wore an expression of confusion as Ichigo suddenly smiled, chuckled lightly and began hobbling forward once more; "Hey, Zangetsu...what do you think you're doing?" he asked, sounding and looking too calm for his situation.

Toshiro smirked wider, almost proudly; "What are you talking about?" Jin questioned, confused about the orange haired teens actions.

"Show yourself to me." Ichigo said, taking the blade of the sword in his hands; "Bastard, what are you doing?" Jin demanded, now becoming impatient at him.

"Zangetsu!" Ichigo exclaimed, then ran himself through with his sword, but instead of the sword piercing his body, it simply became a part of his body and then reformed itself in his hand.

This shocked not only Jin but the other Bounts as well, as they looked at their leader and saw that the blade was no longer in his hand but in Ichigo's; "How the hell did you do that?" he questioned angrily, slightly baring his teeth.

"Let's go! This is my resolve!" Ichigo called out, suddenly shrouding himself in blue spirit energy and having it erupt all around him; "Bankai!" he yelled as the sudden release of enormous spirit energy kicked up dirt and clouded everyone's view of him.

All of the Bounts watched in surprise at Ichigo's sudden rise in power, then narrowed their eyes to try and see him through the dust cloud. But when Jin couldn't see anything, he immediately jumped backward so he would not be caught off guard. As the dirt cleared and revealed Ichigo in his black Bankai, his eyes slightly widened; "Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo said, now narrowing his eyes on the white haired man.

"Did you say, Bankai?" Jin asked in surprise, not able to believe what had just happened, but he wasn't able to think any further because Ichigo shunpoed to his right and sent a lunging attack at him.

Jin was able to manipulate the air around him and slightly push Ichigo's attack away from him, while jumping a safe distance away for good measure. As Ichigo's attack hit and shattered the floor where Jin had been, Ichinose, whom had been busy with preparing the Senkaimon during this whole time, ran forward slightly and called out; "Kariya-sama!"

But Koga turned to him and shook his head; "Don't worry about him, Ichinose. You concentrate on controlling the Senkaimon. He'll be coming shortly." he said forcefully, not allowing any room for debate.

Ichinose looked up at the large man and bowed his head slightly; "Understood." was all he said before turning back to the Senkaimon.

"Stand up." Ichigo said to Jin, sounding very calm and collected instead of arrogant and prideful like Jin had been not moments ago, while ignoring the other Bounts conversation completely.

As Toshiro watched all this, his eyes suddenly became wide as he glanced behind him and narrowed his eyes after a moment; "Yoruichi...so you did come after all." he muttered, then turned back to the fight as a shadowed figure came walking up beside him.

"I hope you didn't wait too long." she said with a smile, then looked down at the proceeding fight with Toshiro, to which he shook his head and smirked lightly; "Not at all." he said.

Jin immediately stood up and jumped forward at Ichigo with a punch, but the orange haired teen just brought his sword up and easily blocked it. The shock wave of the attack uplifted the ground, seven feet in each direction of them, but neither seemed to pay any attention to it. Jin was shocked to see just how much more power this boy that couldn't even touch him had gained within a slit second. While Ichigo was just looking into Jin's eyes as if he were trying to figure out if he should finish the fight quickly or not; "Not bad Kurosaki, not bad at all." Toshiro whispered, smirking fairly wide, still in a rather proud way.

Yoruichi made a fake gasp at him and covered her mouth with her hand as if she were truly surprised; "You actually complimented someone on their fight? Is this the apocalypse? Am I dead? " she asked in a giggle.

Toshiro just sighed and rolled his eyes; "I do give credit when credits do. No, its not the apocalypse, and technically you're already dead." he claimed, not falling into her antics.

"Aww, no fun." Yoruichi pouted, but then smiled and turned back to the fight just as both Ichigo and Jin disappeared from sight.

Ichigo landed a few yards from the previous spot and looked around for the other combatant; "I can see through your moves." Ichigo muttered as Jin suddenly appeared behind him with another punch winded up.

Then as Jin went to punch him, he simply shunpoed a few yards behind him, just above a tall rock. But as Jin turned around and jumped toward him, Ichigo lept forward as well and prepared his sword at the same time Jin readied a fist. Once their attacks combined, a bright light of spirit energy shined around them and illuminated the cave completely.

After the light died down, both fighters disappeared from each others sight and prepared their next attacks. But Ichigo had finished first, shunpoed above Jin and swung his sword down. Though he had caught him by surprise, Jin had just enough time to leap into the air and counter Ichigo's attack by pushing both their bodies away from each other. As they passed one another by, they both turned around and swung another set of attacks towards each other. The collision created another shock wave that caused a large dust cloud to be kicked up and many of the crystals on the ceiling to fall.

Both fighters appeared back on the ground, then turned and faced on another; "You did good dodging that." Ichigo said, forming a smirk on his face.

Jin smirked back at him, show the cut on his cheek, which was starting to bleed; "It certainly seems to be what you say it is." he said, looking at the black sword, making it apparent that he was speaking about his Bankai.

"Let's finish this up now." Ichigo said, readying his sword off to the side of him and narrowing his eyes; "Very well." Jin said, running forward at the same time as Ichigo.

But then a blue arrow shot between them and hit the fallen crystals off to Ichigo's right and Jin's left, all but disintegrating the large shards as it hit; "What was that?" Ichigo asked in surprise as he looked toward the source of the arrow.

Though everyone was completely shocked at the sudden attack, Toshiro and Yoruichi smirked from their spot; "Its about time." he said, no longer caring about staying hidden, jumping down and landing on the other side of the blown up crystals with Yoruichi close behind.

The two looked up the steps of one of the other entrances and saw Uryu standing there in a white and blue outfit with a silver crossbow on the right arms wrist. Toshiro crossed his arms and nodded his head; 'Looks like he's begun the first step to regaining his power.' he thought, smirking lightly.

"Ishida!" Ichigo called out in surprise as he recognized the white outfit immediately, but then Chad, Orihime, Rukia and Rangiku came running up, with the mod-souls on their shoulders; "Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime exclaimed as they ran up next to Uryu.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Rukia asked as they came to a stop beside Uryu, then Ichigo called each of his friends names with a light smirk on his face, glad to know that each of them were alright.

"But, Ishida that outfit..."Ichigo began turning back to said Quincy, but with too much shock still hitting him that he never finished his sentence.

Uryu took it upon himself to go ahead and speak after noticing that the orange haired teen was not going to speak any further; "I can't be in the way forever." he said firmly.

"Have your Quincy powers returned?" Ichigo asked, now wanting to know the details; "They aren't completely back." he said with a slightly sad tone and a light smile.

But then he placed his hands out in front of him, gathered a blue energy between them and then extended his right arm, while pulling his left back. The blue energy stretched into an arrow, then he pointed it right at Jin; "Don't miss this time, Quincy." he claimed smugly, looking up at him with a smirk.

Uryu suddenly vanished from sight and reappeared behind Jin, still with the arrow pointed at him; "It's not like I missed you last time." Uryu claimed, keeping his eyes narrowed and focused on Jin.

Ichigo looked at him with shock and even uttered his name; "Hirenkyaku...it seems that you really have regained your power." Jin said over his shoulder then turning to face him, while looking at Uryu with a smirk.

He placed his hand on his hip, then turned toward his fellow Bounts and single Shinigami; "Ichinose, are the preparations just about done?" he asked in a neutral tone.

"Yes sir. Go ahead." Ichinose said as he retracted his hands from the Senkaimon and stepped to the side to allow Koga through.

To which Koga walked up to it and placed his hands out before him; "Mache sogleich das Tor fuer unsere Bounts auf!" he said, making a Bount symbol on the surface of the opening.

"Open at once the gate for our Bounts." Toshiro said, shaking his head; "Its still quite primitive." he claimed, rolling his eyes.

"Aww, don't be so mean. They're just a little 'behind the times'." Yoruichi said with a slight nudge to his ribs and a light chuckle.

But this conversation allowed everyone to finally realize that they were there; "Captain! What are you doing here?...And with Yoruichi-san." Rangiku called out in surprise, but much suggestion as she said Yoruichi's name.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Rukia said in shock, then bowed on her knee and lowered her head; "Don't worry about that Rukia." Toshiro said, looking back to Koga and what he was doing with the Senkaimon.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Ichigo exclaimed, stepping forward and readying his sword; "Don't move Kurosaki!" Uryu yelled out, stopping the orange haired teen immediately.

Then Koga place his hands before the large Bount symbol that now made up the entire opening as if it where a door. He pushed his hands apart, causing the symbol split in half, follow his hands and let out a gust of wind from it; "It opened up, Ishida!" Ichigo called, waiting for the glasses wearing teen to do something.

"No, it isn't open yet." Uryu said, narrowing his eyes, but continuing to point the arrow at Jin's chest; "Well, what are you going to do, Quincy?" Jin questioned, still with a smirk on his face.

Then Uryu turned and pointed the arrow toward the Senkaimon, while narrowing his eyes on it; "Its about that time, Ishida." Toshiro said, giving him a hard stare, to which he nodded.

Everyone else made their way down the steps, then as the mod-souls saw Uryu pointing the arrow at the gate, they began cheering him on in 'destroying the Senkaimon'. While Orihime and Chad stood by in silent support for the Quincy, Rukia and Rangiku were looking at him suspiciously because of the feeling that Uryu was giving off; "Something isn't right." the strawberry blonde whispered silently as she kept her eyes narrowed on him.

Yoruichi turned and looked at her, then smiled widely; "I can see why he likes you so much...and made you his second in command." she muttered to herself, continuing her smile.

Toshiro walked forward, next to Ishida and crossed his arms across his chest; "Now that Kurosaki has reachieved Bankai, I don't really need them in Soul Society. But if you still think its best..." he said quietly enough so only he could hear, allowing his statement to hang, as to let Uryu make the choice.

"Ishida, what are you doing?" Ichigo asked, looking from him to Toshiro with a raised brow; "Sorry Kurosaki...Captain Hitsugaya. Please allow me to do as I like." he said, narrowing his eyes further, then shooting the arrow into the opening of the Senkaimon.

* * *

Okay, that's the end of this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed. ;) And I have a big favor to ask of everyone that reads this story, can you all leave a review? Even if its just a few words, I don't care I would just like to see how many people in total actually read this story. I hope you all leave a review. :)


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46:**

"Ishida, what are you doing?" Ichigo asked, looking from him to Toshiro with a raised brow; "Sorry Kurosaki...Captain Hitsugaya. Please allow me to do as I like." he said, narrowing his eyes further, then shooting the arrow into the opening of the Senkaimon.

The moment the arrow entered the opening the gust of wind immediately seized, the opening suddenly began glowing a bright brilliant blue and all the Bounts smiled widely as they watched. Jin then turned from the Senkaimon to Uryu and smiled even wider then before; "I thank you, Quincy. Now we can finally go." he said in an actual thankful tone.

Ichigo and his friends became wide eyed from surprise of the white haired man's words; "W-What are you saying?" Ichigo asked, confused about what just happened.

Toshiro looked back at Ichigo with a raised brow, as if he should have figured it out by now; "He means that the path to Soul Society has just opened." Toshiro answered, sounding almost emotionless as he spoke and looked back to Jin.

"What?" Ichigo demanded in shock; "That was the reason why they needed a Quincy's power, so they could pass through the Senkaimon and have their bodies transformed into spirit particles." Yoruichi stated, walking up next to Toshiro.

"Because we Quincy have the ability to manipulate spirit particles, it's the only way for them to get to Soul Society. That Kojaku arrow I shot transformed the Senkaimon into a Spirit Particle Transforming Gate as well, which will turn them into souls." Uryu explained, causing Toshiro and Yoruichi to nod knowingly, while making Ichigo and the others to become fairly wide eyed.

"So you knew about it after all, Quincy." Jin said, walking in front of them, then turning to face Uryu with an even wider smile on his face; "Yeah, the Shinigami who gave me these Quincy powers told me all about it." the glasses wearing teen claimed, keeping his eyes narrowed on Jin.

Just then, Ichigo came forward, grabbed Uryu roughly by the shoulder and turned him around to face him; "Why the hell are you helping them?" he demanded angrily.

Jin opened his mouth to speak, but Toshiro silenced him and everyone else by raising a finger; "I think Ishida should explain that." he said, turning to said teen.

Uryu nodded then looked over to Jin with narrowed eyes; "I only did this so I can kill him." he said simply, causing Jin and the other Bounts' eyes to become wide, and for Ichigo to release him at last.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and smirked darkly at Jin as he said his next words; "What? Not going according to plan? Did you really think he was just going to join you after what you've done? What you've put him through?" as he finished his expression became very icy, which sent chills down Jin's spine and made Uryu to to become wide eyed at how truthful his words were.

Jin stared into Toshiro's eyes in fear as his body began to feel numb and his limbs started to tremble slightly; "Kariya-sama!" Ichinose called out, turning away from the Senkaimon as it began glowing a yellow color.

The white haired man closed his eyes and shook his head as if he were breaking free of some sort of hypnotism; "It's been a pleasure...but its time for us to go." Jin claimed, opening his eyes once more, then vanishing from sight and reappearing next to the rest of the Bounts before the Senkaimon.

A sudden pillar of yellow light erupted around them; "Quincy, Shinigami and...Hitsugaya, come after me if you can. I'll be waiting for you on the other side." Jin said, looking at Uryu for the first title, then to Ichigo for the second and Toshiro for the last.

Then the Senkaimon glowed even brighter and then it suddenly stopped and returned to normal, but the Bounts and the single Shinigami had disappeared. Everyone began running over to them as Ichigo looked to Uryu with a distrustful look; "Don't worry Kurosaki...he didn't do anything wrong. In fact, this will probably work in our favor." Toshiro said, glancing back at the orange haired teen with a hard stare, showing that he was telling the truth.

Ichigo looked to Toshiro and nodded lightly; "Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime called out as she continued running toward them.

"Now all we need to do is get to Soul Society." Yoruichi said with a wink to Toshiro as the other finally reached them; "Yeah." the white haired captain agreed, looking to her in a nod.

"Caaaaptaaaaaiiiin!" Rangiku called out, running up to him, wrapping her arms around his head and shoving his face into her chest; "You saved me! Thank you soooo much!" she all but sang out.

While Toshiro growled in slight annoyance, Yoruichi and Rangiku giggled lightly, Rukia became wide eyed and even slightly blushed, and the others just stared at them with a shocked expression. Rangiku released him, smiled and winked; "Hey!" a sudden voice called out from behind them, causing everyone to turn and look.

The figures of Izuru, Hisagi, Renji and Yumichika came into view, with the blonde helping the tattooed man walk; "Renji! Are you alright?" Rukia called out in concern.

"Of course! Don't go thinking I'm dead!" Renji claimed proudly, but his beaten and ragged appearance did not fit his words well; "What happened to the Bounts?" Izuru asked, looking around as if trying to find one still there.

"They got away." Yoruichi said simply in a light shrug, then looked over at everyone's disappointed expressions, causing her to chuckle lightly.

"We all failed? This isn't very beautiful at all." Yumichika muttered in an ashamed tone, while biting his thumb nail in his own disappointment.

"Damn it!" Renji growled out in anger, to which everyone else looked down and narrowed their eyes on the ground before them.

"Just repay Kariya in Soul Society. Let's go." Yoruichi announced with a light smile, then crossed her arms under her chest and looked over at Toshiro.

"But how? Sado-kun and I-" Orihime began but Toshiro stopped her when he lifted his icy hand; "Don't worry Orihime, the Senkaimon the Bounts left behind will transform you into souls." he said, pointing to it with an icy claw like finger.

"True. We just need to adjust it a little and we can go on through." Yoruichi agreed; "I see." the long haired teen said in realization.

"I've already arranged for Soifon to have the Senkaimon ready for you on the other side." Toshiro claimed, then looked over to the small plushy form of Ririn on Rangiku's shoulder.

"I want you and the other Mod-souls to come with us, we don't have any way to detect the Bounts so we'll have to rely on your sensors." he continued, in a tone that wouldn't allow any argument.

Ririn nodded and gave him a thumbs up with the sleeve of her blue outfit; "You can count on us! Right guys?" she called out, making the other Mod-souls nod in agreement.

"Alright...let's go to Soul Society!" Ichigo announced, turning around and facing the Senkaimon with a determined look on his face; "See you guys there." Toshiro said as he just suddenly shattered into thousands of ice shards that dissolved in the air.

This caused everyone's eyes to widen in shock even Yoruichi's and Rangiku's; "An ice clone? But if that was a clone...then where is the real Captain Hitsugaya?" Rukia asked, still not over the shock.

There was a few moments of silence as everyone thought about the question, but Yoruichi spoke up suddenly; "Where ever he is, he's doing something very important. So let's get a move on." she looked up with a thoughtful smile at first, then looked back at everyone and nodding to them.

They each looked at one another, nodded in agreement and walked through the Senkaimon. And though she had said it, Yoruichi was the only one that was questioning her words; 'I just hope he's alright.' she thought, walking with the others into the gate.

-First Division-

"I shall now begin our special meeting." the Head Captain spoke, his old but demanding voice echoing in the large meeting area.

"I have verified that ryoka have snuck inside Soul Society." he continued, glancing at each of the captains lined up before him.

They were all in one line before him, leading in the same order that they arrived in from left to right, Soifon stood on his far left, showing no emotion at all. Ukitake was next to her with his normal interested, yet concerned expression. Kyoraku's viewpoint was beside him, showing the complete opposite of his friend but hiding some interest behind his straw hat.

Komamura was parallel to him while showing barely any emotion with his muzzle. Adjacent to him was Byakuya with his statue-like emotionless expression. Beside him was Unohana and her gentle yet somewhat strict look on her face. Toshiro stood next to her with a similar expression to Byakuya's, the only difference being, his eyes were closed.

Kenpachi's spot was beside him, just standing there and staring at the older man with little interest of what he was saying, but listening all the same. Mayuri was parallel to him, while sighing, crossing his arms and tapping his pointer finger in annoyance.

"Therefore, each squad will follow the 'Number Two' emergency formation. In view of the gravity of the situation, Tenth Division Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya will be in charge of capturing the ryoka." he called out, to which Toshiro nodded, but still not opening his eyes.

"The information from the Research and Development must be relayed to each squad, I assume you already know it." the Head Captain said knowingly.

Toshiro finally opened his turquoise eyes and looked at the elder man with his permanent icy stare; "Yes, Head Captain." he said simply.

The Head Captain nodded to him and continued on with his stern voice; "And lastly, the most important part; kill any and all ryoka in Soul Society!"

Each of the captains nodded in response; "This meeting is dismissed!" he declared, slamming his staff down to the floor boards loudly.

Toshiro immediately shunpoed out of the room, but he was followed closely by Soifon; "Order the Onmitsukido to stand down for now. The normal squads will handle this." he said as they landed outside the First and continued on their way.

"Yes sir!" she responded humbly, then shunpoed off in her own direction; 'Now I just need to inform my squad of the situation, then meet up with Rangiku.' he thought shunpoing faster, reaching the Tenth Division within seconds.

He halted at the large double doors, sighed for a moment, then pushed them open easily; "Division meeting! Now!" he called out, causing every Shinigami within ear shot to yell the same words as to pass the message on.

Within moments, all of the members of his division, save for his lieutenant, were kneeling before him awaiting further orders; "The Bounts have broken into Soul Society. Our job is to eliminate them as a threat. But if you encounter one on your own, do not engage! Request for assistance and attack as a group! Does everyone understand?" he called out, looking around at each of the Shinigami.

"Sir!" they all called out from their knees, to which Toshiro nodded in acceptance; "Very well. Dismissed!" he announced, waving and ice covered hand at them.

Every member suddenly disappeared in shunpoes, leaving Toshiro almost all alone in the entire division; "Have you informed them?" he asked, seeming to no one.

Then Soifon appeared right beside him on her knee; "Yes sir! The Onmitsukido are standing down as you ordered." she said in her humble tone, still bowing her head to him.

Toshiro nodded, briefly closed his eyes and sighed; "Good. It's about time for this to start...send out your Lieutenant and a dozen or so squad members to go out searching for them. We'll need to know just how much more powerful being in Soul Society has made them." he said, glancing off to his left and narrowing his eyes.

"Yes sir!" Soifon called out, then Toshiro nodded to her and continued; "I'm going to meet up with Rangiku over by Rukongai, then we're going to go to Kukaku Shiba's mansion. Meet us over there when you've finished your preparations." he said, with a hard stare at her.

"Yes sir!" Soifon said knowingly in another bow, then disappeared in a shunpo, making Toshiro sigh lightly with a small smirk on his face and then vanish as well.

-West Rukongai, Junrinan District-

Toshiro appeared a few yards from where his squad was providing medical support to the injured members of the Second and Seventh Divisions; "What have you discovered?" he asked one of the female Shinigami from his squad.

"We discovered that there were two Bounts that were here; one was a large dark skinned man with orange and red hair. While the other had white hair and a scar on his chin, but only one of them fought, and he used some sort of metal creature to defeat them." she explained as quickly as possible and bowing at the waist as she began.

Toshiro nodded to her, looked around the vicinity, noticing the shattered part of the wall to his left first, and all of the injured Shinigami laying around him next. Then finally narrowing his eyes at Lieutenant Iba as he was carried out of the wall's ruble; "Take each of them to the Fourth, Lieutenant Matsumoto and I will continue on with the investigation." he said, glancing over his shoulder just as said strawberry blonde appeared behind him.

"Yes sir!" the female Shinigami called out, then bowed lower and started running around to the squad members and yelling out orders.

"You know Captain...one of these days I'm gonna miss your cue for me to arrive." Rangiku said, in a wink to him, to which he just lightly rolled his eyes and lightly smirked; "I don't have 'cue's' for anyone." he stated simply.

Rangiku smiled and let out a light giggle; "Yeah yeah, sure ya don't." she said, giving him a light nudge in his ribs with her elbow.

Toshiro sighed to her and looked down the road before them; "Let's go. We better meet up with Kukaku...I'll explain my plan when we get to her mansion." he said, starting on his way down the street.

The strawberry blonde looked at him with slightly wide eyes, then smiled and followed right behind him; "It's about time...I've been wanting to hear it since everything began." she claimed, placing her hands behind her back and holding her left wrist in her right hand.

"Hmph." Toshiro uttered out with an amused smirk on his face, then they both vanished in shunpoes.

-The most recent Shiba Estate-

"It's about time you came and seen me again!" Kukaku exclaimed as Toshiro and Rangiku followed her through her house; "Sorry Kukaku. But it's better then the last time, I didn't see you for thirty years." the white haired captain said, crossing his arms as they walked.

"Hmm, I suppose you're right on that. But I'd like to see you more often you know." she said, looking back at him with a wide smile, to which Toshiro lightly smirked back at her.

"So...have they come here yet?" Toshiro asked, knowing that she would know he was speaking about Ichigo and his group, but mostly implying Yoruichi.

"No, not yet. I'm sure that they've realized that I don't live in the same place anymore and are heading over here soon." she said in a shrug and smirk.

Toshiro nodded and looked over at Rangiku as she placed her hands on her hips and closed her eyes; "I wonder how long it'll take for them to get here." the strawberry blonde muttered to herself.

"Not sure...but I'm sure it'll be soon. The sun is setting after all." Kukaku claimed, glancing over and up at the ceiling as if looking at where the sun would be.

Toshiro and Rangiku nodded to her words, then they walked through one of the open doors and into an empty room, save for the tables and paintings within it. They sat themselves down around one of the tables and merely waited for Yoruichi and the other to arrive; "Gosh...it's taking a bit longer then I thought it would." Rangiku muttered out in a sigh.

Kukaku chuckled lightly then looked to the door they came through; "Hey! Go grab us some tea!" she called out, seemingly to no one.

Then the twins Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko popped their heads out from either side of the door and called out a; "Yes Ma'am!" then they ran off in the same direction to follow their master's order.

A few moments later, the two came back and handed the three a cup of steaming green tea; "Thank you." Kukaku muttered, blew some of the steam from her tea and sipped it carefully.

Toshiro and Rangiku did the same then let out a sigh in unison, which caused Kukaku raise a brow; "Wow, you two have spent too much time together." she said in a light giggle.

The two partners blinked a few times at her, then looked at one another and finally smirked lightly and chuckled silently to themselves; "Yep...far too much time." Kukaku continued, laughing slightly now.

As her laughter died down, they heard a creaking on the floor boards, causing each of them to look to the door. What they saw made each of them raise a brow, Ganju was attempting to creep by the door unnoticed, but he wasn't doing a good job of it. Kukaku smiled widely, got up from her spot on the floor and started walking over to him; "So...what did you do to help out during your mission to the World of the Living?" she asked, sounding a bit too nice at the moment.

"I...um..well, you see..." Ganju started, gulping down hard in nervousness, shifting his weight from one leg to another and avoiding her stare at all costs.

"Actually he did help defeat a pair of Bounts that used water manipulation as a weapon." Toshiro said, sipping on his tea, but not looking over at them.

Kukaku nodded in acceptance, but then turned back around quickly as Yoruichi suddenly spoke up from no where; "But then he got a job at a convenient store and forgot about his mission completely."

Yoruichi then pushed him in the room and before Kukaku, causing Ganju to freeze immediately and gulp down once more. Then looked back at the tan woman with resent as Ichigo and his friends walked up behind her; "Is that so?" Kukaku asked in a calm tone, a far too calm tone for her brother's liking.

"If that's the case..." she began, but then she walked up to him, placed her left leg behind his right, pushed him over with her real arm, then placed her right foot on his face.

"It hurts! That hurts!" he cried out, just laying there allowing her to stomp on his face, knowing that if he struggles, she'll make it even worse for him.

"So you just decided to forget your mission, after I took the time of dispatching you to help?" Kukaku demanded angrily, stepping down from his face, bringing him up to her face and continued screaming at him.

"Why in the hell were you working at a convenient store in the first place?" she yelled out in a growl, but as she did, Yoruichi walked over to Toshiro and Rangiku, then sat herself down next to her white haired friend.

During of which, Ichigo and his group just stared at the two siblings from the doorway with a sweat drop and a slightly nervous expression on their faces. Everyone continued watching them even as Kukaku threw her brother into a wall; "You're having too much fun." Toshiro muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Yoruichi and even Rangiku just giggled lightly, then shrugged to him; "I can't help it...with all this seriousness around us, I gotta make some entertainment for us." Yoruichi claimed with a wide smile.

* * *

Sorry this took so long, my birthday was on the 11th and I was doing quite a lot. XD I'll try to make another update on time for next week so I hope you enjoy this and the next one...and the one after that, and the one after that. XD I hope to see everyone review again, I love reviews. Funny reviews, serious reviews, long reviews, short reviews, anonymous reviews, and even random reviews. XD ;)


	47. Chapter 47

Before I begin, I want to thank Tuliharja again for all her help, she is after all, one of the main reasons why this story is so good. ;D So thanks again Tuli-chan. :)

* * *

**Chapter 47:**

As Kukaku finished beating up her brother, Ichigo and his friends finally walked into the room and over to where Toshiro, Yoruichi and Rangiku were sitting. The tan skinned woman chuckled at her one armed friend's actions and then sighed lightly as if in relief of something; "You never change, do you?" she said with a wide smile.

Kukaku glanced over at Yoruichi out of the corner of her eye; "Sorry he was so useless." she said, mostly relaying her annoyance to her brother then anything else.

"Hey Kukaku-san? How do you know about convenient stores?" Ichigo asked suddenly, not thinking anything through before the words left his lips.

A split second later, before the orange haired teen could even react, Kukaku was standing right in front of him with a scowl on her face; "Is there something wrong with that?" she demanded.

Ichigo sweat dropped and look at her with a nervous smile; "N-No...nothing at all." he stuttered out, gulping down as he did.

"You were making fun of me right then were you?" she demanded in a growl, narrowing her eyes on him.

Kukaku then grabbed the front of Ichigo's Shinigami uniform and brought him up on the tips of his toes; "I'm in a bad mood right now! So you'd do well to just keep that mouth of yours shut!"

As she finished yelling, she threw Ichigo into the wall a few feet from the place she had done the same to Ganju; "Ichigo, don't say unnecessary things like that!" the other Shiba whispered to the teen as he slid down from the wall to the ground.

"What did I say?" Ichigo demanded, sitting himself up and looking at Ganju eye to eye, but then Kukaku stepped toward them and raised a fist.

"I'll pound the guts out of the both of you!" she claimed, making the two on the ground look at her in fright, get themselves off the floor and start running away from her.

But just as Kukaku was about to give chase, Toshiro cleared his throat somewhat loudly, causing her to look back at him and the two running men to stop in their tracks. The white haired captain looked around at each of the people, then tapped an icy claw on the table, making everyone that wasn't sitting immediately do so. He glanced at all of them once more before letting out a sigh and looking over at Yoruichi to begin, to which she nodded and turned to stare directly at Kukaku.

"The Bount leader, Kariya, said that he is out for revenge against Soul Society. Though we don't know how the Bounts plan to seek revenge, I'm sure that they've realized by now that getting through the barrier and into the Seireitei isn't going to be very easy." Yoruichi explained, narrowing her eyes on her friend as if they were having another conversation with just their eyes.

"So you want to keep track of their movements and try to figure out what they're thinking?" Kukaku asked, but then glanced over at Toshiro; "Or has he already figured that part out?" she continued, keeping her stare on her white haired friend.

Toshiro stared right back at her and nodded; "Yeah, Kariya plans to gain power from the Original Bount Crest and destroy Soul Society with it. But that's not what I want you to worry about." Toshiro started, causing everyone's eyes to become wide at the beginning of his explanation, then to narrow at the end.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Kukaku asked with a slightly raised brow, to which Toshiro gave her a slightly hard stare.

"I need you to track down Ran'Tao for me." he said simply yet coldly, making Kukaku nod automatically to him.

Just as Toshiro was about to speak again, Ichigo suddenly spoke up in a slightly annoyed tone; "Hold on a second! What the hell is the 'Original Bount Crest'? And who is this 'Ran'Tao'?"

Yoruichi, Toshiro and Kukaku all sighed in unison then Yoruichi decided to take the lead in explaining everything to him and his friends, whom had remained quiet through all of this; "The Original Bount Crest is basically an amplifier. It can increase a Bounts power exponentially, but no one is quite sure by how much." she began with a light shrug at the end.

Ichigo, his friends, and even Rangiku were all wide eyed as they listened to her explanation; "And to answer your other question, Ran'Tao is the creator of the Bounts...and before you ask, yes she's still alive." Yoruichi finished, looking at each of them around her to judge their reactions.

Ganju, Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime and the mod souls were all wide eyed since the beginning, while Chad, Uryu and Rangiku each had thoughtful expressions. Toshiro, Kukaku and Yoruichi were just staring around at the others with a raised brow and waiting for someone to say something.

But when no one showed any sign of saying anything, Toshiro decided to just continue on; "And that's why I need to talk to her, she has the most information on the Bounts then anyone. She'll be able to give us the information we need to counteract Kariya when he gains power from the crest."

The entire time he spoke, he looked directly at Ichigo, as if telling him that each time he referred to himself or everyone, it would only be him. Ichigo just stared back at Toshiro with a confused expression at first, but then it changed to one of understanding, to which the white haired captain nodded approvingly; "Alright. Kukaku, can you let them stay here with you for the time being?" he asked, turning back to his raven haired friend once more.

Kukaku smiled and nodded her head once more; "You got it! Koganehiko! Shiroganehiko! Are we okay on food?" she called out, to which one of the doors slid open and revealed the two large twins.

"With unprecedented devotion," Koganehiko started, raising one of his hands in a salute; "We can serve up to thirty people!" Shiroganehiko finished, saluting in the same fashion as his brother.

"Alright then! Lets eat! You two made the preparations correct?" she called out to them, to which they nodded strongly and spoke in unison; "Yes ma'am! Follow us to the dinning room!" then they walked down the hallway slowly.

Just as everyone began standing from their place on the floor and head to the door, Soifon suddenly appeared in a shunpo; "I'm sorry for my lateness Captain Hitsugaya!" she claimed loudly, instantly kneeling down as she came up to Toshiro.

"Forgive me sir! I beg for your forgiveness!" she continued, almost sounding like she was on the verge of crying.

Toshiro gave her a sympathetic look and sighed lightly; "Don't worry about it Soifon, I can just fill you in as we eat." he said, taking a glance a Kukaku, to which she smirked and nodded to him.

Soifon looked up at him with large eyes, but instead of from shock, it was from admiration; "Thank you Captain Hitsugaya." she said, as her eyes reflected sparks of respect and something else for him.

"Well...let's go ahead and eat." Yoruichi suggested with a light smile to everyone; "Y-Yes Yoruichi-sama!" Soifon spoke up first.

The raven haired woman looked up at Toshiro, as if asking permission to stand back up, to which the white haired captain nodded. Soifon immediately stood up and followed everyone as they began walking down the hallway to the dinning room. On their way, Yoruichi walked up next to Toshiro and spoke to him in a whisper; "Why don't you stay with us here? At least for a day or two."

Toshiro looked over at his long time friend and shook his head; "Sorry Yoruichi...but there is still some work to be done in my division." he stated with a light shrug.

Yoruichi raised a brow to him, then just as she was about to say something to convince him to change his mind, Rangiku walked up on the other side of Toshiro and gave him a pouting expression; "Aww, come on Captain! Can't we have at least a small break from all that work?"

"Yeah Toshiro! You need to relax! You're always so damn tense!" Kukaku claimed, joining in with the other two women, causing Toshiro to just roll his eyes to them.

"Come on Toshiro...please?" Yoruichi pleaded, sticking out her bottom lip to further emphasize her pout, with Rangiku and Kukaku joining in soon after.

Toshiro looked between each of the woman, sighed, then glanced over at Soifon; "How are each of the divisions doing on their paperwork?" he questioned, to which the petite woman kneeled before him and bowed her head.

"They are both caught up in all their paperwork and so is the Onmitsukido! Sir!" she announced, respect and humility flowing from her words and tone.

Immediately after she spoke, the three other woman smiled deviously, then Rangiku and Kukaku grabbed both of his icy hands in theirs, while Yoruichi wrapped her arms around his ice covered neck. Toshiro was slightly stunned by their actions and was slow to respond to them; "What the-?" he started, but was immediately silenced as they began dragging him down the hall quickly.

"Come on Captain! It's about time for our mini-vacation!" Rangiku claimed, a wide smile spread across her face and a light giggle vibrating from her throat.

"That's right! Plus you'll be in the company of three..well, four beautiful woman! So don't complain!" Kukaku declared, glancing back at Soifon with a wink, whom began following as they dragged her self-proclaimed commander away.

"Exactly! Six even! If you want to include Orihime and Rukia!" Yoruichi said, looking back at said blushing girls with a wide yet devious smile.

Toshiro ignored all of this and just allowed his three best friends to drag him away, with his self-proclaimed subordinate following close behind. All the while, Ichigo and his friends witnessed all of this and decided to slow their pace and just keep watching the five friends interact with one another. But it was Ichigo himself that spoke up first; "They're such an odd group, but I am starting to wonder...how he could have gotten so many girl friends?" he asked, mostly to himself.

But the others heard him as well and they all, except Orihime who just blushed deeply, rolled their eyes to him. Then Rukia took it to another level and smacked him in the back of his head; "Ooowww! What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing the back of his head and gave the raven haired girl an accusing glare.

"Show some respect to Captain Hitsugaya, he is a captain after all." Rukia claimed in a respectful tone, as if she where speaking to Toshiro himself, all the while glaring right back at her orange haired friend in a demanding way.

"Tch, looks like you've already joined them." Ichigo whispered to himself, with a glance over at the four woman as they dragged Toshiro through a doorway.

At first, Rukia blushed deeply at his words, then she became even redder, only with anger this time and finally clenched her fist and punched Ichigo in his chin. The orange haired teen fell backward on the floor with a loud thump, causing Yoruichi, Rangiku, Kukaku, Soifon and even Toshiro to look back out of the door way and raise a brow to the commotion. Orihime quickly kneeled down to her friend; "Kurosaki-kun! Are you okay?" she asked frantically.

"Yeah...I'll have some sweet red bean paste with that please." Ichigo said, as if ordering from a restaurant, only he sounded rather delirious.

"What an odd group." Rangiku claimed, raising her brow higher then shrugging lightly; "But I guess they probably think the same about us." she continued with a light giggle.

The other four nodded their heads lightly and walked back into the dinning room; "Oh well. I'm not gonna wait for them! Let's eat!" Kukaku announced with a wide smile and a thumbs up.

Each of them shrugged and nodded in agreement; "I suppose one day off can't hurt." Toshiro muttered silently with a light smirk curving his lips.

-Two days later-

Everyone stood outside the Shiba manor in a large group, ready to break up at any moment; "Well, we better get going now." Toshiro said in a light sigh and already starting to walk away.

"See you later Kukaku." he continued, waving an ice covered hand to her as he kept walking.

"It better be sooner then later Toshiro!" the one armed woman called back, still smiling widely and waving right back at him.

Yoruichi, Rangiku, Soifon and Rukia all waved their goodbyes and began running toward the white haired captain to catch up; "Wait for us Toshiro!" Yoruichi called out.

"How did you manage to keep me here this long?" Toshiro growled out as they began walking beside him, the annoyance in his tone spreading in the air like a thick smoke.

Yoruichi and Rangiku giggled lightly and smiled to each other; "Through our amazing powers of persuasion." Yoruichi claimed, winking to Toshiro giving him a light nudge in his shoulder.

Ichigo and his friends all stood by and once again just watched and listening to them 'interact' with each other; "I still don't know how anyone has such an odd friendship like this." Ichigo claimed, crossing his arms and sighing deeply.

But moments later, they all scattered in their own direction, leaving nothing but a small dust cloud as they went. Toshiro raised his brow as he looked over his shoulder at the places that the teens were in seconds ago, then as he turned back around, he suddenly stopped and looked at Rukia; "You're coming with us?"

"Yes. I need to rejoin with my squad, Ichigo and the others will be fine without me...they have the mod-souls with them to track the Bounts." she responded with a light smile.

Toshiro nodded to her in acceptance and continued walking; "Once you've checked in with Ukitake, come to my division...we are going to resume our training. It will help you in the fight against the Bounts." he said, not even bothering to look back at her this time.

Rukia smiled in excitement and anticipation, then nodded her head happily; "Yes sir!" she said, her tone sounding rather giddy.

Yoruichi and Rangiku chuckled lightly but didn't say anything, they all just kept walking till they reached the Junrinan District of Rukongai; "Excuse me Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Soifon, Lieutenant Matsumoto, Yoruichi-sama. I will be taking my leave now." Rukia said humbly, then bowed to each person she called to.

Toshiro nodded to her as she took one last bow to them and then ran off down one of the intersecting roads; "Are you sure she'll be alright on her own?" Rangiku asked, looking Rukia's way with a worried expression.

"Don't worry...I know she'll be alright." Toshiro responded confidently, taking a quick glance at the small raven haired girl running down the street.

Though Rangiku wanted to question him, she just remained silent and continued to follow her captain as they walked through the Western Gate; "Make sure you keep her safe." Toshiro said suddenly as they passed Ikkanzaka the gate keeper.

Yoruichi, Rangiku, Soifon and even Ikkanzaka raised their brows to him, but before any of them could ask who he was talking to, they suddenly heard the voice of Byakuya Kuchiki; "I will."

Everyone but Toshiro stopped walking, then began looking around to find Byakuya, but he was no where in sight; "Like I said...she'll be alright. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend." the white haired captain claimed confidently as he continued on his way.

"H-Hey! Wait up Toshiro!" Yoruichi called out, as she and the other woman followed her lead in catching up with said captain.

-First Division-

Toshiro and all the other captains, save for Byakuya, were all standing in the meeting hall with serious or blank expressions on their faces. But only Toshiro was not paying attention to anything that was said, for he already knew all the information about the Bounts creation, plus some. As the meeting came to a close, Toshiro glanced over at Jushiro Ukitake across from him, then to Shunsui Kyoraku on his right side and finally to Retsu Unohana farther up the line.

The moment the Head Captain slammed his staff on the ground and said that the meeting was dismissed, Toshiro stayed behind along with Retsu, Shunsui and Jushiro. The three older shinigami walked over to him with questionable expressions, but as they noticed the serious look on his face, they decided not to question him. As they formed a square formation, Toshiro decided to speak; "It's about time that I told each of you what it is that the Bounts are after." he began, looking from one shinigami to another.

Kyoraku smirked widely to Hitsugaya's starting words and nodded for him to continue; "It's about time...you told us ten years ago that you'd keep us informed of the Bounts movements, but you were always too busy to." he said, with a shrug, showing that he didn't mind the white haired captain's actions.

"Well I'm just glad that you're sharing this information now instead of later." Ukitake commented with a warm smile, to which Unohana nodded in agreement with both her friend's words.

Hitsugaya looked between each of them, then nodded lightly and continued on; "Since you know about the Bounts creation from the meeting, I should tell you; after the Bounts were born, a power enhancer was created along with them. This was known merely as the 'Bounts Crest'. No one knows just how powerful a Bount will become once they have received its power, or even how many of them there actually are. But regardless of this...I still want Jin Kariya to get it or at least just one."

Ukitake stared at Hitsugaya with slight shock and even blinked a few times from loss of words; "Are you sure you're not putting too much faith into Ichigo Kurosaki? I mean he is his father's son, but I'm not sure if he's really for this yet."

"Don't worry...I'm gonna have Ran'Tao take care of that for us." Toshiro claimed, smirking very lightly, yet confidently; "She hasn't been just sitting in a cave doing nothing all this time." he continued.

"So what is it that you need us specifically to do?" Retsu asked in her gentle tone, to which Toshiro looked over at her and slightly narrowed his eyes on her.

"I need you to prepare some space in your division, you'll be receiving injured squad members within then next few hours, and probably all the way till this invasion is over." Toshiro ordered as he kept looking at the raven haired woman.

Then Hitsugaya looked over to Ukitake and narrowed his eyes on him; "I want you to locate the other crests...just in case it's true that there are more then one." he commanded, to which Ukitake nodded to his fellow white haired captain.

"And you...just make sure that Kurotsuchi doesn't get in my way." Toshiro asked with a small but amused smirk on his face.

Shunsui smiled back to him, tilted his straw hat up and nodded his head; "You got it." was all he said before giving Toshiro a thumbs up.

Just as the four were about to exit the room, a series of sudden explosions shook the ground beneath their feet and caused all of them to shunpo out of the room to find the source of the blasts.

* * *

Alright, that's chapter 47. XD I promise that there will be some action coming up soon in the next few chapters so I hope you all look forward to that. ;D Anyway, I hope to see lots of reviews I was hoping for 305 or something but just having 300 would be awesome enough. I hope everyone chips in and leaves a review. :)


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48:**

Hitsugaya, Kyoraku, Ukitake and Unohana arrived at the scene that the explosions occurred, but they weren't the only ones, the Head Captain, his Lieutenant, and Soifon all reached the area seconds after them. All around the two groups, the walls and pillars lay in ruin on the ground, everything was either ruble or shattered into dust. Hitsugaya walked over to one of the fallen pillars, examined it and glanced around at the others in the destroyed area; "They set up bombs at each of the pillars and just ran off. Tch, that's the best you could think of...a declaration of war against Soul Society started by a couple bombs? Pathetic." he muttered to himself.

"Regardless of how pitiful their attempt at beginning a war is...they shall get want they want! I am now upgrading the fight against the Bounts to full out war! Destroy them all on sight!" the Head Captain commanded loudly.

"Yes sir!" everyone called out at once, just before the Head Captain suddenly vanished in a shunpo.

Hitsugaya then glanced over to Soifon, gave her a hard stare and simply nodded, to which she nodded back and shunpoed away. Ukitake noticed this and looked to Hitsugaya with a questionable expression; "Where did you send her off to?" he asked, with a slightly raised brow.

Toshiro looked up at him and shook his head; "Where she needs to be." was his short and fairly icy response.

Jushiro sighed lightly, then shrugged his shoulders; "Well...so long as you're not gonna send her to her death or anything, I'm not gonna question you." he said, smiling and nodding slightly.

"I'm sure that she can handle a Bount one-on-one, this is Soifon you know." Shunsui commented, tilting his straw hat down so no one could see his expression.

Unohana nodded in agreement to her pink kimono wearing friend; "I just hope she won't end up in my Division." she said, but mostly sounding like a question to Hitsugaya.

All the icy captain did was look over at his fellow captains, smirk very lightly and suddenly vanish in a shunpo; "Man...he really is quick on his feet, huh?" Kyoraku chuckled out, but still keeping his hat tilted down.

Ukitake and Unohana nodded in agreement, then they all sighed and looked around the wreckage once more; "Man...I do not envy whoever has to clean this up." the flamboyant man claimed, smirking an unseen smirk.

-Just outside the First Division-

'So they've already started. That was merely a declaration of war so they can get other souls on their side. Judging by how strong the walls are, they'll need a couple hundred men to get through them. And getting a couple hundred men on their side should only take a few days...especially if they go to the poor districts of Rukongai.' Toshiro thought as he shunpoed through the Seireitei and toward his own division.

'Once they break through...it'll merely be a question of who will fight who.' he continued, but as he kept shunpoing, Rangiku suddenly appeared beside him.

"I sent out a few of our squads to track down the Bounts, it should give us time to prepare for their arrival." she reported in a very business-like manner, to which he nodded to her.

"What are your orders Captain?" she asked, already knowing that he had something planned, but he didn't respond right away.

Toshiro and Rangiku continued to forward, shunpoing all the way till they reached the Tenth Division. As soon as they reached the gate, Toshiro chose that moment to finally give out his order; "We're not going to do anything just yet." he claimed, glancing back at the street behind them.

"Once she arrives...then we'll begin." he continued, looking back to Rangiku as she raised a brow to him, not completely understanding his words at first.

"Oh...right. You're restarting your training with Rukia." she said, sounding slightly disappointed in her tone, as if she wanted to be the one being trained.

Toshiro noticed her sudden glum attitude, sighed lightly and started walking into his division; "You're more then welcome to join if you want." he said, not bothering to look back at her.

Rangiku blinked a few times in surprise, then she smiled, ran up to him, and hugged him from behind, bringing his head back into her chest; "Thanks Captain! You're the best! This is going to be so much fun! I can't wait for her to get here!"

No sooner had the strawberry blonde's words left her lips, the small Kuchiki appeared in the gate's archway; "C-Captain Hitsugaya...Lieutenant Matsumoto?" she called out rather silently.

Toshiro turned to look at Rukia a few yards back, but Rangiku was still hugging him in her chest and he was unable to see her; "Rangiku...you can let go now." he muttered out, trying to keep the ice out of his voice.

"Aww...but hugging you is so much fun!" she whined, hugging her captain even tighter then before; "You feel like an extremely huggable teddy bear!" she continued in a halfway squeal.

"Matsumoto!" he growled out angrily, making Rangiku let go of him slowly as if she was trying to keep up her hug for as long as possible.

During all of this, Rukia was looking around with a blush on her face, trying not to stare at them 'interact' with one another; "Now..." Toshiro started strongly yet icily, gaining the raven haired girls attention immediately.

"Y-Yes sir!" she exclaimed, straightening her posture and staring directly in front of her as if she were being inspected.

"Since I never had many lessons with you...I'm going to have to see how much you progressed and what I can still teach you." Toshiro said, looking at her with a hard stare.

"Y-Yes sir!" she yelled out again, still keeping herself as straight and unmoving as possible, which only made Rangiku giggle lightly and Toshiro sigh deeply.

"Alright...follow me." he said, turning away and starting to walking in the opposite direction; "We'll start in the training field." he continued, not looking over his shoulder yet again as he spoke.

"Ahh! Caaaptain! Don't leave us behind!" Rangiku whined as she looked over her shoulder to Rukia, gestured for her to follow, then started running to catch up to Toshiro.

-At the training field-

Rukia panted heavy breaths and whipped some sweat from her brow; "This..is..impossible.." she whispered to herself between each breath.

Toshiro stood a few yards away with his arms crossed and his eyes closed; "You have improved Rukia...just not as much as I expected during the last seventy years." he commented slightly icily.

Rangiku sat on a bench not far from them with a wide smile on her face, then she stood up, walked out onto the field and readied herself; "Is it my turn yet Caaaaptain?" she called out, smiling almost playfully.

The other two looked over at her, but while Toshiro raised a brow in question, Rukia frowned almost in jealousy; "Soon Rangiku. I want to test Rukia in one last thing." the white haired captain claimed, looking back to said Kuchiki.

"What's that Captain Hitsugaya?" Rukia asked, now under control of her breathing again, but also sounding slightly nervous in her tone.

Toshiro lifted his hand up, pointed his ice covered middle and pointer fingers toward the small raven haired shinigami and narrowed his eyes before speaking; "Shoot your most powerful kido spell at me."

Rukia blinked a few times in surprise, but wasted no time in beginning the incantation for a kido spell, then she pointed her hands toward Toshiro and called out the name; "Way of Destruction, No. 33: Sokatsui!"

A large blast of blue fire hurled toward Toshiro, kicking up much dust as it flew through the air, but the white haired captain just stood still and waited for it to come closer. As the fire hit the tips of his ice claws, it was suddenly absorbed into them, which caused Rukia's eyes to become exceedingly wide. Toshiro then, lifted his other hand, mimicked the same actions he had before, then shot an even larger blast of fire right over Rukia's head.

Rukia however, couldn't move at all from her shock; "All you do is raise your spirit energy like you would in casting a kido spell. Only instead of casting it, you absorb the kido coming toward you through either one, or both of your hands. As soon as you absorb it, you must allow its power to merge with yours, which making it your weapon. Then you increase it's power as high as you wish with your spirit energy and shoot it out through either your other hand or both." Toshiro explained.

"I taught this to your brother when I first began teaching him. Though he was able to preform it after about a week, I think you'll be able to do it within a day or two." Toshiro continued, smirking lightly to her in encouragement.

"Aww, are you saying that she'll be able to do it even sooner then me?" Rangiku pouted in a huff, crossing her arms under her chest.

Toshiro looked over at her and raised a brow; "It's not much sooner...you accomplished it within three days. Besides, she has a head start that you didn't have. I started teaching you a week after joining my squad, so you barely even had control over your Zanpakuto. I think that out of all the people I've trained...you did the best."

Rangiku just stared at her captain with a light blush rising on her cheeks for a moment, then she raised her hand up to her face. But she only managed to place her slender fingers on her full lips, smile lightly as she looked away in embarrassment; "You...you really think so, Captain?" she said silently.

Rukia looked from Toshiro to Rangiku, with a twinge of jealousy in her eyes as she looked at latter; "Now..." Toshiro began, turning back to the raven haired girl once more.

She straightened herself even further then before, then took in a deep breath and called out another; "Yes sir!" with it.

Toshiro smirked lightly to her, then took a quick glance at Rangiku as she began to twirl her her strawberry blonde hair around her finger; "Alright Rangiku...I'll start training you now." he said in a sigh.

Rangiku immediately stopped fidgeting, ran over to her captain, hugged him tightly for a few moments before releasing him and positioned herself across from him. All the while, she had a wide smile on her face; "So...what are we gonna work on today Caaaaptain?" she asked in a singing type manner.

"Strength." Toshiro said simply, causing Rangiku to smirk expectantly and shift her body into a fighting position.

"Ready when you are Captain." Rangiku said, smiling incredibly wide, despite whom it was that she was fighting against.

Toshiro raised and icy hand, then looked to Rukia as she looked down in disappointment from being left out; "Every once in a while, one of us will shoot a kido spell at you, during of which, I want you to absorb it and shoot them back at us. Understood?" he ordered.

Rukia snapped back to attention and nodded strongly to her white haired instructor; "Yes sir!" she called out.

"Good." was all Toshiro said before turning back to Rangiku, narrowing his eyes, then shifting his body to the side in his own fighting position.

"Let's begin." he stated just as he lept forward, kicking up a large dust cloud as he did.

Rangiku smirked, then ran toward her captain, and just as the two came up to one another, Toshiro suddenly pushed off the ground with his right ice covered foot. As he did this, he also twisted his body to the left so he spun past Rangiku at an incredible speed, causing her to stop dead in her tracks and look back. Then, as if in slow motion, just as his body faced Rukia, he brought his right arm out, pointed his icy middle and index fingers at her and fired off a low level Shakkaho.

Rukia was able to react fairly quickly, but she wasn't able to absorb the blast and it ended up exploding in her hands. The force of the blast knocked her back a few feet, caused her to loose balance and fall onto her back painfully. Toshiro smirked lightly as this and turned back to Rangiku as she turned herself around and came back at him; 'Just like the others...the very first time, they all have it explode in their hands.' he thought in a light chuckle as he back flipped into the air.

As he flipped through the air, Rangiku charged a powerful kido spell and cast it right at him; "Way of Destruction, No. 63: Raikoho."

But as the enormous bolt of lightning came at Toshiro, he twisted his body around, brought his left ice covered hand up, absorbed the kido then shot it right back at Rangiku. She shunpoed out of the way just in time to dodge the lightning, then she jumped into the air and swung a powerful round house kick toward Toshiro's chest. Though her kick connected, Toshiro just stood stationary in the air, but her assault was not over yet. She twisted her body as she began falling, so that she hit him with a back flipping kick to his chin, yet all it did was snap his head back slightly; "Is that all?" he questioned, his breath visible as he spoke.

Rangiku smiled to him as she fell to the ground, then shook her head, which made her long hair flow around her like water in a river; "Not at all...I just needed to make sure you were paying attention." she said, winking to him.

She touched down on the field with cat-like grace and just watched as Toshiro looked down at her; "I really wish I could stay up there like that." she commented with a smile.

The white haired captain smirked at her, then glanced over to Rukia as she looked between the two and rubbing her burnt hands together in a tendering motion. But then Toshiro lifted his ice covered hand toward her and fired off another low level Shakkaho. Rukia was even quicker to respond this time, so she was able to absorb some of the red blast, but as she received half of it, the rest suddenly exploded. This time the burning was less severe, due to the explosion being smaller and less powerful from the previous.

Then to both Toshiro's and Rangiku's surprise, Rukia lifted her hands higher and fired off a Shakkaho, to which Toshiro allowed to hit him. The blast had done nothing to Toshiro, but it had created a small dust cloud around him, despite being in mid air. It also caused Rukia to begin breathing very heavily and stare up at Toshiro with an exhausted expression; 'She still managed to absorb, charge and fire off a kido blast of her own, despite the pain of it exploding in her hands...twice.' Toshiro thought, smirking down at her lightly.

'Looks like she shares her sister's determination along with her looks.' he continued, smiling slightly now, which caused Rukia and even Rangiku to look up at him with a confused expression.

"Go and get your hands checked out Rukia. You learned to absorb kido within the first few minutes of the lesson. You earned a rest." Toshiro said, smirking lightly to Rukia again.

Rukia blinked a few times in surprise to him, but then she bowed to him and nodded; "Yes sir! Thank you Captain Hitsugaya!" she called out.

She then looked up to him once more and smiled before jogging off to the divisions gates; "Were you actually...impressed, Captain?" Rangiku asked when Rukia was out of hearing range.

Toshiro looked down at her and her slightly saddened expression, causing him to raise a brow to her and slowly hovered his way to the ground; "Well she did do just as good as you did when we first began. And if I remember correctly, I did say that you were my best student." he claimed slightly icily, as if his words should have been obvious to her.

Rangiku smiled lightly and nodded to him; "So...are we going to continue with our training?" she asked, repositioning herself into a fighting stance once more.

A smirk curled Toshiro's lips and he stared at her with an expression that he usually only gave to Yoruichi; "Sure." was all he said before turning his body to the side.

The strawberry blonde smiled wider, then jumped forward and sent another round house kick toward Toshiro's head. Just as her foot was about to connect, he ducked out of the way, then swung his own ice covered foot to deliver a sweeping kick. But Rangiku jumped up, side flipped over Toshiro's leg, then sent a series of kido spells toward him, blocking his sight of her. As she landed on the ground, she clenched her left fist and send an extremely powerful punch into Toshiro's face.

The force of the punch had caused the ground around and behind Toshiro to up lift a few feet from the surface and ten feet behind him. But Toshiro himself was unmoving as a small smirk appeared on his face; "Not bad Rangiku..." he began, taking her hand away from his cheek.

"Not bad at all." he continued, just before sweeping both her legs out from under her, causing her to fall backward, but she placed her free hand behind her and fired a kido spell into the ground.

The small shock wave from the blast, pushed her body back up, but since she didn't regain her footing, she merely fell forward, straight into her captain's arms. Rangiku smiled to him deviously and leaned in close to him; "Still just too good to be bested by me, eh?" she asked in a halfway giggle.

Toshiro just raised a brow to her, gently pushed her back onto her feet and looked off to the side; "Looks like it. But I'll admit...you have gotten stronger." he started, now looking at the up lifted ground around him.

Rangiku looked at him slightly shocked, with another light blush covering her cheeks, then she smiled widely and let out a breath that she didn't realized she held in; "Thank you Captain...I'm glad I was able to impress you." she said, smiling proudly to herself.

Toshiro rolled his eyes to her; "Hmph, I wouldn't say that...but you did do just as I expected." he claimed, as if making sure that her ego wouldn't grow too big.

Then he glanced over to a small group of spectators that had accumulated off to the side of the training field; "Tch, they really do enjoy watching us train huh?" he muttered, staring at each of the shinigami from his own division and one from a different one.

"No...they enjoy seeing you. Your skills are the most well known in all of Soul Society after all." Rangiku claimed, winking at him.

He looked over to Rangiku again, smirked lightly once more, then shrugged and began walking back toward his office; "Aww, don't tell me we have to go back to work already!" she whined, but followed him all the same.

"The paperwork has probably been piling up in our absence...it's time for us to get to it." Toshiro said simply, not slowing down in his walk.

"But that's not fair! You have to allow yourself to rest one extra day after coming back from a vacation!" she pouted, sticking her bottom lip out to further emphasize her pouting.

As the two heads of the division walked to their shared office, the gathered division members scattered across the Tenth since they had no further entertainment. All except for one, whom had dark blue hair and a determined look on his face; "Soon father...soon."

* * *

Okay and that finishes up that chapter. The Bounts have declared war, Rukia has restarted her training, Rangiku has shown her strength (which is not random ;D) and someone has taken upon themselves to study Toshiro's fighting style. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, if you did...then please leave a review. Till next time. :)


	49. Chapter 49

Before I start this, I'd like to apologize. This chapter is much shorter then what I've been doing lately, but this was all I wanted for this chapter and figured that I'll make it up to all of you next week. ;) I'd also like to thank Tuli-chan once again for helping me out so much and everyone else for their reviews, support and ideas. So thank you all.

* * *

**Chapter 49:**

-Later on the night, in the Tenth Division's office-

Toshiro sat behind his desk, working vigorously to complete his side of the paperwork, while Rangiku laid on her stomach on one of the many sofas, working quite slowly in comparison to her captain. Though Toshiro's pile out weighed his subordinates by almost twice the amount, he was just about finished by the time she reached even halfway through her stack. After a few moments of continuous work, Toshiro felt a sudden spike in Byakuya's spirit energy, which caused him to look in his direction off to his right side.

Rangiku had noticed this too, then instantly looked up from the papers before her and directly at Toshiro as he stood up from his seat; "Finish the rest of the paperwork Rangiku. I need to take care of something." he claimed simply, but putting more emphasis on his beginning request then the rest.

He then began straightening out the finished and unfinished papers on his desk, the former having a larger stack then the latter, and then placing them off to the side. All the while, he continued to sense Byakuya's and Jin's fluctuating spirit energy as they clashed. Rangiku merely sighed out lightly and looked away from him, already knowing somewhat of what he was going to do; "What's this 'something'?" she asked, sounding slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be going with him.

Toshiro looked over to her and let out a sigh of his own; "It's not just about that." he began, knowing that she had already sensed what was going on.

He then looked away from her as he walked to the door; "I need to have a talk with someone as well." he finished, causing Rangiku to look at him in confusion.

But as Toshiro touched the wooden door with his icy claws, she suddenly snapped her body up in realization; "Ran'Tao!" Rangiku called out, to which he nodded to her.

"Yeah...I need to see if Kukaku has found her yet." he claimed, turning the knob on the door to pen it and then walked through it; "I'll be back soon." he stated, before closing the door behind him and disappearing in a shunpo.

Rangiku huffed silently to herself and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout; "This isn't fair...why does he get to have all the fun and I get stuck with all this paperwork?" she whined to no one.

But as she looked over to Toshiro's desk, she noticed the five sheets of paper sitting on it's surface and smiled lightly; "Thank you Captain. You really are a kind person beneath all that hard ice...and I'm glad that I've had the privilege of seeing that soft snow." she whispered to herself with a content smile.

-Near the Shiba estate-

Toshiro shunpoed through the forest that led to his friends home, but as he continued he made sure to keep his senses open. That way he would still be able to sense Byakuya's, Jin's and now Ichigo's spirit energies; "Kurosaki got there quicker then I thought he would. I should hurry up." Toshiro muttered to himself.

As soon as he said his last few words, he suddenly began shunpoing so fast that he caused the ground to uplift five feet in every direction, at each point he landed. Toshiro was right in front of the Shiba mansion within seconds, then he slid the door open so forcefully that it was almost knocked off of it's track. He ran through the house as quickly as possible and found Kukaku just sitting in her normal spot in the dinning area; "About time you got here." she said, smirking lightly.

Toshiro smirked back to her, walked up to her quickly and kneeled down across from her; "I'm afraid I don't have much time to spend here. Have you found her?" he asked, giving her a hard stare.

Kukaku nodded to him, still keeping her light smirk on her face; "Of course. She's not that hard to find, especially for someone with as many connections as me." she claimed with a wink.

He just smirked to her; "So where is she?" Toshiro asked, getting up from his kneeling position and looked down at her with a questionable expression.

The raven haired woman smiled up at him, brought her real hand up to her chest, grabbed a small note from between her breasts and offered it to him; "Follow this...it'll lead you right to her hideout."

"You're sure about this?" Toshiro asked, raising a brow as he took the small note into his ice covered hand and stared down at it, inspecting it carefully.

"Absolutely! That's exactly where she is...and has been for the last sixty years or so." Kukaku claimed with a smirk on her face.

Toshiro took one last glimpse at the note before nodding, placing it within his haori pocket, looking back to her and smirking lightly; "Thanks Kukaku."

"Not a problem. Just make sure you visit me soon, okay? And these business visits don't count by the way." she said in a fake serious tone, while smiling widely and winking to him.

Toshiro smirked once more and nodded to her just before he vanished in a shunpo; "I hope he visits when I'm all alone in my house...maybe then I can finally show him that he means more to me then just an old friend" Kukaku muttered to herself in a light sigh.

But then she frowned and crossed her real and fake arm under her chest; "I've been waiting to give this to him for so long...I wish he'd hurry up already."

-Near the Kusajishi district of Rukongai-

Toshiro walked down one of the many dirt pathways that lead to the poorest district in Soul Society, with only the moon's light and Kukaku's note to guide him. He glanced around at the many shadowed trees around him, but none of them gave him the clue of which he searched for. But as Toshiro continued on for a few more paces, he suddenly came to a stop as he reached a 'V' in the road; "This is it." he muttered to himself.

He then turned to his left side and started scanning the trees once more; "It should be right...there." he claimed, focusing his turquoise eyes on a specific tree.

The tree itself seemed just like any other, but on closer inspection, it held a small symbol of the Shiba Clan on its bark. Toshiro walked up to the tree, placed an icy claw on the symbol and looked at the note once more; 'On the left side, just before the 'V', there will be a Shiba symbol on one of the trees. Walk on the opposite side of the tree and take four steps, you'll find her hideout there.' he thought to himself as he did just as the note instructed.

He looked around the area, but didn't see anything that would give a sign of a secret hideout, so he began looking around on the ground, but he still found nothing. Toshiro looked at the note once more, then back to the tree and suddenly growled in frustration; 'Damn it Kukaku...knowing you, you probably did that just to remind me that I'm short.' he thought to himself with another growl of frustration.

Toshiro then, walked back to the tree and took four slightly larger steps then he had before, looked down and saw a small lump in the grass at his ice covered feet; "I'm glad no one had to see that." he muttered to himself.

The white haired captain kneeled down to the small lump, placed his icy claws on it and focused his spirit energy into it, which made the earth a few feet in front of him suddenly glow a brilliant blue and rise up into a human sized hill. As the ground rose, part of it split into an opening and formed an archway that led into a seemingly endless tunnel; "I wasn't expecting a guest." a voice spoke up from the dark cave.

"I know...but I'm sure that you've heard by now." Toshiro said, standing up, crossing his arms and leaning against the opening as a set of foot steps sounded from it.

"I have...but what do you expect me to do about it?" the voice asked as a young looking brown haired woman emerged from the tunnel.

Toshiro just smirked and glanced over at her; "Don't give me that, I already know that you have a plan set up to counteract the Bounts assault, Ran'Tao."

Ran'Tao just smirked back to him, shrugged lightly and then crossed her arms across her chest; "Possibly. And what about you? You already seem to know everyone's next moves before they even make them."

"How could you tell?" Toshiro asked, smirking slightly wider, closing his eyes for a brief moment, before opening them to look at her once more.

The brown haired woman just chuckled lightly and shrugged once more; "Just by the look in your eyes. You have that stare that tells of a well thought out plan."

Toshiro shrugged lightly and looked away from her; "Yeah...you could say I have something like that." he said, narrowing his eyes on the tree he had walk to, twice.

"Would you mind telling me what it is?" Ran'Tao asked, stepping out in front of the white haired captain with a slightly raised brow.

"In due time." was all he said before he pushed himself away from the entrance, walked around the taller woman and letting out a sigh; "For now...we need to go."

Ran'Tao nodded, walked next to him and glanced over with a light but amused smile on her face; "So...still not having any luck in growing huh?"

Her words caused Toshiro to growl silently, glare at her in annoyance and vanish in a shunpo, to which the brown haired woman laughed and shunpoed with him.

-In a forest by Kusajishi-

Toshiro and Ran'Tao ran together as they continued sensing Byakuya's, Jin's and Ichigo's spirit energies clash; "Just how long have they been fighting?" she asked after a while.

"Long enough. But even though Jin has an major advantage in being able to absorb spirit particles in Soul Society, Byakuya and Kurosaki have yet to unleash their full power." Toshiro commented.

Ran'Tao nodded to him and gave him a hard stare; "So what's this plan of yours any way?" she asked.

Toshiro looked at her, then straight ahead once more; "First, we allow Jin to get the Jokaisho Crest. Second, you weaken him with your invention to counteract it. Third, we watch and wait for Kurosaki to defeat him."

The brown haired woman just stared at him, then nodded her head once more; "That's a good plan. But I'd like to know just how you knew that I had developed a way to seal off the Jokaisho Crest."

He just smirked without even looking at her and just continued his running; "It's pretty easy to tell when you steal very rare items from The Shinigami Research and Development Institute."

Ran'Tao chuckled lightly and shrugged to him, but began to slow down in her running; "I'm gonna need to rest soon...we better hurry." she claimed, looking to Toshiro with an expecting expression.

Toshiro just glanced at her with a raised brow, then he sighed lightly and nodded knowingly; "Alright." was all he said before they both stopped.

Then the white haired captain offered an ice covered hand to the purple eyed woman, to which she took automatically. Toshiro then looked up at the night sky and suddenly jumped hard off the ground and literally began flying over the trees at incredible speeds; "I thought you'd just shunpo us the rest of the way, but this works too!" Ran'Tao called out from over the loudly whistling wind.

Toshiro just sighed once more, rolled his eyes slightly and flew even faster toward the three large spirit energies nearby. Just as he reached the clearing that the three were fighting in, he suddenly dived at a ninety degree angle and straight headed straight for the ground. As they made their approach, Toshiro gathered his spirit energy in front of them to break their fall, which had made it seem as though a large blue meteor was falling to earth.

When they hit, the already giant crater from the other three's battle had increased almost double in size, blown many large rocks around the area and kicked up an enormous dirt cloud. Toshiro stood in the center with Ran'Tao as they looked around the dust; "Well...at least my first appearance in a hundred years was flashy." Ran'Tao said, smirking over at the white haired captain.

Toshiro just shrugged, then started walking up the side of the crater toward the top, to which Ran'Tao followed seconds afterward. As the two emerged from the clearing dirt, the other three's eyes became wide in shock, not expecting the sudden arrival of either person; "T-Toshiro..." Ichigo said aloud, still blinking in his surprise.

But as the orange haired teen looked at Ran'Tao his expression became a bewildered one; "This is Ran'Tao, Kurosaki. She's not Yoshino." Toshiro claimed before Ichigo could say anything.

"Ran'Tao? But then...she's the one that created the Bounts! How can she be..." but Ichigo couldn't finish his sentence due to the shock the sudden appearances came back to him.

"I'll explain myself later. But for now..." Ran'Tao began, glancing over to Jin with a hard stare; "Jin Kariya I assume?" she finished.

Jin's eyes narrowed on her and his teeth even ground together in his aggravation; "So it was you. You created us and left us to die." he claimed angrily in a halfway lie.

Ran'Tao just smiled lightly and chuckled; "Created you? Yes. But left you to die? Where do you come off in saying such a thing?" she asked, sounding slightly smug.

Jin glared at her and clenched his fists; "Tch! Like it matters. You shall bare witness to our rise, and the Shinigami's fall." he declared, smirking darkly at his creator.

Toshiro smirked lightly and started walking away; "It seems my job here is done. Byakuya...!" he called out, to which said Kuchiki looked to him and bowed.

"Yes sir." Byakuya said in response, with much respect and humbleness being apparent in his tone, which made the others raise their brows in question.

"I'll leave the rest to you." Toshiro said continuing to walk away, but just before he vanished in a shunpo he said one last thing; "Oh, and Byakuya...your training is now complete. You can fight at full power now."

"What training?" Ichigo asked the raven haired man as he looked at him slightly shocked, but mostly confused.

"Captain Hitsugaya told me that the final stage of my training was to fight any and all opponents with only seventy percent of my true power." Byakuya claimed simply, which caused Ichigo's and Jin's eyes to widen in shock.

-A few yards outside of Toshiro's step-parents home-

Toshiro walked up to one of the many trees around the house, placed an ice covered hand on it's bark and breathed out a visible breath. He then concentrated his spirit energy into the tree itself, causing it to start glowing a brilliant blue; "Just one last thing I need to do." he whispered to himself.

Then, a giant square opening in the ground suddenly appeared, almost as if the earth itself was just an illusion and the hole was always there. Toshiro sighed out as he walked up to a set of steps at the top of the opening, and as he stepped fully underground, the illusion of the earth reappeared; "Time to start." he muttered, his voice echoing in the large but dark area.

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Alright, that's it for this chapter. Btw; I will be explaining how Toshiro and Rangiku can sense things like that from such a huge distance, and of how Toshiro and Ran'Tao pretty much already know one another. ;) Also, the next chapter will feature a fight or two so look forward to that. ;D I hope you all enjoyed this, and I hope to see everyone review...including those that have favored this story or just placed it on their alerts. I hope that you all help me get the most reviews out of every story out there. XD (I know that's wishful thinking, but it's still my goal. :D) Oh and btw (again); everyone that reviewed for the previous chapter won't be able to review for this one, I deleted my disclaimer chapter cause it was annoying. XD So now all the reviews got moved up and so no one can review for this chapter, except those that didn't review for the previous. Just pm me to let me know you read it, it'll be like leaving a review. Thanks everyone. ;D


	50. Chapter 50

This is another special for this story, I decided to delete the side story I made and just add it to the story itself. It will basically have the same theme as it did before, but I will be changing some of the elements. ;) Hope you all enjoy.

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**Chapter 50:**

-Five months into the academy-

Toshiro stood in a circle with his friends; Yoruichi, Kisuke, Tessai, Kusaka, Isshin and even Kukaku, all of whom were staring confused at the white haired teen. But regardless of their stares, he just returned their questionable expressions with a dismissive look; "I just never understood why Valentine's day is all that special." Toshiro claimed with a light shrug.

Yoruichi sighed lightly and smirked at her friend; "That's because you probably never had anyone to celebrate it with." she declared.

Though her words caused Toshiro to look down in slight sadness, she immediately walked up to him and gave him a tight hug before he could think any further; "But now you do...so don't be sad." she whispered to him.

Toshiro shifted his eyes toward her and blinked a few times from slight shock, but then he allowed a light smirk to curl his lips; "Thanks." he uttered to her.

"And I guess that gets you off the hook in giving us chocolates and cards." she giggled out in his ear, to which he rose a brow, but just shrugged it off and continued hugging his friend.

After a few moments of their hug, Kukaku suddenly hugged Toshiro from behind, almost knocking the other two over as she did; "I wanna be Toshiro's date for this Valentine's day!" she declared.

Yoruichi hugged Toshiro tighter, trying to pull him away from the other teen; "No! He's gonna be mine!" the tan girl claimed.

As the two girls fought over the white haired teen, Kisuke and the other merely started laughing loudly; "I'm not sure whether I feel envious of him or sorry." Urahara said with a wide smile.

"Shut up." Toshiro muttered to his blonde friend as he released himself from the girls grip, looked to the rest of his friends and raised a questionable brow; "So what do people do for Valentine's day?"

Yoruichi smiled widely to his question; "Well...you basically spend the whole day with the most important person in your life, buying each other gifts and letting them know how much you love them."

The two girls clasped their hands together and sighed dreamily; "Sounds kind of stupid to me." Toshiro claimed with a light roll of his eyes.

Kukaku huffed to him and placed her hands on her hips; "Why is one of the most popular and best holidays in the world, 'stupid'?"

Toshiro just shrugged lightly to her; "If you truly love the person you're with, then you should show the fact that you love them every day, instead of having one day out of the year for it."

Yoruichi and Kukaku stared at him in shock then sighed dreamily to his words; "Tch...it's like he actually wants them to hug him." Isshin whispered, just before the two girls did exactly as he predicted.

The white haired teen rolled his eyes and sighed lightly; "That was so romantic Toshiroooo!" Yoruichi sang, hugging Toshiro even tighter.

"I was just stating my opinion of how things should work." Toshiro claimed in a neutral tone, not really seeing why they were reacting the way they were.

"An opinion that ends up resulting in you getting hugged by two beautiful girls? Very suspicious." Kusaka said in a chuckle.

Toshiro looked at him, rolled his eyes and growled lightly; "Whatever." was all he responded back with.

Kukaku hugged him tighter; "You're gonna show me your love for this Valentine's day, right?" she declared, more then asked.

"No...he's gonna show it to me!" Yoruichi claimed, pulling the white haired teen toward her.

Tessai chuckled lightly and adjusted a new set of sunglasses on his nose; "Here we go again."

"What was that?" the two teen girls demanded in growl, causing the large tan boy to gulp down and wave his hand out in front of him in a dismissive way.

"N-Nothing...nothing at all." he answered nervously, to which Yoruichi and Kukaku nodded to him in acceptance of his response.

Toshiro sighed and once again freed himself from their grasp; "So what are going to do?" he asked, sounding only slightly interested.

Each of the teens thought for a few moments, but it was Isshin that spoke up first; "How about a party? A big Valentine's day party at the Shihoin Manor!" he claimed with a wide smile.

Everyone but Toshiro nodded in agreement, while the white haired teen himself just raised a brow to them; "A party? What for?"

"Because...it's the perfect way to increase couples bounds together. And even friendships. Plus it's the perfect way to pick up single girls of our own." Isshin continued, gesturing to the other males beside him with an even wider smile.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes to him, then turned to her other friends; "But a party does sound pretty fun. And I'm sure my dad won't have any problems with it."

Kisuke nodded to her words, then smirked; "So who are we gonna invite?" he asked, taking a quick glance at Toshiro with a knowing look.

"Not many. Just a few extra people besides us." Yoruichi said with a wink, knowing that not only Toshiro but Kusaka as well were both rather anti-social.

"Sounds good! Let's go! We have invitations to draw up and hand out!" Isshin claimed enthusiastically, fist pumping the air.

Kusaka sighed lightly, then grabbed onto his friends shoulder; "Calm down Isshin. We have all day to do this." he said simply.

"Exactly! The sooner people find out about it, the more excited they'll be when we have it!" the raven haired teen proclaimed.

Kukaku walked over to him and smacked him in the back of his head, to which he rubbed the spot tenderly and pouted to her; "What was that for?"

"You only want to tell the female population so you have more woman to hit on during the party." Kukaku stated, crossing her arms under her chest and narrowing his eyes on him.

Isshin gasped loudly and placed one of his over his chest as if someone hit him there; "Who told you something so true?"

Everyone started laughing, including Toshiro and Kukaku herself; "Anyway, I think it would actually be better for us to make and hand out fliers to people. We don't want it to be a sudden thing...people might not even come if that happens." Kisuke claimed, seeming like the only one to be concentrating.

The others nodded to him, except for Toshiro, whom merely sighed in response; "Why am I stuck doing this? I don't even like parties."

Yoruichi wrapped her arm around his and smiled brightly to him; "Because...the party will be the best time to show your love for us." she said rather seductively and winking to him.

Toshiro rolled his eyes to her, but as he opened his mouth to say something, Kukaku wrapped her arm around his free one and smiled at him as well; "Plus...we can make-out in public and show everyone that we're together."

Though her words left the white haired teen blushing and somewhat flustered, he didn't get to think much further as they suddenly began dragging him off to some unknown location. As they went, their other friends followed close behind and watching the interaction before them with amused smiles; "I still don't know whether to feel bad or jealous of him." Kisuke commented, sounding on the verge of laughing.

-Later on that afternoon, outside the academy dorms; after all the fliers were made and handed out-

Yoruichi sighed in relief as she wiped an invisible drop of sweat from her forehead; "That was some hard work!" she exclaimed in an exasperated tone.

Toshiro just raised a brow to her; "You didn't do anything. You said that you were going to get some more paper, but you ended up just going with Kukaku to buy yourselves new outfits."

The purple haired teen just stretched her arms and giggled; "Exactly...it's much more difficult trying to find just the right outfit to wear when you go to a party then just handing out some fliers. Besides...I had to get permission from my dad to even have the party at my house."

Everyone but her and her fellow female friend raised their brows to her and let out a sigh in unison; "Why do we even bother?" Kusaka asked, smirking to himself in amusement.

"I'm not sure." Tessai muttered in a shrug, to which the two girls narrowed their eyes to him once again, causing him to gulp down in his nervousness; "But there is nothing wrong with that."

Yoruichi and Kukaku nodded to him and then smiled over to Toshiro; "You can come and tell us if you like our outfits now, right?" they asked in unison.

Toshiro raised a brow to them and sighed; "Like you'll let me do anything differently." he claimed as a matter of fact, crossing his arms as he said this.

The two girls smiled widely grabbed both of his arms and led him away; "Exactly our point!" they declared together happily.

-At the Shihoin Manor-

"So you really think this one looks alright?" Yoruichi asked as she looked from Toshiro to her reflection in the mirror off to the side.

Toshiro looked over her wardrobe once more, it consisted of an indigo colored kimono with a golden tiger design going around it. A wild violet colored obi tie, white tabi socks and a set of golden zori style sandals; "For the twelfth time Yoruichi; yes, you look great in that." Toshiro said, sounding slightly annoyed in his tone.

Yoruichi smiled widely to him, walked up somewhat seductively and winked at him; "You only said that it looked fine...but I'm glad to know that you think I look 'great'."

The white haired boy blushed, turned away from her and cleared his throat; "Alright! I'm coming out!" Kukaku claimed from behind her dressing wall.

Both Toshiro and Yoruichi turned toward their approaching friend and blinked a few times in surprise from her clothes; "What do you think?" she asked, smirking and striking a pose for them.

She was wearing a dark red kimono with a silvery-white lion design going around it, a lava colored obi tying it together, white tabi socks and a set of silvery-white zori sandals. But with the way she was wearing it, it made Toshiro blush even more then what he was before, she had the top of the kimono open enough for him and anyone else to see quite a lot of her ever growing chest. She also had the sides of it cut open so she could show off her slender legs; "So? What do you think?" she asked again as all the two did was stare at her.

Yoruichi smiled to her friend; "Perfect! I think I'm going to wear mine just like that!" she exclaimed, to which Toshiro stared at her in shock and his jaw to lack slightly.

The tan teen grabbed a set of scissors and cut the bottom of her kimono on both sides so her long dark legs would be shown. Then she loosened her obi so her fairly well developed chest could be partly shown; "Now that's more like it. This is going to be fun...all the guys are going to be looking, but we're only going to be with our silent Little Ice Prince." she claimed, looking over at said boy and winked.

Toshiro growled in annoyance, then sighed lightly; "Why do you two have to dress like that though?" he asked, raising a brow as he did.

"Aww, he doesn't want other guys to look at us." Kukaku said, smiling from her friend to Toshiro.

"Looks like he's the jealous type." Yoruichi announced, looking to him as well with a rather loving smile.

"Don't worry Toshiro, we're not going to be with anyone but you. We just want to look sexy for you so the other guys will be jealous of you." she continued, winking to him once more.

Toshiro just looked between the two of them, then sighed again; "Fine. Just don't do anything to provoke them...I don't feel like fighting every guy that tries to touch you."

Yoruichi and Kukaku squealed cutely, ran up and hugged him; "That's so cute of you Toshiroooo! And so manly!" they claimed in unison.

The white haired teen merely sighed to them; "Whatever...lets just get going. People will probably start arriving soon."

The two nodded to him, smiled and walked out of the room with Toshiro between them; 'How do I get in these types of situations?'

-A few minutes into the party-

Toshiro stood in one of the corners of the large party area with Yoruichi and Kukaku beside him, and one of the fruit punch tables next to them. After a few more moments of observing the party, he growled in annoyance for the twentieth time that night. As it turned out, there were well over seventy people at the party, all were students attending the academy; "You said that there would only be a few besides us." Toshiro said looking over at his two 'girlfriends' with a slight glare.

"Sorry, it's just that; the people we invited decided to tell their friends, and their friends told their friends, and their frien-well you get the point." Yoruichi claimed in a slightly sheepish shrug.

"Hmph, whatever. But don't be surprised if someone brought alcohol." Toshiro said simply, yet rather knowingly.

Kukaku just smiled and shrugged to his words; "Of course not...no one probably even knows how to get the kind of stuff."

Toshiro just raised a brow to her and shrugged back; "If you say so." he said, remembering how Isshin had gotten a whole gallon bottle of sake from someone he referred to as 'my connection'.

"Aww, come on! Enjoy the party! Here...have some punch!" Yoruichi said, handing him her newly poured cup of punch.

He was skeptical at first but he took the small cup and started drinking it; "Hmm, it's not bad." he commented, to which the two girls smiled.

"See? This party isn't bad." Kukaku claimed happily and began drinking her own cup of punch, while leaning on him.

Yoruichi walked over to the table near them, poured herself a new cup of punch, walked back next to Toshiro, leaned against him as well and started drinking with her friends. Unbeknownst to any of them...Isshin had poured a full quart of sake into all the punch bowls a few minutes before the party started.

After a few drinks of the punch, Toshiro began to feel very cooperative with anything and everything Yoruichi and Kukaku said, even more so then normal. Which was what landed him in the middle of the room, dancing like a drunken fool, to a song that he never heard before. But despite the fact that his movements were very awkward, people cheered and clapped for him to continue; "Yeah! Go Toshiro! Go!"

"Lolli lolli lollipop dalgomhage dagawa,  
Lolli lolli lollipop naege soksakyeojwo,  
Lolli lolli lollipop sanggeumhage dagawa,  
Lolli lolli lollipop jigeum wonhajanha." the music played.

Toshiro continued dancing, even as Yoruichi and Kukaku joined him, whom were moving even more seductively then normal due to their drunken state. Even though he would have scolded them for doing such a thing, he wasn't in his right mind to do so, so he just settled for complimenting them; "You two have such a sexy dance."

Soon after, Kisuke, Isshin, Kusaka and even Tessai joined them on the dance floor, each of them accompanied by a young girl of their own. Isshin looked to his fellow guys, then made a 'rock and roll' sign with his left hand and kept dancing with his friends and new date.

"Lolli lolli lollipop Girl neon naui lollipop,  
Lolli lolli lollipop oh lolli pop pop.

Nal seollege haneun neoui body neoui move,  
imi ne shiseoneul gadwobeorin naui groove,  
shiksanghamdeuleun maeil nal jichigehae,  
Let's just keep you and I F.R.E.S.H!" as the music continued, the three friends wobbled back and forth in their 'drunken dance', which everyone decided to join in on.

It was no more then twenty minutes after the song ended that everyone had begun leaving due to the fact that when Yoruichi's father, Tenkesho found out that there was alcohol in the punch, he dumped all of it out and sent everyone away. He spent the next few minutes scolding Isshin for doing such a thing at his age, but since he was the most drunk out of everyone at the party, he barely registered anything the older man said.

So in the end Isshin, Kisuke, Tessai and Kusaka headed back to their dorms, while Toshiro and Kukaku were able to stay because of Yoruichi's cute pouting, which seemed to be only enhanced in her drunken state. The three had stumbled their way to her bedroom before they all passed out on the floor from the alcohol in their systems.

-The next day-

None of them had woken up till later in the afternoon, and unfortunately for everyone including himself, Toshiro woke up first. He had a splitting headache that didn't stop throbbing, which made it even more painful then any normal headache. But the thing that shocked him the most was the fact that both Yoruichi and Kukaku had their arms wrapped around him, with his head between their chests. Toshiro turned deep shades of red and screamed on the top of his lungs; "YORUICHI! KUKAKU!"

Both of them woke up immediately and clutched their ears in pain, Toshiro did the same and they all screamed in unison from the pain; "Ahhh!"

"What happened?" Toshiro demanded, allowing the tone of his voice to show his annoyance rather than the volume of it.

"I-I don't remember." Kukaku said in a whisper, as to keep everyone's voices down for this conversation.

"I can only remember tiny little bits." Yoruichi said, following Kukaku's lead in whispering; "But from what I do remember...there was a lot of dancing."

Toshiro's eyes became wide at thought of him actually dancing; "W-What?" he asked with a slight stutter, turning slightly red from embarrassment.

"Yep, and don't worry...we were all drunk, I doubt that anyone will really remember it." Yoruichi said, winking to him.

Toshiro frowned lightly to her, but eventually nodded in agreement; "Hopefully...if anyone says anything, I'm going to kill Isshin." he claimed in a growl.

Yoruichi's mother,Yorie walked through the still open door and smiled to them; "So...did you kids have fun?" she asked, sounding rather smug in knowing that they all had hangovers.

"Oh yeah, we had lots of fun." Yoruichi claimed, but keeping her voice low as to not worsen her or her friend's headache.

"That's good to know. But you three had better get yourselves ready...you have to clean up after the mess you made the previous night." Yorie claimed, chuckling as the three teens just stared at her in shock.

The tan woman just clapped her hands together, somewhat loudly and pointed toward the room they used for the party down the hall; "Get to it. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can go ahead and do what you want."

Toshiro stood up first, nodded to her and made his way to the rather messy room; "Yes ma'am." he said, holding his head to try to ease it's pain.

As he went, Yorie looked back to the two girls, winked to them and held out a set of pictures to them; "I took some really good ones just like you asked."

Yoruichi took the photos, looked at them for a moment with her friend and lightly blushed; "These are perfect. Thanks mom...I'm glad I asked you to do this before we even asked dad for the party." she said, giggling lightly.

"By the way, how did all that party stuff get to the room so fast?" Kukaku asked, raising a brow to Yorie.

Yorie smirked lightly and looked away; "Well...the Onmitsukido needed something to do." she claimed laughing now.

The two teens giggled lightly, glanced at the photos once more before looking back to the tan woman; "Thanks again mom. We'll help Toshiro with the cleaning job, before he finishes it himself." Yoruichi said, placing the pictures in her cleavage and running off toward Toshiro.

Kukaku quickly followed, leaving Yorie to just stare at them with a smirk then to sigh lightly; "Those two certainly are quite devious when they want to be. Yoruichi is definitely my daughter and Kukaku is definitely her friend."

-Present day, after the Bounts escape into Soul Society-

Yoruichi sat on the roof of the Tenth Division as Toshiro and Rangiku sat in the office completing paperwork. As she looked over at the setting sun, she smiled lightly, then grabbed the front of her skin tight collar, stretch it out, reached into her shirt with her free hand and pulled out a few photos. She stared at them fondly and sighed contently; "I really wish I was awake for all of these." she muttered.

The first photo was of Toshiro dancing with Yoruichi and Kukaku, the three of them were in very provocative positions, but obviously having fun. The second was the three of them helping each other into Yoruichi's bedroom, each of them with a wide and very goofy-like grin. The last was of Toshiro and Yoruichi hugging one another, with Kukaku wrapping her arms around Toshiro from behind; "We have to do this again some time, now who do I know that has lots of money and influence in Soul Society. Then again...who needs any of that when I have the entire SWA to help me out." she said to herself with a happy smile on her face.

* * *

That song I used is called Lollipop by Big Bang ft. 2NE1, yes it's Korean and not Japanese but that's why I didn't have many lyrics in here. Plus I couldn't think of any Japanese songs to go with Valentine's day. XD I'll be going back to the normal story next week, which I promise a big fight in. ;) I hope you all leave a review, thank you everyone.


	51. Chapter 51

Another thanks to Tuli-chan, whom without, this story wouldn't be as good. ;) And a thank you to EVA-Saiyajin, I really liked your suggestions and your observations...I appreciate it very much. :) Now, on with the story! XD

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**Chapter 51:**

-Early the next day, after Ichigo's, Byakuya's and Jin's fight-

Toshiro walked through gates of his division just as the sun was beginning to rise on the horizon. He took one last glance at the disappearing stars in the sky before they vanished to make way for the new day. He let out a light but rather tired sigh and walked toward the office; 'Better check to make sure that Rangiku finished the paperwork like I asked.' Toshiro thought, but already knowing what was in store.

He walked through the office door, then over to his desk, where he found all the paperwork in two stacks, one for his and one for Rangiku's; 'Just as I suspected.' he smirked lightly as he stared at the small post-it note on the top of his stack.

It held a large heart on it with 'Good night Captain!' written in the center, and a small winking smiley face off to the side. Toshiro turned to the sofa that Rangiku had been doing her work on before he left; "Thanks Rangiku." he muttered before walking out of the office and out of his division

The moment his ice covered feet stepped outside the gate, he suddenly stopped and turned his head as if looking at someone off to the side; "You should know by now that you can't hide from me." he said calmly, yet there was a hint of distaste in his tone.

A sudden shimmer of light shined a few yards away from and revealed Maki Ichinose; "Forgive me, Captain Hitsugaya." he said in a bow.

To which said captain raised a brow to him in question at first, then narrowed his eyes in distrust; "So what did Jin send you here for?" he asked, not bothering with small talk.

"Kariya-sama wishes for me to deliver you a message." Ichinose said, taking a small folded up note from his pocket, then holding it out to the white haired captain with both hands.

To which Hitsugaya walked up, took it and waved Ichinose away; "Your dismissed." he said, as if he were just talking to another one of his subordinates, but he had iciness and much more annoyance in his voice then normal.

"Yes sir." the raven haired man said before vanishing in a shunpo.

Toshiro unfolded the letter and read the message, which made him roll his eyes, freeze the piece of paper and shatter it in his grasp; "Asking me favors already, huh." he muttered to himself.

'Tch, you may try to act cruel and heartless, but you're still a far cry from me.' he thought as an icy smirk appeared on his face, which seemed to make the nearest three divisions become deadly cold for a brief second.

"Burr! Do you have to make it so cold?" a voice spoke up from the roof above Toshiro, to which he looked up and saw a shivering tanned woman.

"Well Yoruichi...you probably wouldn't have that problem if you dressed warmer and not wear things so skin tight." Toshiro claimed, in a seemingly uncaring tone.

"Uh huh. Are you sure you just don't want other guys looking at me?" Yoruichi asked, jumping down from her spot and wrapping her slender arms around his ice covered neck.

Toshiro rolled his eyes; "That would happen regardless of how you dressed." he said simply, not making much of a reaction to her actions.

Yoruichi raised a brow to him and smiled widely, yet rather deviously; "Is that so? Do you think I'm that 'hot'?" she questioned, winking her eye to him and pushing her cheek against his.

The white haired captain looked to her and growled; "Yoruichi." though he said her name calmly, it was done in annoyance.

But the tan woman just giggled, turned her head and kissed his cheek lightly; "Don't worry, they can only stare...you can touch." though she had said this in a teasing way, she still had a truthful tone.

Toshiro looked over at her with a slightly surprised expression, then he looked away and cleared his throat in an attempt to compose himself; "You're so cute when you're speechless." Yoruichi said, hugging him tighter.

He let out a silent huff of annoyance, but it was only halfhearted as he looked away from her; "So..." she started.

Yoruichi then grabbed Toshiro's ice covered wrist, lifted it up to her line of sight and picked a small shard of the shattered message stuck in his hand. She looked at is carefully as if trying to read something from it, but when she couldn't find anything, she tossed it to the side; "What did Jin want?" she asked smiling lightly with interest.

Toshiro looked over to her as she continued to lean her body on him, then he looked away again; "He wants me out of the way when he invades Soul Society tonight. So he said that I can kill the traitor; Maki Ichinose in exchange. That's why he sent him to deliver the message." he said simply, still keeping his gaze off to the side.

His female friend blinked her eyes in surprise at him, then wrapped her arms around his ice covered neck once more, this time in a more gentle but almost sad way. Her actions caused Toshiro to blink at her in wonderment, but then he sighed lightly in realization and took one of her hands into his icy one. He gave it a light but encouraging squeeze, then offered her a light smirk, to which she smirked back and hugged him tighter.

After a moment, he removed her arms from him and looked back at her from over his shoulder; "I need to you to tell Ran'Tao to get her weapons ready for tomorrow." he said.

Yoruichi nodded and looked at him understandingly; "Alright. I assume Kukaku managed to find her?" she asked, glancing in the direction of her raven haired friends mansion.

Toshiro nodded to her question, then let out a light sigh; "And if you wouldn't mind...I need you to call a meeting for us tomorrow. Aizen will be making his first move soon." he said, narrowing his eyes at the end.

Yoruichi looked at him slightly shocked, narrowed her eyes as well and nodded; "No problem. But...under one condition." she said, sounding oddly serious in her tone.

Her words made the white haired captain raise a brow to her; "You have to give me a kiss...right here." Yoruichi claimed in her newly seductive tone, pointing to her lips, which were curled into a smile.

Toshiro glanced at her shocked for a moment, but then rolled his eyes and looked away; "Do I have to do everything myself?" the tan woman asked, rolling her eyes as well.

Just as Toshiro turned to look back at her in question, she tilted her head and kissed him lightly on his lips. Her actions stunned the icy captain, his body felt like a thousand volts of electricity was coursing through it, but at the same time, he was completely paralyzed. Yet his lips somehow responded to hers' and returned the light kiss. After a brief few moments of the kiss, they broke away from one another and just stared into each others eyes; "How is it that our kisses get better every time?" Yoruichi asked with a giggle and a smile.

Toshiro actually smirked lightly, wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, which had somewhat shocked Yoruichi at first, but she didn't have any complaints; "Thank you...Yoruichi." he whispered to her.

Yoruichi smiled lightly and closed her eyes in a content way; "Your very welcome...my Ice Prince." she whispered back, returning his hug.

Once they separated from their embrace, they seemed to be back to business; "So what are you going to do while I'm out?" Yoruichi asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm going to see how far along Ukitake, Kyoraku and Unohana are from what I asked them." Toshiro claimed simply, making the purple haired woman roll her eyes slightly.

"You make it sound like a daily thing to have three of the most powerful shinigami to ever live, doing what you tell them to do." she muttered, but also smiling lightly.

Toshiro shrugged lightly, turned around and began walking away from her, with a wave from over his shoulder; "See you later Yoruichi." he said before disappearing in a shunpo.

Yoruichi herself smirked lightly and chuckled before vanishing as well. Unbeknownst to either of them, behind a large tree, a few dozen yards away, a shadowy figure leaned against the hard bark and let out a sad sigh. The figure gripped at its slim shoulders as if they were it's last life line; "I want him to be my first too. Why can't I just walk up to him and kiss him like that? I've been with him for longer then her and still don't have the courage to do it."

-A few hours later at the previously blown up towers-

Toshiro walked up to Ukitake, Kyoraku and Ise, just as Kurotsuchi and his daughter were walking away; "Captain Hitsugaya." the genetically created woman greeted in a bow as she passed him.

He gave her a nod and proceeded on his way, but as he walked, Nemu continued to watch him. Her eyes followed the icy captain with an unusually warm and respectful look that even Mayuri had never seen; "Hurry up Nemu! I don't have all day!" Mayuri called out from over his shoulder.

Nemu turned back and began walking toward her father; "Yes sir." she said in an emotionless voice.

Toshiro glanced back at them with a raised brow but dismissed them and looked to the other three; "Good morning Captain Hitsugaya." Nanao said, bowing in a similar fashion to the previous woman.

The shorter captain glanced over at her, nodded in acknowledgment, then looked up to Jushiro; "Any luck in your search?" he asked, not bothering with small talk.

Jushiro nodded to him; "A little. I think I might have located one...but it's still not completely reliable information. I'll have to dig a bit further into it just to be sure." he claimed, to with his fellow white haired captain nodded.

"Alright. Keep me informed. And what about you? Do you think that Mayuri has suspected yet?" Toshiro asked, now turning to Shunsui.

"Yeah...as a matter a fact, I think just did as he walked away from here." the pink kimono wearing man said, tilting his straw hat up and showing his smile.

Nanao remained silent throughout their conversation, but was holding back her urge to ask what the three were talking about. But almost as if he had read her mind, Toshiro looked over at her with slightly narrowed eyes; "They're doing favors for me, and yes...it has to do with the Bounts." he said simply.

Ise's expression changed from one of surprise and slight shock, from the new information she was given. Then to a similar surprised state, only this time it was from the fact that these three captains were secretly working together. Finally she gained an annoyed expression and directed it right at her own captain; "What is it my sweet Nanao-chan?" Kyoraku asked, slightly nervously.

Ukitake sighed lightly and looked to Hitsugaya with an expression that practically said; 'here we go again'. To which the icy captain looked to the two dark haired shinigami and lightly smirked in amusement; "Hmm? Are you smirking Toshiro?" Ukitake asked, blinking a few times.

Jushiro's question made Shunsui and Nanao to look over at Toshiro with an interested expression, but all the icy captain did was raise a brow; "Did something good happen earlier today?" Jushiro asked, tilting his head to the side.

Toshiro looked away from them and up to the bright blue sky; "You could probably say that." he muttered, smirking once more.

He then gave each of them one last nod of acknowledgment before vanishing in a shunpo, leaving the three wondering of what could make the 'Ice Captain' smirk the way he did; "Hmm...you know...if I'm not mistaken, there was a little bit of lipstick on his lips." Shunsui commented, looking up in thought.

Jushiro raised a brow to his friend, then shook his head; "Not likely. It was probably just some lip gloss or something." the white haired captain said.

"I don't know...he does have a really big fan base in Soul Society. Especially since he is constantly in the Seireitei's monthly magazine." Shunsui chuckled out, causing Nanao to roll her eyes.

-Inside the Fourth Division-

Toshiro walked up to the office door and was about to knock but he heard Retsu's voice for him to come in, so he did as she said and walked in. He came up to her desk and stood a few feet from it's edge; "What is it you need to speak with me about Captain Hitsugaya?" she asked, looking up from her paperwork.

"I just need to know if you are prepared yet?" he asked simply, once again not bothering with any small talk here either.

"Yes. I have cleared enough space for a couple dozen patients. But would you mind telling me why?" Retsu asked in her gentle, yet demanding-like way.

"Just as a precaution. Many squad members will likely be hurt during the Bounts assault and it'll be easier and faster to help them when you already have the space." Toshiro claimed, to which the raven haired woman nodded.

"I see. Well you can count on the Fourth Division's support." she said, with a light, yet very genuine smile.

Toshiro nodded to her and allowed his own light smirk to her; "Thank you Unohana." he said, turning to leave.

"Would you like to visit her? She still hasn't woken up, but at least some company would be nice." Retsu said gently, knowing full well of how touchy Toshiro is when it came to 'her'.

He stood there with his back to her for a long while before he finally spoke up; "I suppose...a short visit wouldn't be too bad." he said, in an almost whisper.

'I've been avoiding this for a while now...I didn't want to get distracted during this all of this. But now...I guess there is no choice.' Toshiro thought.

He walked through the door once more and toward the room that he knew that she was staying in; 'Might as well see how she has been doing for the last few weeks.' he continued in his mind, opening the door and walking into the room.

He looked around the rather gloomy room, but stopped as he looked down at the pale figure of Hinamori; 'Her skin is still as pale as ever, but at least her breathing looks more stable since the last time.' he thought, smirking very lightly.

Toshiro walked up to a chair next to the bed and sat down in it; 'But I still have no words I can say to her. How do I even find any in the first place?'

He looked up to the IV attached to her arm, then the EKG beside it; 'Her heart rate is normal. It's almost like she's just sleeping.'

After a few minutes of sitting in the dark room, his fatigue of staying up the entire night had finally hit him and he fell into a deep sleep after only ten minutes. Little did he know that five minutes after he had fallen asleep, Rangiku had walked into the room, placed a blanket over him and sat in the chair opposite of him. But she too had fallen asleep after a few minutes, due to a similar fatigue to her captain's, only they were up for different reasons.

-Later on that night-

Toshiro snapped himself awake and immediately began scanning his surroundings; 'I'm still in the Fourth? I actually fell asleep in here?' he asked himself, blinking a few times.

But then he laid his eyes on a strawberry blonde color in the chair opposite of him; "Rangiku?" he asked aloud, raising a brow in slight surprise.

'What is she doing here?' he thought, just before noticing the light blue blanket covering him, which caused him to blink a few times in a bit of awe.

After a moment, he stood himself up, folded the blanket and set it down on the chair. He then walked up to his Lieutenant, placed an icy hand on her shoulder, which Rangiku immediately leaned in to; "Hmph. You and Yoruichi are the only two people that have told me that my ice felt warm." he said out loud, smirking slightly as he did.

From the feel of the ice on her shoulder and the sound of his voice in her ears, Rangiku's eyes fluttered open and glanced up to the shadowy silhouette of her captain. She groaned silently as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes; "Hey Captain...are you going to kiss me now?" she asked, still half awake, but sounding somehow honest.

Her words caught Toshiro off guard and caused his eyes to widen slightly; "Wh-What? Why would I kiss you?" was all he could think to say.

"Mmm?" she groaned, rubbing her eyes a little more, until she fully woke up and immediately blushed; "C-C-Captain!" she exclaimed as she blinked in surprise

She then tried to get out of the chair, but her legs got caught on one another and she tumbled toward the floor. But just before she hit, Toshiro grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back into a sitting position; "Spouting off nonsense in your sleep again huh." he muttered, standing back and sighing lightly.

'Although...this somehow felt a bit different then any other time.' he thought as he continued to just stare at her as she stood herself up properly and cleared her throat as if to clear the embarrassment away.

But he just shook his head, turned around and began walking out the door; "Let's go. We have a mission." he called out over his shoulder.

Rangiku blinked a few times in surprise; "A mission with Captain?" she asked to seemingly no one.

As Toshiro vanished from the room, he heard Rangiku immediately start running toward him, making him smirk lightly; "Wait up Captain! Don't leave me behind!" she whined out, hurrying next to him.

"So where are we going?" she asked, with a very enthusiastic tone, which made Toshiro smirk wider but much more icily.

"To kill a traitor." Toshiro said simply, causing Rangiku to take up a smirk very similar to how her captain's was at that moment.

"Maki Ichinose." Rangiku muttered knowingly, to which Toshiro nodded; "And where is he exactly?" she asked.

"Just follow me." he said, before vanishing in a shunpo, with Rangiku very close behind.

-Kusajishi District of Rukongai-

Toshiro and Rangiku landed on two high branches of two separate trees viva shunpoes; "So this is it?" the strawberry blonde asked, looking around at the deserted area.

"Yep. Don't worry, he's close by." Toshiro said, looking across a grassy plain; "You can stop hiding, there's no escape for you." he continued, jumping out of the tree.

He landed on the ground and stared intently on a certain spot in the air that seemed to have nothing but air; "Is this his Zanpakuto's power? Or is it a kido?" Rangiku asked, jumping down to join him.

"Yes. He can bend light around him and make himself invisible. But only to the naked eye, for people that can sense others as strongly as I can...we can tell were he is just fine." the white haired captain explained.

"You are as good as the legends have said. You are quite remarkable, Captain Hitsugaya." Ichinose claimed as he became visible to the two before him.

"Hmph, sorry...but I'm not interested in small talk today. Let's just get this over with." Hitsugaya said, shifting his body to the side in a fighting position.

Ichinose's eyes narrowed and he immediately drew his sword; "Fine...I welcome death for Kariya-sama's plan to succeed!" he declared loudly.

The raven haired man jumped forward, screaming out a battle cry as he did, but Hitsugaya just stayed right where he was and simply lifted his ice covered hand. Ichinose shunpoed off to his right side to try and catch the white haired captain off guard. But it turned out that he had brought his icy hand to block the attack he knew was coming on that side. Ichinose then tried to spin around and kick Rangiku, but she had just stepped backward, brung her hand up and simply swatted his leg away.

Ichinose's eyes became wide once more, but he shunpoed again and tried to stab Hitsugaya from behind. To which the icy captain moved slightly out of the way and dodged the strike with ease. He then used his momentum of going to the side to spin himself around and deliver a rather lazy kick straight into Ichinose's ribs. Which had broken on contact from the immense strength of the kick. The taller man coughed up blood, then literally flew back twenty feet before he regained his footing and glared at the icy captain; "Damn it!" he cursed angrily.

Ichinose gripped his sword tighter, then vanished from sight; "I've already told you..." Hitsugaya began before suddenly crouched down for seemingly no reason.

He then twirled his body around, did a sweeping kick just above the grass, quickly stood himself up and send a spinning heel kick to the air. But the moment his ice covered heel slowed down slightly, Ichinose's body suddenly shimmered into existence. Which showed how the dagger-like heel of Hitsugaya's ice covered foot, dug into his opponents cheek and tore a large gash into his face. Ichinose was tossed across the field, leaving a long trail of blood behind him and letting out a loud scream as he went.

He flew straight past Rangiku, whom had her arms crossed, and a bored expression on her features, as if annoyed at the fact that she was left out of the fight. As he hit the earth, his ribs broke even further and even cracked the ones that weren't, causing him to scream out in pain once again. This time, the raven haired man stood up even slower, using his Zanpakuto for support; "You can't hide from me." Hitsugaya finally finished.

The raven haired man brought a shaky hand up to his blood face and winced from the extreme pain; "Damn you! You son of a bitch!" he yelled out as he once again charged at Hitsugaya, still not paying Rangiku any mind.

Just as his blade reached the icy captain, Hitsugaya spun around the blade and in turn, around Ichinose himself; "Pathetic." he muttered from behind him.

Ichinose was about to turn around as his eyes began to widen, but he didn't even turn a single centimeter before Hitsugaya back handed him across the unbloodied side of his face. The blow tore into his jaw line and left multiple slashes on it, which immediately began bleeding quite heavily. His back hand had also caused Ichinose to go spinning through the air and landing painfully on the ground, completely shattering almost all his ribs in the process.

As he was slowly and very painfully standing himself up, Toshiro suddenly appeared on his left side, causing his eyes to widen, fall back to the ground and crawl away in fear. All Toshiro did was smirk icily at how scared the man was; "For someone ready to die...you seem quite afraid." the white haired captain stated.

The raven haired man ground his teeth together in anger, brought his sword up with a shaky hand to thrust it through his opponent. But all he stabbed was air, which caused him to begin shaking in fear, as it slowly over took him. He was about to look around, but Toshiro sent a powerful front kick into his back, sending him skidding and tumbling across the ground, with his face hitting every other time.

As he went, the blood from his face splash onto the grass and left unsightly red stains on the green area. After he came to a stop, he shifted his body around to lay on his stomach, then he propped himself up on his knees and eventually stood on his feet. Ichinose staggered and shook on his feet; "I have..to give..Kariya-sama..enough time..to..attack the Seirei..tei." he said to himself between each gasp of air, bringing his sword up and pointing it toward Toshiro.

To which the white haired captain raised a brow to him and just sighed lightly; "Tch, is that what he told you?" he asked, sounding slightly smug in his tone.

"Wh-What do you..mean?" Ichinose strained out, looking at Hitsugaya with wide and questionable eyes.

"That message he sent me was a deal he was offering me. He said that he wanted me out of the way when he attacked the Seireitei tonight, so he told me that in exchange...I could kill you, the traitor of the Gotei Thirteen." Hitsugaya claimed, readying himself for what he knew was coming.

Ichinose's eyes widened even further in shock; "Wh-What? Th-That can't be..true. That's...not..possible. That's not true!" he screamed out.

He then, painfully raised his blade into the air and glared continuously at Hitsugaya; "Koka hirameke, Saigyoku Nijigasumi!" he yelled out angrily.

A sudden burst of spirit energy erupted from the raven haired man, then a multitude of twinkling lights began to surround Toshiro and expanded into a large sphere around him. The sphere increased to a massive size, covering everything, one hundred feet in every direction with pure light. It had even consumed Rangiku, whom was still just standing in the same expression and stance.

"I won't let you feed me these lies!" Ichinose exclaimed as he stood outside the sphere, but he fell to the ground, clutched his ribs and coughed up more blood.

Hitsugaya sighed lightly, looked around the shadow vacant area; "Hmph. Looks like I struck a nerve." he muttered to himself.

Then, the icy captain allowed a sudden burst of his spirit energy to flow out of him, causing all of the light to suddenly disperse and Ichinose's eyes to widen to their fullest capacity. He looked at Hitsugaya in shock, not able to believe how easily he had broken free; "I-It can't..be. That's impossible." he whispered.

"Nope. You just can't fathom his true power." Rangiku claimed as she, uncrossed her arms and leaned against a nearby tree; "You're nothing but an insect to him." she continued, goading him into doing something rash.

The taller man ground his teeth together once more, clenched his hands on his Zanpakuto and shook slightly in his pain, anger and fear; "No one is invincible...everyone has a weakness. And I'll find yours!" he screamed out.

He then pushed aside his extreme pain, lept forward and readying his sword toward his seemingly invincible opponent. To which Toshiro merely waited till the last second to raise his icy hand up and stop his attack with a single claw; "You're right Ichinose. Everyone does have a weakness, and there are a select few people that know mine. But sorry...you're not going to be one of them." he said simply, yet icily.

As soon as Toshiro's words left his lips, he used his other hand to send his ice covered claws through his stomach and lift him into the air. The white haired captain smirked darkly at the traitorous shinigami as blood splashed and squirted on his face and uniform; "Good bye. Traitorous scum." Toshiro said, freezing the air with his words and tossing Ichinose's bloody body to the side.

The raven haired man gasped for air, but only found blood and shook violently from the lack of oxygen; "Count yourself lucky. If I weren't here, you would suffer a lot more." Rangiku said, walking up to them.

She then, unsheathed her sword and stabbed it through his heart; "Rest in peace." Rangiku whispered, cleaned her Zanpakuto and sheathed it once more.

Toshiro looked at her then at himself, but mostly the blood that covered most of his arm and his uniform; "Looks like I need to clean myself off. The others are coming after all." he said, slightly waving his bloody hand as if to further emphasize this words.

Rangiku nodded lightly and even smirked; "I would highly suggest it." she claimed, widening her smirk slightly.

* * *

Well that's that. The next chapter will feature Toshiro's fight with Koga. ;) I'll try to make it even better then the anime. XD Till next time...and don't forget to review, I will greatly appreciate them. :)


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52:**

Toshiro and Rangiku stood in the grassy plain, both with stern expressions on their faces and their arms crossed across or under their chest. The strawberry blonde sighed for a moment and looked to her captain; "How much longer do they intend to keep us waiting? They were only a few minutes away not too long ago, but after your fight...they just started wandering. Geez, they really suck at sensing spirit energy." she claimed in a huff.

"Please don't put me in the same league as Kurosaki. But it is true that he is truly terrible at sensing spirit energy." Uryu claimed, walking out of the shadows of trees and adjusting his glasses.

"Ishida! Where the hell did you go? You better not have just left me behind! Ishida!" the voice of Ichigo echoed in the forest.

"Over here Kurosaki! Now stop yelling!" Uryu called out, making sure his tone was only just loud enough for the orange haired teen to hear.

The sound of foots steps was heard as Ichigo quickened his pace and came nearer to the three; "What the hell is that?" Uryu demanded, becoming slightly wide eyed as he looked down at the bloody corpse of Maki Ichinose.

"Huh? Oh, that's Captain's handy work." Rangiku claimed casually as she looked from the dead body to Ishida, then gave a quick wink to her superior.

Ichigo burst through a large thorn bush off to the side of the trio, but as came through, the thorns cut at his skin and clothes, causing him to yelp. He then began plucking the thorns from his small cuts and shinigami uniform; "What took you so long, Kurosaki?" Uryu asked, sounding rather smug in his tone.

"Oh shut up. Not everyone can be professionals at sensing spirit energy." Ichigo claimed in an annoyed tone, then looked around them with a questionable expression; "What are you two doing here?"

"We came here to rid ourselves of this guy." Rangiku stated, pointing once again to the dead body of Maki Ichinose.

The two teens blinked a few times in shock, but just shook it off and looked behind them as a stampede-like sound thundered toward them. The four listened as the noise drew closer and closer till they saw the source of it, it was a large boar with Orihime and Chad riding on it's back. The former screaming loudly, yet somewhat cutely, while the latter just stayed calm and just waited for the boar to come to a stop. Just as the tusked animal skidded to a halt before the four, Chad and Orihime jumped down from the boars back and walked up to the small group.

"Kurosaki-kun, Ishida-kun, Hitsugaya-kun, Rangiku-chan...what are all of you doing here?" the teen girl asked, looking at each person she announced with an innocent and curious expression, not able to see Ichinose from her angle.

"Well, you see-" but Rangiku was cut of as Toshiro raised his ice covered hand up, the action in itself had seemed to make the world go silent and the boar to just run away.

"You can explain later, we need to get back to the Seireitei. Jin is already there, probably about to open the gates if I'm correct on the timing. So let's go." the white haired captain claimed, giving them all a hard stare.

The teens just looked at him with a determined look on their faces, then nodded in agreement to his words. Toshiro nodded back, turned toward to Seireitei's direction and started running quickly, with all the others following him across the grassy field. Chad had noticed the bloody form of the traitorous shinigami as they passed and ran in just the right angle as to not allow Orihime to see it, not wanting to traumatize her.

They continued to run in silence, the sound of the grass crunching under their feet and the wind blowing around them being the only sounds heard. As they neared the Western Gate of the Seireitei, the sun began rising on the horizon and illuminated the once dark scenery before them. Once the gate was in sight, they noticed that it had already been pried opened by a large wooden crowbar-like device; "Damn it! We're too late!" Ichigo exclaimed, running faster to try and reach the gate.

As the orange haired teen neared it, he noticed Jin and Koga on the other side and tried to pick up his pace to catch them. But suddenly, Jin turned around with a smug smirk on his face, held out his hand and sent a powerful gust of wind toward them. Which had no only blew Ichigo back to the others, but knocked the wooden lever away from the door, making it slam back to the ground. Ichigo stood himself up and ground his teeth together; "Shit...how do we get in?"

But the moment he looked at the injured Jidando, his thoughts focused more on the large shinigami's condition then getting through the gate. Ichigo walked up to him, looked to Orihime and gestured for her to come over; "Hey, Inoue...try to heal him quickly. He'll be able to open the gate for us much better if he's in better shape." he said.

Toshiro smirked lightly to his actions; 'He not only thinks about the mission at hand, but his comrades and friends just as much...if not more. Just like his father.' he thought, walking forward.

"Inoue...you stay here and heal Ikkanzaka. The rest of you, come with me." Toshiro said, going up to the enormous gate and taking in a deep breath.

The white haired captain knelt down, placed one of his icy hands beneath the gates bottom and lifted the gate up, almost effortlessly; "Let's go." he said simply.

Everyone but Rangiku were wide eyed at the display of raw strength, but they quickly nodded and ran through the gate, each of them having to duck slightly from being too tall. Toshiro rolled his eyes at this fact but looked at Orihime; "Once he's healed, have him open the gate for you and meet us at the Tenth Division." he said, to which the teen girl nodded.

Toshiro opened his free hand, concentrated his power into it, which created a small shard of ice, which was shaped like a rhombus with the kanji of 'Ten' on it; "If you need directions, just ask any shinigami around you. And if they give you problems...show them this." he said, tossing the piece of ice to her.

Orihime nodded to him with a light smile on her face; "Thank you Hitsugaya-kun...good luck!" she called out.

The icy captain nodded to her, he bent his elbow slightly, turned around and snapped his arm straight once more. The action caused the gate to fly up in the air a few dozen feet, which gave Toshiro enough time to walk out from under it. As the gate slammed into the ground, a large cloud of dirt was uplifted and surrounded everyone in a thick fog; "Hurry up...before they get too far ahead." Toshiro spoke up as the dirt began clearing.

The three teens nodded to his words and quickly separated from each other to go off and begin their search; "What about us Captain?" Rangiku asked as she walked up next to him.

Toshiro didn't respond to her, he just looked off to the side as a hell butterfly fluttered up to them, landed on Rangiku's finger and began relaying it's message. The strawberry blonde raised a brow, then narrowed her eyes on the small black and purple insect; "A Captain's meeting? At this time?" she muttered aloud, before looking to her superior with a questionable expression.

"You go ahead and start your search, I'll meet up with you later. I'm going to get the Onmitsukido mobilized." Toshiro said, to which his Lieutenant nodded to him and vanished in a shunpo.

The white haired captain sighed lightly, looked to the First Division, then narrowed his eyes in determination; "Here comes the blaming." he muttered to himself before shunpoing away.

-First Division-

"I wonder what the Tenth Division Captain has been up to all this time?" Mayuri said, in a very suspicious way.

'I hate being right.' Toshiro thought with a light sigh, not bothering to look at the painted face man beside him.

"Wasn't he supposed to eliminate the ryoka? But it looks like all he did was just help them infiltrate the Seireitei. I'm surprised that you can show your face so shamelessly here." Mayuri continued, going from slightly aggravated to smug in his tone.

Toshiro just kept looking straight ahead of him; "I'm not making any excuses, nor am I pointing fingers...Kurotsuchi." he said, glancing at the man with an icy glare.

Mayuri ground his teeth in his building anger, but he remained silent; "Captain Kuchiki, I've heard that you fought against this Jin Kariya. Do you have any information that could help us fight against him?" Sajin asked, sounding very respectful of the raven haired man beside him.

"Mmm. He has the ability to manipulate the wind, and he can use the spirit particles around him to use some type of healing technique. But his power level is below many of ours, I would have been able to defeat him if not for the fact that one of his allies arrived and covered their escape." Byakuya claimed, sounding almost like it had been so easy for him.

Toshiro smirked lightly and just closed his eyes; "Who cares! I say that we should question the Tenth Division Captain about his involvement in this matter!" Mayuri suddenly exclaimed, pointing to Toshiro with an accusing finger.

"We know all about it." Shunsui began, looking over the white haired captain's head to the orange-gold eyed man.

"About what?" Mayuri asked, raising a brow to the pink kimono wearing captain, not understanding where he was going with his words.

"About that Quincy's item. The Bount were able to come here because someone from the Shinigami Research and Development Institute gave it to him. Didn't you fall into their trap as well?" Shunsui claimed, smirking the entire time he spoke, which caused the other captain to become wide eyed at the man's knowledge.

"What did you just say?" Kurotsuchi demanded, clenching his fists and grinding his oddly white teeth together.

"Well, I was just thinking that you were really good at placing the blame on other people. When you should be looking at yourself." Kyoraku said, taking up a more serious expression.

"The whole thing makes my blood boil! I have already taken responsibility for my actions! And I would really like to know where you heard this information?" the paint faced man asked, still very apparent about his anger.

Shunsui just chuckled lightly and shrugged of his fellow captain's still building hatred; "I have good hearing." was all he said.

Before anything else could be said, the Head Captain slammed his cane down on the floor boards; "We don't have time to squabble!" the old man called out.

He then took one last glance at each of the captains gathered and took in a deep breath; "All high ranking officers of the Gotei Thirteen are to disperse throughout the Seireitei and kill the ryoka as soon as they're found! Crush them all till there is nothing left! And as for you, Tenth Division Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya; I am keeping you as the operation Commander. Any and all information about the Bount's whereabouts will be reported to you and distributed to the other squads."

"Furthermore, I want each squad to make hourly reports of their area. They will not escape us! Dismissed!" the Head Captain finished.

"Sir!" all the other captains called out then vanished in shunpoes.

-Outside the Second Division-

Toshiro and Soifon stood before the entire Onmitsukido force as they all kneeled before their commanders; "Squad one, you will patrol the western side. Squad two, you will take the north. Squad three, the south. Squad four, the east." Soifon ordered out.

"Yes Ma'am!" all of the members from the spoken squads yelled out just before disappearing in shunpoes.

Soifon looked to Toshiro as if asking if there was anything else that needed to be said, but he merely shook his head and gestured for her to carry on with an ice covered hand. The raven haired woman nodded respectfully and turned back to the remaining squads; "The rest of you will patrol the inner areas. Leave no place unchecked! Dismissed!" she announced

She received another wave of 'Yes Ma'am's' and the sound of shunpoes as they all vanished; "Now it's simply the waiting game. Where will they strike first." Toshiro said, narrowing his eyes on the wall opposite of him.

Soifon looked at him with a questionable expression; "Where would you say they will show their appearance first?" she asked, sounding humble in her tone.

"Jin will show up in the Twelfth, that's for sure. But the rest are going to be random...they could attack anywhere, in any Division." Toshiro claimed, to which Soifon looked around them suspiciously.

"Let me know if you run into any of them. You know how to reach me." the white haired captain said, looking to his 'self proclaimed' subordinate.

The petite woman nodded to him and bowed; "I will Captain Hitsugaya." she claimed before both shinigami disappeared in shunpoes of their own.

-Tenth Division-

Rangiku leaned against the Division's gates with her eyes closed and arms crossed under her chest; "I sent the squads out on their patrols." she reported seemingly to no one.

But then Toshiro suddenly appeared a few feet in front of her and nodded; "More then likely...we'll have a quiet day. If the Bounts are smart, they'll attack a different division and avoid us at all costs." he said, to which his lieutenant nodded and opened her eyes.

"So what are we going to do? Stay here for now, or search the area ourselves?" the strawberry blonde asked, pushing herself off the gate and walked up beside him.

"We'll be receiving all the squads intel on where the Bounts are spotted. So we're going to stay here for now and sort out any type of pattern to their attacks. Even if I planned everything out, I won't know exactly where they will be attacking first." Toshiro claimed, to which Rangiku nodded once again.

"Alright. Do you think they will attack in groups? Or individually?" she asked, sounding much like a strategist in a war.

"Bounts are one person fighters, they never fight together and will probably target the lower officers before making their way up to the Lieutenants and Captains." Toshiro claimed, looking down in thought and closing his eyes.

"To test their abilities against us." the strawberry blonde speculated, causing Toshiro to nod in agreement; "So that means that they'll be using guerrilla tactics to get through our defenses."

Toshiro nodded once more, then glanced in the Second Division's direction; "And I think their onslaught has begun." he said as a high level spiritual pressure was felt in the Second's vicinity.

But the two just ignored it and walked into through the division grounds and straight to the office; "So the war against the Bounts begins." Rangiku whispered silently to herself with a battle-ready expression on her face.

* * *

Sorry this is a little short, I wanted to add one chapter between the two fights, so then the next chapter wouldn't draw out till the end for the fight to actually begin. And those of you that don't know; 'intel' is short for intelligence, which is information about something. {The More You Know} ;) I hope you all liked this, I should have the next chapter up on Tuesday. ;)


	53. Chapter 53

Sorry everyone, I keep miscalculating how far Toshiro's and Koga's fight is. But I'm pretty positive it should be either the next chapter or the one after that. But here is Soifon's fight to hold you over till then. And just to let you all know, I will have to switch over to Soifon's POV every once in a while so you can get the full effect of what's happening. Hope you all enjoy. ;)

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**Chapter 53:**

-Later on that day in the Tenth Division's office-

Toshiro listened to a message, viva a hell butterfly from the Seventh Division, telling him that there was no sign of the Bounts anywhere. He merely dismissed the insect and looked to Rangiku, whom was listening to a message from the Ninth. She waved the bug away and sighed deeply; "So far, the only division that has seen anything is the Second, and they have yet to catch the one in their area." she said, taking up a bored expression.

The icy captain, sighed lightly as well, unable to hide the fact that he agreed with her; "Sorry to do this to you Rangiku, but I want you to stay here and keep monitoring the messages. I'm going to go to the Second and see if I can just get rid of that Bount once in for all."

Rangiku frowned and huffed at her captain; "Oh sure, you get to have all the fun...while I sit here at take calls like an office assistant." she pouted.

Toshiro smirked lightly in amusement; "Once this one is taken care of, I'll monitor the hell butterflies and you can go and defeat the first Bount you encounter. Sound fair?" he asked, changing to a fake annoyed tone.

The strawberry blonde appeared to be thinking over her options, despite having already made up her mind; "I suppose I can do that. But if you don't come back and let me take one of them down...you'll owe me a drink." she claimed, winking to him.

Toshiro raised a brow to her, then vanished in a shunpo, to which Rangiku sighed loudly; "Now I'm almost hoping he doesn't come back, just so we can go out and have a drink together...just me and him."

-Second Division-

Soifon and a few select members of the Onmitsukido were standing before half of the members from two of the four squads she sent out earlier. The petite woman had a seemingly permanent scowl on her face as she looked at everyone before her; "We're in a state of emergency. What are we going to do if the guards are incapable of working properly at a time like this?" she yelled out, making her displeasure of their performances apparent.

Just as she was thinking of more ways to get them motivated to get them to step up their investigation, one of the members behind her suddenly threw a blue object at her, which looked similar to the Bount's Bitto. But just before it was about to hit, she moved out of the way, unsheathed her zanpakuto and sliced it in half; "Who threw that?" she demanded in an icy tone.

One of the shinigami suddenly began half way growling, half way screaming as the men and woman around him restrained his limbs; "What's going on with this guy?" she asked herself, narrowing her eyes on the man.

But then, the man just went limp in the other members arms, causing many of them to stare at him in slight shock; "He's dead." one of them said as they felt no pulse from him.

Soifon narrowed her eyes further; 'What the hell is going on? Were one of the Bounts controlling him? But if that's the case, then why would they only control one person? They should know better then to try such tactics against a captain class.' she thought as she began sensing the area around her for any anomalies.

Though she could not feel any signs of odd spirit energies, she did feel a strong killing intent near by, but one of the Onmitsukido members suddenly screamed loudly, drew their sword and headed straight for her. Soifon merely lept into the air and spun a round house kick into the man's head, knocking him out instantly; "Who else here had contact with the Bounts?" she demanded, landing on the ground and glaring at each of her subordinates in suspicion.

"We fought against one in the Southern area." one spoke up, gesturing to their squadron.

"We fought one in the Western area as well." a second called out, pointing to themselves and the five other members next to him.

Soifon narrowed her eyes on them, watching each of the men and woman carefully; "For the protection of yourselves and the division..." she began, just before vanishing from sight.

The two groups that had spoken up had all suddenly fallen to the ground unconscious; "...you must be taken to the Fourth and sedated till we can remove the effects." she finished, sounding like an order to the other squad members.

The remaining Onmitsukido nodded their heads to her, picked up the unconscious men and woman, and shunpoed away; "Now I just need to find that Bount." she muttered, looking around with narrowed eyes.

"Start at the Sacrificial Watch Tower." someone muttered to the side, causing Soifon to turn sharply in that direction.

She was about to demand for the person to identify themselves, but she immediately recognized the familiar spirit energy; 'I let my guard down too much. He was able to come this close to me without me even being able to notice.' she thought, bowing down on her knees.

"Captain Hitsugaya, my apologies. I had no idea you would be coming back so soon." she said humbly, keeping her eyes fixed to the ground.

Toshiro simply waved her off; "I said there isn't any need for formalities, besides...the Bount is getting further away. Start your search at the tower and I'll meet you back here once your finished." he said to her as if it were an order.

"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya! I will defeat the Bount and return our men and woman to normal!" she exclaimed, look up to him with a determined yet submissive expression, to which he nodded to her and smirked lightly.

"I know you will. Good luck Soifon." Toshiro said, nodding to her once more before closing his eyes and crossing his arms as if in a meditating pose.

Soifon stood herself up, looked to the Sacrificial Towers off to her right side and began shunpoing in its direction; "I won't let you down Captain Hitsugaya." she said to herself in a motivated way as she went.

Toshiro cracked one of his eyes open as if making sure she was gone, then smirked lightly; "I know you won't Soifon." he muttered under his breath and shunpoed the same way the petite woman did.

'The best way to test her abilities is to pit her against one of the Bounts.' he thought as he followed his fellow commander.

Soifon arrived at the tower and immediately spotted the Bount Mabashi leaning against one of the walls, just watching as the shinigami down below attacked one another, due to his Doll. He smiled widely at the sight, not noticing Soifon's presence right away; "So your the one that was trying to control my subordinates." she said, glaring at the orange haired man.

Mabashi looked over at her, smirked widely, then pushed himself off the wall and began walking towards her; "Maybe I did...maybe I didn't." he said smugly, not even noticing Toshiro landing in a shunpo at the top of one of the high walls.

"Your going to pay for that." Soifon claimed, gripping her haori and shinigami kosode, then tearing it away from her body.

The smirking Bount only seemed to enhance his expression as she readied for battle; "Do you strip for all your opponents?" he laughed out, clearly not taking her seriously.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on the man and clenched his fists; 'Tch, your such a typical man...you don't even deserve to look at her in that fashion.' he thought, growling in his throat.

Soifon suddenly returned his smirk and clenched her owns fists tightly together; "There are only two people in this or any world that I would ever strip for...and you are far from one of them."

Her response caused Toshiro's eyes to widen slightly in surprise; "W-What? Why the hell would she strip for anyone?" he asked silently to no one.

The very second her words had reached the Bounts ears, she was suddenly behind him and winding a punch toward his spinal cord. Mabashi was able to realize this just in time to turn his body slightly, but only enough to avoid being paralyzed by having his spin severed in half. He had still taken a powerful hit into his back, which had sent him flying toward the wall before him. Though he was able to flip himself around so he would land on it feet first, Soifon had shunpoed above him, delivered an elbow into his chest and flipped away in case of a counter attack.

Toshiro nodded his head and smirked lightly; 'Not bad Soifon. This fight will be over as quickly as I suspect it to be.' he thought, widening his smirk a bit.

Mabashi hit the ground with so much force that he lost his breath, then gasped for air as he painfully stood himself back up; "You bitch! I'll kill you for that!" he exclaimed angrily.

Soifon stood a few feet away from him and merely kept her eyes on him, not allowing anything to distract her. The orange haired man growled to her, then moved at a speed close to a shunpo and attempted to punch her, but she easily blocked the blow. He then flowed it up with a combination of three more punches and two round house kicks between. Yet Soifon was able to block all of them and even deliver a few knees into his stomach each time he kicked.

Just as Soifon sent a somewhat lazy palm toward her opponent, he spun his body around it and came up on her side. He then gathered much of his strength and sent a very powerful punch right into Soifon's stomach. But even though the blow had been taken directly, the raven haired woman was unhindered, then grabbed his wrist with one hand and his elbow with the other. She then stepped forward, bent Mabashi's arm behind his back, kicked one of his knees out and just as she let his arm go, she spun herself around and delivered a round house kick to the back of his head.

Mabashi's face slammed into the ground hard, but he was able to catch himself and flip his body back to a standing position. Soifon just stood there with a confident expression, but making sure not to let her guard down; "You bitch...I'll make you suffer. You're not leaving here alive! Do you hear me!" he yelled out.

Soifon merely narrowed her eyes further, seemingly to take on a similar icy expression as Toshiro's, which caused the Bount's eyes to become wide. He just stared at her, unable to move from his shock and building anger; "That look...it's the same look he gave me when he beat me. It's like they're looking down at a piece of dirt of their feet...hate that look. I'm going to kill you..." he began, whispering most of his words to himself.

He then began taking something from his pocket and glared at Soifon even more; "I'm going to kill you! And then that bastard Hitsugaya!" he finished in a scream as he jumped forward.

The petite woman readied herself for the attack, but as Mabashi came toward her, he suddenly became wide eyed, stopped himself in his tracks and looked up at the sky; "H-Hitsugaya..." he stuttered out as he finally realized said captain's presence.

Soifon's eyes became wide and she couldn't help but look up towards her self proclaimed commander; "C-Captain Hitsugaya...I thought you would meet me back there." she said, now feeling slightly nervous about being watched by him.

Toshiro sighed lightly as he nodded to her, but then he noticed Mabashi looking back to Soifon and readying something in his hand. He then narrowed his eyes on Soifon and pointed at her with an icy claw; "You're in the middle of a fight! This is not time to become distracted!" he yelled out to her as if she were one of his squad members.

The raven haired captain became wide eyed and looked back to her opponent as he came forward with a small blue object in his hand. Her eyes went even wider as she recognized the object; 'That was what they tried to poison me with before. This is smaller though...it could be a higher dose. I can't let him reach me.' she thought within the brief second it took her to dodge his first attack.

Soifon crouched down, laid her upper body on the ground, then lifted her lower body into the air and delivered a powerful kick into Mabashi's chest. She then pushed her whole body off the ground with her arms and sent a series of kicks into his chest, causing him to gasp for air. Then, just as she swung her body around to deliver a round house kick to his face, he grinned slightly to her and grabbed one of her ankles. He brought the poisonous object up with an even wider grin on his face, and due to her short legs and his long arms, he stabbed her in her hip with it.

Mabashi was just about to begin chuckling from his success, but then Soifon placed her free foot on his chest and pushed off so hard that he was forced to let go of her ankle and to go skidding across the ground. Soifon used the force to back flip herself into a fighting position, then jump forward and send a powerful palm to his face. Mabashi slammed into one of the walls, and imbedded himself into it just as Soifon landed back on the ground; "Sting all enemies to death..." Soifon called out unsheathing her Zanpakuto and narrowed her eyes on her opponent.

"Suzumebachi." she finished, causing her sword and right hand to glow a bright white, then as the light died down, it revealed the gauntlet on her arm and the stinger on her middle finger, with a small chain attaching the two.

Soifon winced as she took the poisonous object from her leg, but she immediately jumped forward and stabbed Mabashi in his chest. The orange haired man became wide eyed and stared down at the stinger in his chest; "I-Impossible...that was a more powerful poison...you should have been paralyzed in seconds. How can you be standing?" he asked as blood began to seep through the wound.

"Because...I will never be defeated when Captain Hitsugaya is watching me." she said, just before immediately applying the second sting.

"You lost the moment he commanded me to come fight you." she claimed in a light smirk as his face distorted into a horrified one and was reduced to dust.

Soifon staggered back a few steps and was about to fall, but she was caught by Toshiro as he shunpoed behind her; "You did well Soifon." he said, smirking lightly in a rather proud way.

"C-Captain Hitsugaya..." was all she could say before he picked her up bridal style and began walking the opposite direction of the Bount's dust covered clothes.

"Sorry about this Soifon...but if I don't do this, you won't make it to the Fourth. I also placed a sedative that should take effect soon." Toshiro said, which only made the small woman in his arms to stare at him confused.

He then, positioned one of his hands on her hip, making her blush deeply, but he suddenly stabbed one of his icy claws into her small wound, which caused her yelp and grip at his haori in pain. Toshiro surged his icy spirit energy into her wound, which had sent shivers through Soifon's body and grip at his uniform tighter. The white haired captain removed his claw, then repositioned his hand back to its original place and continued carrying her.

Soifon looked up at him, then to her hip and nodded; "You froze the poison so it couldn't flow through my blood stream. Thank you Captain Hitsugaya." she said in an admiring tone.

Toshiro looked down at her, smirked lightly and nodded; "No problem. I don't let people hurt my subordinates or friends." he claimed, without any hint of doubt in his words.

Soifon blushed deeply once more, looked away from him, then smiled lightly, closed her eyes and snuggled into Toshiro's arms. Her actions caused the white haired captain to raise a brow, but he just dismissed it and shunpoed them to the Fourth Division. On the way, Soifon had fallen unconscious from the sedative he used on her from the claw that froze the poison. He walked into one of the free rooms and set her on one of the many empty beds; "You'll probably have a lot more coming in." he said, seemingly to no one.

"I take it the Bount has been taken care of." Unohana's voice said in a knowing tone, to which Toshiro nodded; "How many are left?" she continued.

"Including Kariya, three." Hitsugaya stated simply, to which the raven haired healer nodded; "This battle won't last much longer. I will personally make sure of that." he claimed, then vanished in shunpo.

-Near the Ninth Division training area-

Toshiro shunpoed on the top of one of the many buildings, then stopped as he felt a spike in spirit energy; "Seems like Kurotsuchi found someone to take his anger out on. Too bad Yoshi won't stand a chance." he commented, looking in the direction of where the battle was about to begin.

He then began shunpoing once more toward his destination; "Jin should have gotten to the Twelfth by now, but he better not have caused too much damage. I still need supplies from there." he muttered to himself as he continued on.

As he reached the Twelfth, he immediately noticed that the entrance gates had been broken through and that much of the room inside had been mostly destroyed. Toshiro walked through the opening, looked around the wreckage around him, ignoring the fact that Jin was still standing right there. He then walked over to one of the fallen ceiling tiles, lifted it away easily and tossed it to the side, which revealed Nemu's slightly bloody form. The icy captain offered her his ice covered hand and nodded in reassurance; "C-Captain..Hitsugaya." she mumbled out before taking his hand.

Toshiro helped her back to her feet, and steadied her as she wobbled slightly, but she immediately snapped to a battle position when she saw Jin; "Watch out sir! That man is dangerous!" she exclaimed, placing herself before the white haired captain in a protecting manner.

To which he just placed an ice covered hand on her shoulder and nodded once more; "I know, but you don't have to worry about him...it's already being taken care of." he said calmly, making Nemu look back at him nod in agreement.

Jin raised a brow to his words, then narrowed his eyes as he began to question himself about what the white haired captain meant; "What are you talking about?" he asked, not realizing the two figures behind him.

"Finally found you, Kariya." Ichigo claimed as he and Chad walked closer to the white haired Bount; "This time...you're going down." he continued, as he glared daggers at him.

Toshiro merely nodded knowingly and looked to Nemu; "We'll let them handle this, right now I need something from your father. Would you mind helping me find it?" he asked.

Nemu blushed lightly and nodded; "Yes Captain Hitsugaya. Anything you need." she said, once again showing a level of emotion that seemed foreign on her normally emotionless face as they began walking away.

Jin raised a brow to Toshiro's leaving form, then just like before, he narrowed his eyes and wondered what the icy captain was thinking; "You don't have time to look away!" Ichigo exclaimed, jumping forward with Chad right beside him.

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Alright, there's chapter 53. Holy hell...this is a long story already and I've only reach the 'almost' end of the Bount arc. Anyway, I hope to see everyone review...I've been getting fewer then normal lately and I really want to have more then six or seven. I know it's probably about average to have that many, but my aim is to have above average. ;) I hope you all help me.


	54. Chapter 54

Sorry for the late update...I got a bad case of writers block and I only got rid of it cause of my friends help. ;) So thank you Tuli-chan. And btw everyone, if you have any ideas or suggestions for my story, or even a character you want me to add, I'd be more then willing to listen and oblige. Now on with the story.

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**Chapter 54:**

-Twelfth Division-

Toshiro and Nemu walked down the many steps of a poorly lit winding staircase, their steps echoing around them were the only sounds that could be heard. As they continued down, Nemu glanced over to her companion and was about to voice a question, but stopped as they reach the bottom of the stairs. As they stepped down from the last step, they were met by a long hallway with the outline of a large set of metal double doors. But once they stepped a few more feet, a set of long and bright lights illuminated the hallway, which showed five differently colored walls.

The walls themselves were transparent so they could still see their destination before them, but it was through a strange combination of all the different colors that made up the walls. Toshiro scanned the first wall, noticing that it was a dark blue color with a small keypad in the center; "These are security checkpoints that require verification of our identities for us to enter." Nemu claimed.

"The first is merely a password encryption." she continued, walking up to the pad and typing in a few numbers.

Once she finished, she stepped a few steps away, then the wall shone brightly and disappeared a split second later. They then continued on to the next wall and immediately noticed that this wall's color was a golden, very similar to Mayuri's Zanpakuto's release form. Toshiro raised a brow to this, looked behind him briefly and chuckled lightly; "Figures your father would do something like this." he muttered to himself.

Nemu raised a brow to him as they walked to the next wall; "What is it?" she asked, though her tone was emotionless, it was hiding curiosity in it.

"He chose colors that he himself has. He has dark blue hair, his Shikai changes his kantana into a make-shift golden sword. And his Bankai's creature has purple poison constantly pouring from it's mouth." Toshiro said.

He started off his words by pointing behind them with an ice covered thumb, then finishing with an icy claw pointing at the purple wall before them. All the while, Nemu merely followed his gestures and then looked further ahead of them to the two other walls beyond the one in front of them. She then nodded her head in agreement; "I truly did not notice. I have never thought of this security system as a way to show one's personal choices of colors." she said.

Toshiro smirked lightly to the way she sounded so technical about something as simple as, using your favorite colors in something. They then looked down at a small pin, which was sticking out of a round dish from the purple wall. The white haired captain raised a brow to this and looked to Nemu; "A DNA scanner." he said simply, to which she nodded.

Nemu then pricked one of her fingers and watched as the single drop of blood stream down from the needle to the small dish. As the blood hit, the wall did the same as the previous one and vanished before their eyes; "If I may ask you Captain Hitsugaya, what do you need this information for?" the raven haired woman asked, finally deciding to inquire about what he was planning.

The two went on to the next wall, which was an olive green, the same color as the Twelfth Division's. There was a bright hand shaped outline on the walls surface, but though Toshiro's eyes were on the wall, his mind was on Nemu's question; "I am creating a mo-." but Toshiro was interrupted by a sudden explosion from above them.

They both looked up and narrowed their eyes; "Sorry Nemu, but we need to hurry if we're going to stop Jin from destroying your father's division." Toshiro said, knowing that if her father was displeased, she would pay for it.

'I won't let him...this is more of my fault then hers.' Toshiro thought to himself as Nemu nodded to him and placed her hand in the same shaped outline.

A red, rectangular light showed from it and began scanning her hand from just about every angle. As the light stopped, the wall disappeared and they quickly moved on to the last wall which was an orange-gold color. The wall's hue reminded them of Mayuri's eyes, giving them an odd feeling like he was watching them somehow; 'Hmph...it figures he'd place his eye color last.' Toshiro thought, rolling his eyes.

He then looked to the small microphone on the wall's surface and smirked lightly in amusement; 'A voice confirmation? Her father certainly knows nothing about voice alterations does he.' Toshiro said to himself, sounding slightly smug even in his mind.

Nemu walked up to the microphone and spoke in a serious and completely emotionless voice; "Lieutenant Nemu Kurotsuchi."

The wall shined brightly, even more so then the rest and when it cleared, the only thing left were the double doors themselves. Then the two looked up as they heard another explosion; "Come on." Toshiro said, opening the double doors and walking into the room.

The room was as poorly lit as the stairway they had walked, but the many computer screens around them made up for the lack of light. They walked past a few status tubes, which had hundreds of thousands of small green orbs inside them; "You wish for this information...correct?" Nemu asked, walking up to one of the larger computers and pointing to its screen.

Toshiro looked at the screen, which showed a small sphere in a graph-like background and a few readings for the objects size, weight, status and purpose. He simply nodded to her, then looked up once more as yet another explosion sounded and shook the ground beneath their feet; 'I suppose I'll just leave this to Nemu. It'll be trouble if they cause this place to cave in.' Toshiro thought, looking back to the entrance.

He quickly took a blank disc from his haori pocket and handed it to Nemu; "Download all that information onto this. I will assist Kurosaki and his comrade in fighting against Kariya."

Nemu nodded to him, took the blank disc from his ice covered hand, inserted it into a port next to the computers keyboard and pressed a few of the buttons. Another window popped up on the screen, which showed a spinning disc and a status bar with the word 'Downloading' on it. The emotionless woman looked to him blankly; "The process will take a few minutes."

Toshiro nodded as well, then turned around and headed for the entrance; "Join me once your finished." he said glancing to a computer screen, narrowing his eyes briefly before vanishing in a shunpo.

The raven haired woman watched the computer screen intently as her fathers words echoed in her mind; _"Let no one in this lab! If this information goes beyond this room, it could lead to total war in the Seireitei!"_

Nemu looked down for a moment, before hovering her slim index finger over a button with the word, 'cancel' imprinted on it. She looked from her hand to the screen as her father's words repeated in her mind over and over again; "Forgive me." she said silently to herself with a tone that showed a hint of sorrow.

-On the stairway-

Toshiro shunpoed up the steps with his eyes narrowed and his icy hands clenched; 'I knew something was wrong. That computer I saw before I left...it had the room's history of entry. And the most recent, besides me and Nemu, was someone from the Dangai Research Division. But the entry itself just vanished before I could read the name. Who the hell could have done that without even having to be in that room?' he thought as he went.

'Plus, no one would ever go into that room for an innocent reason. But that means someone is actually one step ahead of me. So I guess I'm not the only person getting ready for something. The only questions are; who is it? And what are they getting ready for?' he continued.

As he reached the top of the steps, he suddenly stopped, looked down at the metal floor, seemingly saddened by something. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment as if looking at someone; 'Sorry Nemu. I just needed you to show me how get inside. But I promise...I won't let your father find out.' he thought before once again vanishing in a shunpo.

Toshiro ran along the long hallways, following a path of knocked down walls and doors; "Could they make this any easier?" he asked himself rolling his eyes.

Then, as he reached the end, he saw two small figures cowering behind a large piece of the ceiling that fell. Toshiro walked up closer and saw that it was the mod souls, Noba and Ririn; Why are you two still here?" he asked suddenly, starting the both of them.

The two were about respond but Toshiro just waved an icy hand to stop them; "I think I'll just see for myself." he said, walking through the door.

Toshiro looked to the side to where he saw Chad staring in slight awe at Ichigo and Jin as they attacked one another in midair. The icy captain rolled his eyes, then narrowed then as he saw how reckless both of them were being. Then, just as Ichigo and Jin were about to clash with both of their most powerful attacks, Toshiro suddenly shunpoed between them, grabbed Ichigo's blade and Jin's wrist, and simply withstood both onslaughts. The two combatants became wide eyed and just stared at Toshiro; "I'm not interested in having this place destroyed." he said simply, looking from one to the other with an icy stare.

He then swung both of them around and flung them into opposite walls, but he seemed to throw Jin harder then Ichigo. Toshiro sighed lightly, clenched his icy hand into a fist, then slammed it into the floor, completely shattering it in a twenty foot radius; "There...now take the damn Jokaisho." he said in annoyance as he stood in midair.

Jin looked at him shocked for a moment, then smirked widely, jumped into the air and straight down into the crater. He landed on a large rock with a red glowing symbol of the Bounts on it; "Thank you Captain Hitsugaya. Now I will gain the ultimate power!" Jin yelled out.

The symbol glowed even brighter, completely engulfing the white haired Bount in it's enormous power. Then, the light suddenly surged out of the crater, pushing everyone but Toshiro a few feet back and even reducing the ceiling to dust. Jin smirked widely and looked up at Ichigo; "Nothing will be able to stop me now." he said, his voice echoing from the bottom of the hole.

"I can destroy the Seireitei any time I want. But I'll give the people of Soul Society one day to tremble in fear before I do." he continued, then vanished in a shunpo-like movement.

"Wait!" Ichigo exclaimed, moving forward to give chase, but Chad held him back and shook his head.

"If what he said was true, then we can't just go running after him with no plan. We need to think things through Ichigo." the dark skinned teen said.

Toshiro smirked, walked through the air and toward the two high-schoolers; "He's right Ichigo. You need a well thought out plan before you go." he said, stepping onto the ground before them.

Ichigo snapped his head toward him, then narrowed his eyes, dropped his sword on the ground and fiercely grabbed Toshiro by the front of his uniform; "What the hell were you doing! Why did you give him what he wanted!" he demanded, lifting the shorter captain into the air.

Toshiro merely closed his eyes, sighed lightly, then grabbed the teens wrists and gripped down tightly. The action caused Ichigo to release him and wince in pain; "Didn't I already tell you. Jin getting the Jokaisho's power was something that I had accounted for." he said simply, releasing the orange haired teen's wrists.

Ichigo began rubbing his already bruising wrists and looked at him with a slightly confused expression; "But why? Why did you need him to get it?" he asked.

"It was to rid Soul Society of it and it's power forever. Something like that should be destroyed. But the only possible way to do that, is to allow it's power to be taken and then kill it's new vessel." Toshiro explained.

Both Ichigo's and Chad's eyes widened, then they both allowed a light smirk on their faces; "You really did think this all the way through, huh?" the former commented.

The white haired captain nodded his head, then noticed Nemu's figure coming towards then from the doorway. He then walked directly up to the emotionless woman, as if he had forgotten the two teens. As he came up to her, she automatically offered him the disk in her hand, but as she did, she gave him a nodding bow. Toshiro took the disk, looked down at it, then nodded to Nemu and whispered a quick; "Thank you." before he turned back to Ichigo and Chad.

"Sado, go with Nemu to my division, and take the mod souls with you." he said, placing the disk inside his haori pocket and pointing to the doorway.

Chad looked in that direction and immediately noticed the two small stuffed toys hiding behind a ceiling tile. He then looked back to the icy captain and nodded; "Alright." Chad said simply, walking over to them and picking them up in his large arms.

Toshiro looked to Nemu and nodded to her as if giving her the silent order to go. She simply nodded back, looked to Chad's hair covered eyes, then turned to the door; "Follow me." she said, leading them away.

As they walked out of the room, Toshiro turned to Ichigo and gave him a hard stare; "Listen Kurosaki, Ran'Tao's plan can only go so far. Her device will not be able to eliminate the Jokaisho's power, merely weaken it for a limited time. You must beat him within that time limit. I know you're powerful, but you may not have enough of your own to beat him if he gains all of the Jokaisho's power back."

The teen looked at him slightly shocked but then he nodded his head and thought for a moment; "Well...how long will I have?" he asked, trying to think of his battle strategy ahead of time.

Toshiro merely shook his head and shrugged; "A half hour...five minutes...thirty seconds. I'm not sure. It all depends on the information I get from Ran'Tao."

Ichigo's eyes widened once more, then looked down, slightly discouraged, not knowing if he can win or not; "But if you don't win...your friends and even your family will die. If he succeeds in destroying the Seireitei then there will be nothing stopping him from destroying the World of the Living. So you better kill him quickly before he has that chance." Toshiro continued, turning around and heading for the door.

The orange haired teen looked slightly shocked once again, but then his eyes changed to determination and then narrowed; "I won't give him that chance." he stated, with no doubt in his voice whatsoever.

Toshiro smirked lightly to his words and just kept walking; 'That's what I want to hear.' he thought, then stopping in the doorway.

"Go find your Quincy friend. Once you do, join your friends at the Tenth and wait for me there. I have a few more things left to take care of." he claimed, vanishing in a shunpo, leaving the orange haired teen with a raised brow.

"How do I even get there?" he questioned, calling out for the icy captain, but no response came; "Great...what a time to get lost." he continued, frowning deeply and crossing his arms as he walked out of the room.

-Outside the Twelfth Division-

Ran'Tao stood a top a tall spire, over looking much of the Seireitei as she watched the sun set in the distance. Toshiro suddenly appeared beside her, to which the brown haired woman simply glanced over and nodded to acknowledge him being there. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh; "Like the calm just before the storm." she whispered out.

Toshiro nodded in agreement, neither looking at the other as they stood in silence; "So did you finish?" he asked after a few moments, knowing that she'd know what he was talking about.

"Yes. But it is not what I expected to be. It will not remove the Jokaisho's power for as long as we hoped. And considering how powerful Kariya already is...Kurosaki won't be able to beat him within the time limit." Ran'Tao reported, sighing halfway in sadness, halfway in frustration.

"Don't worry. I wasn't actually expecting him to beat Jin within any time limit. Kurosaki's power is constantly growing, he can and will be able to defeat Jin when the time comes." Toshiro claimed, no doubt coming from his words or tone.

Ran'Tao looked over at the icy captain with a slightly surprised expression; "You really trust in that boy a lot don't you?" she asked, slightly smiling as she spoke.

Toshiro smirked lightly and shrugged; "He's so much like his father, how can I not. Besides, he has the same effect on people...including me. It's almost like I'm befriending Isshin all over again."

The glasses wearing woman smiled a bit wider and looked back to the setting sun; "He was one of your best friends. Of course you'll see a lot of him in his son."

The white haired captain nodded his head, sighed lightly and after a few moments spoke once more; "My Lieutenant isn't going to be happy."

Ran'Tao glanced over to him and raised a brow; "What brought this up?" she asked in a confused tone.

Toshiro sighed once more, but then allowed his lips to curl up in a smirk; "Nothing. I was just thinking about a promise I made to her. I said that while she took care of all the messages from the other Divisions, I'd go out and defeat one of the Bounts. Then come back so we could switch places."

The glasses wearing woman chuckled lightly and smiled wider then she had in many years; "I bet she said that you'd owe her something if you didn't, right?" she asked knowingly.

"Yeah...she said that I'd owe her a drink if I don't come back before all the Bounts are dead." he said, chuckling lightly.

Ran'Tao smirked widely, then nodded her head; "Well you know you're going to owe her that drink. But as an extra treat...you should get her something really nice. Just to tell her that your sorry for leaving her out of the fun."

Toshiro raised a brow to her; "That's what the drink is for." was all he said, not understanding why he'd need more.

The brown haired woman rolled her eyes and sighed deeply; "Anyway...just make sure you make it up to her. I have to go and prepare." she said, turning away.

"Hmph...I'm going to go as well. I think I'll leave that last Bount alive and have him stay in your care." Toshiro said turning in the Tenth's direction.

"You're willing to do that?" Ran'Tao asked, looking over her shoulder to him and sounding almost shocked from his kindness.

Toshiro nodded his head and just before he jumped down from the spire, he spoke his leaving words; "Yeah. Koga is the only one that has any chance of redeeming the Bount's tainted existence."

-Southern area of the Tenth Division-

Koga walked with his Doll, toward a destination only known to the Bount himself; "I thank you Go Koga. You allowed my squad members to live. So I won't kill you in return." Toshiro said, suddenly landing in a shunpo before the two of them.

"I do not want to fight you Captain Hitsugaya, I merely want to finish my business with Kariya." the large Bount said.

Toshiro nodded his head to him; "I know. But I'm afraid your going to have to let Kurosaki take care of that."

Koga narrowed his eyes and shook his head; "Sorry, but I can't do that. He deceived me too far for me to just let someone else handle it. I will confront Jin...even if I have to go through you."

"Hmph, that's the kind of attitude that separates you from the rest. Even though you know you'll loose, you're willing to fight and die for what's right." Toshiro commented with a light smirk.

The orange and brown haired man raised a brow, then briefly closed his eyes and smirked back; "I haven't felt like I was on the right side in many years."

Toshiro nodded to him, glanced over at Koga's Doll and let out a cold breath; "Well...I guess it's time to see if my plan for you will truly be probable."

He then clenched his ice covered hands and narrowed his turquoise eyes; "Let's begin."

Koga nodded his head, shifted his body into a fighting pose then looked to his Doll; "Dalk!" he called out.

Said humanoid spider nodded her head and smiled widely; "You got it!" she called out, lunging forward, her stinger-like arms aimed for Toshiro's neck.

Her arm hit the ice covering his neck, but neither moved or cracked from under the pressure; "Hmph! Looks like that ice is tougher then it looks. I guess I'll just have stab you here!" Dalk cried out.

As her words left her metal-like lips, she cocked her other arm back and sent it straight for Toshiro's stomach. But before it reached, Toshiro caught it with one of his ice covered hands, then side stepped up to her and sent a powerful palm into her arm. The limb shattered apart, causing Dalk to let out a gasping scream from the pain and shock. But Toshiro continued his onslaught by spinning her remaining arm in his hand, stabbing it through her chest and then delivering a spinning back kick to the limb in her chest, sending it even deeper.

The power of the kick had also sent Dalk flying through the air and tumbling across the ground. But Koga had already taken her place and began throwing punch after punch toward Toshiro's face. Though the icy captain dodged each one, his movements seemed rather sluggish; "What is going on? He doesn't seem to be moving as fast as I've seen him in the past." Koga muttered to himself.

The Bount continued throwing punch after punch, he even put in a few kicks, but each one was either dodged or blocked. Then as Toshiro ducked away from one of Koga's kicks, he swept the large man's other leg and as he fell over, Toshiro sent a powerful palm to his face. The blow snapped Koga's head back and for his to start to fall backward, but then Toshiro spun a back kick to chest and knocked him into a wall. As Koga hit, his body imbedded itself a foot into the wall; 'That one hurt...but something is still off. He could have sent me straight through that wall if he wanted to. So why didn't he?' Koga thought in confusion as he saw Dalk leap at Toshiro.

The spider-like Doll lunged at him, but though Toshiro dodged it she just kept on going, throwing blow after blow toward him. Once again, the icy captain was able to dodge each attack that came at him, but his movements didn't seem to be as fast as they should have been. Toshiro suddenly shunpoed off to the Dolls side and delivered a round house kick to her face, knocking her into the same wall Koga was lifting himself away from. The two made eye contact and nodded their heads as they looked to Toshiro with narrowed eyes; "It's time we ended this!" Koga called out.

They suddenly rushed toward Toshiro, Koga going to his left, while Dalk came up on his right. The two suddenly vanished in a shunpo-like movement, making Toshiro's eyes widen slightly and to look around for them. Then the Doll came up from behind him and attempted to stab him through the back, but Toshiro moved slightly out of the way. Just as Dalk passed by him, Koga came up behind him and sent a powerful punch to the back of his head. Toshiro ended up flipping into the air after his body slammed into the Doll's metal body, then Koga used her back to jump into the air, just above Toshiro and send a stomping kick into his chest.

Toshiro hurled straight into the ground, his body looking broken and his eyes rolled in the back of his head as if he were dead. Koga walked up to the body and shook his head; "I knew there was something wrong. There's no way he is that weak." he said looking up to one of the roofs around him as the Toshiro on the ground shattered into ice.

"Hmph, maybe three percent power wasn't actually enough." Toshiro suddenly claimed from the roof top behind them.

Koga turned around to him with his eyes narrowed; "I'm glad you were able to figure out it wasn't me that quickly. I would have lost a bit of faith in you if you didn't." Toshiro continued, jumping down from the roof.

"What did you mean; three percent?" he asked, not engaging in the white haired captain's conversation.

Toshiro smirked lightly and crossed his arms; "Basically...it means that the real fight begins now." he said, moving his ice covered feet slightly to a fighting position.

He vanished suddenly, then reappeared right in front of Koga, uncrossed his arms and simply flicked his forehead. The act had sent him flying backward, straight into and through the wall that the Toshiro clone had kicked him into. Toshiro shunpoed once again but this time it was before Dalk, then he swiped his hand through the air like a sword and sliced her in half. She let out a scream as she separated into hundreds of small metal orbs; "Dalk!" Koga called out, as he got up.

But he was immediately slammed back into the ground as Toshiro suddenly sent a merciless kick into the Bounts face, causing him to tumble across the ground and go through yet another wall. He then used the kicks momentum to keep spinning, switch his legs around and back kick Dalk, just as she reconnected herself and came forward for an attack. She went flying through the air, hit the top of one of the roofs, bounced right off and hit the ground on the other side of the wall.

As Koga picked himself up painfully, he looked around for his Doll, but he saw her nowhere in sight, then he looked to Toshiro as he walked towards the Bount; "I'm guessing your still holding back." he said, rubbing his jaw.

"Of course. Six percent was enough to handle you two." Toshiro said, suddenly shunpoing in front of him and sending such a swift and powerful punch to Koga's temple that it knocked him unconscious instantly.

"Sorry...I think I might have used seven percent." Toshiro muttered out silently.

"Oh come on! Are you seriously saying that?" a sudden voice claimed from the roof behind Toshiro.

"Hmph. I guess it does sound a bit ridiculous." Toshiro said in an amused sigh, then he turned around and looked to the dark silhouette of Yoruichi sitting on the roof, holding a metal orb in her hand.

"Well at least you let him live. There won't be any genocide here today." Yoruichi said, smiling to her long time friend.

Toshiro smirked back to her and nodded lightly; "Yeah. Would you mind taking him to Ran'Tao's hideout. He needs a place to stay and she's the only one that will be able take care of him."

Yoruichi blinked at him somewhat shocked, then she smiled and chuckled lightly; "Wow...you really are taking this thing pretty serious."

"I suppose. But I just want to atone for my actions in at least one way." Toshiro said, causing Yoruichi to raise a brow, then to smirk lightly yet a bit sadly.

"Yeah...I can do that for you." she muttered silently, nodding to him and shunpoing down beside him.

She looked down at him, smiled a little wider, then lifted the large Bount on her shoulder effortlessly; "Don't worry Yoruichi...I'll tell you everything soon." Toshiro said, turning around toward.

The tan woman smiled lightly as she gazed at him for a moment, before looking in her own direction; "Thank you. I look forward to it." Yoruichi said in a genuinely happy and slightly excited tone.

They both smirked in unison, even though they could not see one another and then they vanished in shunpoes at the same time, not seeing a smirking shinigami in the shadows; "As do I, Captain Hitsugaya."

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I really tried to make Toshiro's and Koga's fight interesting. Sorry if it wasn't. =/


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55:**

-Tenth Division Gates-

Toshiro walked up toward the large doors that led into his division, but as he approached, he was spotted by the group of shinigami that were guarding the gates. He was immediately greeted by them with a barrage of; "Captain! Your back!"

They all bowed to him and continued doing so till he waved them off, to which they all stood back to their feet and kept up their excited greetings; "So you defeated the Bount?" one of the males asked, smirking widely as if wishing that he could have watched.

"I knew you'd do it! Great job Captain!" a female member said, smiling widely and somewhat fondly.

"Is Rangiku still in the office?" Toshiro asked, merely nodded to each of their enthusiastic words.

All of the guards nodded to his question and allowed the first male to answer it; "Yes sir. And so are the Substitute Shinigami and his friends."

Toshiro glanced to the gate, then nodded once more and waved them off; "Very well. You're cleared from guard duty for the night." he said walking by them and into his division.

"Thank you Captain!" they called out to him before he vanished around a corner.

The icy captain walked into the office building, then quickly went into the office itself, where he found Ichigo and Renji, sitting on the table off to the side of his own desk. Ishida was sitting on one of the office sofas, with Chad right next to him on the other cushion. Rangiku was sitting on the opposite sofa, taking up all the room she could on it as if she was saving the spot beside her for someone. Toshiro glanced at each of them as they noticed his presence; "Captain!" Rangiku called out happily, smiling to him widely.

"Ah...Toshiro!" Ichigo called out in greeting, waving his hand as he did.

Toshiro sighed lightly and sent the orange haired teen an icy glare; "It's Captain Hitsugaya to you." he said in annoyance.

"Ichigo! Have some respect!" Ririn claimed, suddenly appearing over his shoulder, and smacking Ichigo in his face.

Ichigo just rolled his eyes, not feeling any pain from the plushie and nodded his head; "Yeah yeah." was his response before crossing his arms and frowning deeply.

"Maybe if he didn't just leave me in the Twelfth with no idea in which direction to go in, I might have been more keen to call him that." Ichigo continued, then glanced over to Renji, whom was starting to become nervous, knowing that he was going to mention him in some way.

"If it wasn't for him finding me, I would have been lost." the orange haired teen claimed, pointing to the red head beside him.

Then Noba and Kurodo suddenly appeared from behind Toshiro's desk; "And it was thanks to me that they even met in the first place." Kurodo said, smirking to himself.

"It was more thanks to the fact that you were complaining to Renji about running too fast that they found one another." Noba added silently.

"How rude!" Kurodo called out, sounding insulted, but they were all brought back to reality as Toshiro cleared his throat.

"Anyway...Orihime should be here soon. Right, Captain?" Rangiku spoke up when Ichigo showed signs of further complaint.

Toshiro looked to her, then off to side, narrowed his eyes and nodded his head; "Yeah. I suppose I'll just wait for them then." he said, crossing his arms, closing his eyes and tilting his head down.

Everyone but Rangiku, looked at him with a raised brow, then to one other with a confused expression on their faces. They then tilted their heads to the side, as if they were trying to see his face, but when Toshiro opened his eyes to look at them, they all glanced away quickly, as if they had been doing exactly that. Toshiro smirked lightly, then simply turned around as the sound of a pair of fast moving foot steps fill the hallway. The pounding sound of feet hitting the floor boards became louder, then Orihime came into view in the doorway; "Hitsugaya-kun! Kurosaki-kun! Rangiku-san! I finally found my way here!" she claimed, smiling widely.

The group nodded and waved to her in greeting, but then the orange haired girl stepped to the side and showed Rukia standing to the side; "I never would have found my way here if it wasn't for Kuchiki-san though." Orihime continued as the two girls walked into the office.

They all gave the raven haired girl a nod and wave greeting as well, then Toshiro pointed to the sofa to where Rangiku was, to which they immediately sat down. The white haired captain walked over and sat down in his own chair, leaning back for a moment and closing his eyes. He then leaned his elbows on the desk in front of him and clasped his ice covered hands together; "Now that your all here. It's time for me to tell you...how tomorrow will proceed." he began, reopening his eyes and greatly stressing his last few words.

"First, Ran'Tao must take away Kariya's ability to absorb spirit particles and postpone the Joukaisho. When she succeeds, you will have your chance to fight him; Uryu. Since you want to fight him so badly, you will get your wish. But I'm afraid, you won't stand much of a chance against him, so your main goal will be to merely weaken him as much as possible before that bow breaks apart." he continued, staring at Ishida during most of his words.

The glasses wearing teen nodded to him, but his displeasure of knowing that he can't win was showing in his expression; "Understood." was all he said.

Toshiro nodded back to him, then looked at Ichigo and narrowed his eyes; "The second his bow breaks, you will step in and take his place. With the extended time for the Joukaisho to power up, he will quickly run low on his own power. You should be able to beat him quite easily so long as Ran'Tao's device works long enough." he finished, giving the orange haired teen a hard stare.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes to him and nodded his head; "I got it." he said, closing his eyes and seemingly in deep thought.

The icy captain leaned back in his chair, then looked around at each of them and just closed his eyes; "The rest of you must stay out of the fight. The other captains and lieutenants will be working quickly to seal the other Joukaisho...I'm still unsure of where they are and how many, but I'm sure that Ran'Tao has an idea. She'll tell you when she has finished in taking away Kariya's abilities." Toshiro said, reopening his eyes and looking around, but noticed that Chad was raising his hand.

"What is it?" he asked the large, dark skinned teenager, to which he placed his hand back in his lap and moved his head so everyone could see one of his eyes.

"You had met with this Ran'Tao many times haven't you?" Chad asked, to which Toshiro nodded and raised a brow; "Then why didn't you just ask her during one of those meetings?" he continued.

Everyone in the room blinked a few times and looked to the icy captain, whom had once again closed his eyes; "Because..." he began, making all of them lean in closely in anticipation.

"...I had more important things to talk about then that." he finished, causing everyone to mentally face palm and sigh loudly.

"Well...whatever the case, we'll be sure to do everything we can to make things go the way you've planned them." Rangiku said, smirking lightly and looking to the others with a raised and expecting brow.

Everyone nodded their heads, then looked to Toshiro once more; "You can all do what you like for now, just be sure to wake up early tomorrow morning." he claimed, standing up and walking toward the door.

But just as she was about to walk out, he was stopped as a blur of orange and black blocked his way; "And where do you think your going?" Yoruichi asked, raising an elegant brow to her friend.

Toshiro looked up to her slightly and raised a brow of his own; "To bed. I've only had eight hours of sleep for the last four days." he said, closing his eyes so he could not look at her chest, which was still at his eye level.

Yoruichi just smirked, crossed her arms and glanced over to everyone in the room; "I bet you guys were having a good conversation and he ruined it to talk about business. Am I right?" she asked, smirking a bit wider, yet knowingly.

All of the others looked around sheepishly, unable to figure out if they should get on Toshiro's or Yoruichi's bad side; "Well...we did need to discuss it." Rukia offered.

The tan woman shrugged and sighed; "But still...he's a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to actually socializing." she said, as if reporting a frequently used article.

Toshiro merely snorted silently, showing his annoyance as he continued to keep his eyes closed; "I can socialize with people just fine. There just isn't any need at the moment." was all he said, sounding like a lawyer stating his defense.

Yoruichi sighed loudly, then quickly grabbed his shoulders, spun him around and pushed him forward slightly; "Well we're going to fix that for you. Party at the Tenth tonight!" she called out, knowing that some of the shinigami outside would hear and immediately start passing the word around.

The icy captain glared at her from over his shoulder, then he looked away and closed his eyes; "I never authorized that." he stated calmly.

"Of course you did! Right? Rangiku?" she asked, winking to the strawberry blonde.

"That's right Captain! I'm surprised you don't remember. Maybe a few drinks and some of my delicious cooking and you will!" Rangiku claimed, smiling widely.

Toshiro rolled his eyes to them and was about to say that the party was canceled, but then Orihime and Rukia looked at him with a hopeful expression. The others quickly did the same and Toshiro realized that he was in a losing battle; "Fine." he said in a sigh.

Everyone then, fist pumped the air and smiled widely; "But you will have to be up early in the morning to fight Kariya. We're still at war, so don't over do it." Toshiro claimed, making everyone's shoulders slump down.

"Boy oh boy, you really know how to kill a mood don't you?" Yoruichi frowned to him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her cheek against his.

"Well...we're just gonna have to do something about that." she continued, winking at her white haired friend, but as she did this, Rangiku narrowed her eyes slightly and flexed her hands into fists.

"Are you okay Rangiku-san?" Orihime asked silently, to which the strawberry blonde snapped away from her glare at Yoruichi and looked to the orange haired girl with a smile.

"O-Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Rangiku asked, trying to hide the fact that she was feeling very uncomfortable with the tanned woman being so close to her captain.

But she only did a good enough job to fool everyone but Yoruichi herself, whom was now staring at her with an understanding expression. The purple haired woman then, looked around to everyone else, smiled widely to them and started leading Toshiro out of the room; "Come on guys!" she called out as she hurried her friend down the hall.

When Yoruichi had gotten everyone outside, they were all shocked, except for Rangiku; "How did they set this up so fast?" Toshiro asked, staring at all the tables, chairs and small cooking fires in the assembly area of his division.

"Well...when people hear 'party'...they will immediately mobilize." Yoruichi claimed, winking to Toshiro once more, to which he rolled his eyes.

-A few minutes into the party-

Toshiro sighed for the fiftieth time that night and watched as everyone ate, drank, laughed and just had a great time. But the icy captain just leaned against one of the many trees in the area and sipped on a simple cup of water; "Aww, come on Toshiro! I got them to do this so you could talk with your squad members and new friends." Yoruichi whined as she came up behind him and placed an elbow on his shoulder.

"Hmph. I know my comrades and friends well enough." he responded, taking another sip of his drink.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes to him, then she sighed deeply and gave him a slightly disapproving look; "You know...a background check does not count as actually getting to know your subordinates. Besides, you should treat all of them as your friends and get to know who they are personally." she said, smiling lightly.

Toshiro raised a brow to her and merely shrugged; "Very well. After this is over...I'll start meeting with my squad members." he said, his voice sounding as if he was rolling his eyes, even though he didn't do the physical act.

His tan friend sighed loudly, mentally face palming and briefly closing her eyes; "I swear...what would you do without me Toshiro?" she asked, giggling lightly and winking to him.

The white haired captain looked from her to everyone else at the party and sighed loudly; "I'm going to go check on everyone in the Fourth. I'll be back soon." he said rather coldly, causing her to blink in slight shock.

But then Yoruichi looked up in thought, smirked widely and stared at him suspiciously; "What?" he asked, raising a brow to her.

"Are you sure your just going to check out how things are going in the division? Isn't it more like; you're concerned for Soifon...and wanna check up on her?" Yoruichi asked, smirking deviously and winking to him.

Toshiro was caught of guard by her words, he then looked at her stunned for a moment and just turned away; "So that is why you're going!" she declared loudly, smiling proudly of herself.

"She's not the only reason." he said, allowing his words to hang in the air, which caused Yoruichi to nod in understanding.

"Well I'm glad you are going in for a visit...cause I'm rather worried about them too. Just be sure to show the same concern for your subordinates as your friends." she continued, winking to him knowingly.

The icy captain looked at her from over his shoulder and nodded lightly just before he disappeared in a shunpo; "Captain~!" Rangiku called out as she saw him leave.

Yoruichi smirked and walked toward her; "Don't worry...he'll be back soon." she said, winking to her.

Rangiku raised a brow and sighed somewhat sadly; "Well...I guess I'll start drinking now." the strawberry blonde claimed in a shrug.

The tan woman blinked a few times, then came up behind her quickly and placed a hand on her shoulder; "Can I've at first few words with you?" she asked, giving her rather serious expression.

The other woman raised a brow to her once more, then nodded her head and followed Yoruichi to one of the more secluded places in the area. Rangiku raised a brow to her and crossed her arms under her chest as they walked behind a tree; "What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

Yoruichi gave her a hard stare, then took a deep breath; "I know how you feel Rangiku. I feel exactly the same way as you do. So instead of fighting like normal women would do...how about we work together?" she asked, smiling a devious and rather mysterious smirk.

Rangiku blinked at how straight forward she was being, but then she looked up thoughtfully and eventually smirked back; "What do you have in mind?" she asked back, to which they both smiled widely.

-Fourth Division-

"We were able to extract all of the poison, thanks to you freezing it in her blood stream, so...Captain Soifon will be here for only one more day to rest and she'll be cleared to go. But most of the other wounded however will be here for about a week till they're cleared to leave." Isane reported as she and Toshiro stood in the hospital's lobby.

The white haired captain nodded to her and watched as a passing healer ran by them, carrying a large pouch of blood; "Now if you'll excuse me sir...I must return to my-" but the tall lieutenant was cut off as Toshiro held up and ice covered hand.

"What about...Hinamori?" he asked, his voice lacking the normal bite and ice to it, which caused Isane to look down slightly as if she had known this would be brought up and didn't want to mention it.

"She is still recovering. It is slightly slower then before, but she is still making some progress." she said with a silent voice, seemingly saddened that she was the one whom had to tell him this.

Toshiro nodded to her once more and waved her off; "Alright...go ahead and return to your patients." he said, to which she immediately bowed to him and went running in the same direction as the other healer had.

He stayed in the lobby for a few moments before he turned around and walked out of the hospital; 'I should get that done before tomorrow.' he thought, narrowing his eyes.

"But then again...I did say that I would be right back." he said to himself, just before he vanished in a shunpo once more.

-Tenth Division-

Toshiro walked back in, sighing lightly as he did; 'I was going to use that as an excuse just to get back to my work...but I suppose I can listen to Yoruichi once more.' he thought walking back into the fray of the party.

The first thing he noticed was that both Yoruichi and Rangiku were no where in sight; "Where are they?" he asked Ichigo, knowing he would know whom he was speaking about.

"Um...I think they actually disappeared not too long ago. But I'm pretty sure that they'll be back. They never said that they were leaving for good so I can only assume." the orange haired teen said in a shrug.

Toshiro raised a brow to him and just glanced around the area once again; ' I guess I'll just go anyway since neither of them are here in the first place.' he thought turning away.

"Well if you see them tell them that I-" but he was cut off as two figures suddenly appeared on either side of him, wrapped their arms around his ice covered neck and his head.

He then had both sides of his face shoved between two soft objects, which had caused him to close his eyes, growl silently to himself and for his eye brow to twitch; "Welcome back! Toshiro/Captain!" Yoruichi and Rangiku called out together as they hugged him into their chests.

All the while, Ichigo and the others around them looked at the scene in shock, amusement and jealousy. But then Toshiro's growl became slightly louder and made most of the people start backing away; "You two..." he began.

Yoruichi and Rangiku looked down at him from between their embrace; "Yes?" they asked in unison as they felt the temperature around them drop significantly.

"YORUICHI! RANGIKU!" he yelled out, as seconds later, two woman's laughter was heard, even after most of the division was covered in a layer of frost in the blink of an eye.

But a few dozen yards away, on the roof of one of the Tenth's buildings, a shadowed figure stood with crossed arms and narrowed eyes; "Enjoy the time you have with your friends...while you still can."

* * *

And there is the end to this chapter. I'm surprised no one is giving me any ideas, I want to include you guys as much as possible, cause a lot of my normal reviewers just vanished. (sob) I'm not sure if it was because they have other stuff to do, but I want to get an idea of what you guys would like in this as well. I hope to see lots of reviews, ideas and suggestions. ;)


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56:**

-Early the next day in the Tenth-

Toshiro stood atop of one the roofs in his division, merely watching the sun rising on the horizon, taking in the sight of twilight before the day would officially begin. He took in one more cool breath, just as the sun began heating the air with it's warm rays; 'I wonder how many of these I've watched throughout my life time.' he thought nostalgically, letting out his breath and glancing over to a figure moving below him.

'He just couldn't wait could he?' he continued, staring down at the glasses wearing Quincy as he walked through the division and used hirenkyaku to quickly get by any shinigami nearby.

The icy captain just ignored him, then looked back to the sun as it's full circumference became visible in the sky and crossed his arms across his chest; "Today marks the end to this confrontation." he said, seemingly to himself before vanishing in a shunpo.

At the same moment that he disappeared, Yoruichi walked up to the same place he shunpoed from and lightly smirked; "Indeed it does." she whispered in a determined tone.

She stared in the direction her friend had left in, then looked towards the Sixth Division and let out a sigh before shunpoing toward it.

-On the roof of a large building in the Third Division-

Uryu stood across from Jin and between him and Ran'Tao, all the while he kept his eyes narrowed and his bow drawn on the Bount; "I will avenge Yoshino-san...no matter what." the Quincy claimed, readying the spirit particle arrow to fire.

"I wonder if you can." Jin said smugly, not believing that the young teen posed a threat against him.

"Watch and see!" Ishida called out, firing the arrow just as Jin was about to smile in amusement.

Kariya had moved out of the way of the shot but the Quincy had used hirenkyaku to get behind him and fired off another arrow. The Bount threw his hand forward, creating an air current, which was meant to block the attack, but the arrow shot straight through it and then Kariya's leg. His eyes became wide, then he limped on the roof as he landed; "Not bad. But far from being at my level."

Uryu narrowed his eyes as his feet touched the ground and he charged up another blue arrow; "I'm just getting started." he claimed, using another hirenkyaku to get on his right side and firing quickly.

Jin dodged easily as he gathered the spirit particles around him and began healing his wound; "Pathetic." the Bount muttered smugly.

He then gathered two air currents around his hands and swung them at the raven haired teen, but Uryu moved out of the way and countered with another arrow toward Jin. But he simply blocked it with a very powerful gust of wind; "Firing single shots will never lead to victory." Jin claimed, gathering air around his hands once more.

Uryu narrowed his eyes, then glanced over to Ran'Tao, whom had watched their fight with interest and amazement; "We'll have to see about that!" he declared, vanishing from sight.

He then fired off a lazy shot as he came up behind him, to which Jin dodged by jumping into the air, but Uryu jumped up after him. As the Bount was about to send the air currents around his hands at him, Uryu vanished once again, but he left an after image, which fired off an arrow toward Jin. The white haired man narrowed his eyes and dodged; "What did I just tell yo-" but Jin was cut off as he saw more and more after images of the Quincy circling around him

The determined Quincy continued to use hirenkyaku and eventually left ten after images surrounding him. Each one was firing at him simultaneously, not allowing the Bount any rest or much time to dodge. Jin was hit by many of the arrows, even after spinning an increasingly strong wind around him to serve as a shield. After twelve shots had hit home, Jin fell from the air and hit the roof hard; "Hmph...it seems that you're more powerful then I anticipated." he said, gathering spirit particles once more to heal his injuries.

Uryu was about to fire one more arrow, aiming straight for the man's heart, but he ended having to dodge a strong air current coming at him. He touched back on the roofs surface and narrowed his eyes on the Bount; "You can't defeat me you know. So long as I absorb the spirit particles in the Seireitei, I'm invincible." Jin claimed, smirking confidently, making the Quincy narrow his eyes on him even further.

Ran'Tao couldn't help but look at Uryu in slight surprise that he had been able to do so well against someone as powerful as Jin thus far. But they were all so focused on the fight that no one saw a swift movement off to the side of them, nor the figure that appeared in the shadows soon after. Then Uryu was about to charge another arrow but a small crack suddenly showed itself in his bow, making both his and Ran'Tao's eyes to widen, while Jin merely smiled.

"It seems that you are putting too much pressure on that bow of yours. It won't be lasting too much longer." the Bount claimed smugly.

"That's not a problem. I'll just defeat you before it completely falls apart." was all Uryu responded with before disappearing from sight and firing an arrow from directly above Jin.

To which he jumped off to the side, but this arrow was much more powerful then the rest and had hit the Bount with a wave of spirit energy. Kariya tumbled slightly as he slid across the roof, but he never regained his footing, due to Ishida sending seven arrows at him, one right after another. The raven haired teen then used another hirenkyaku to get behind him and shot an arrow directly into the man's back. Since he had more time to charge the arrows power, the blast had blown Kariya twenty feet away and straight into a wall.

The white haired man picked himself up painfully, immediately turning around to glare at the Quincy and gathering more spirit particles. He breathed somewhat heavily as his pain increased from moving; "You'll pay for that one." he claimed angrily, his normal smugness vanishing as he ground his teeth together.

But then the Bount smiled widely as he noticed a large crack appear in the bow; "And it looks like your time with that bow is running out."

Uryu clenched his teeth together, knowing that his limit with the bow was creeping up on him and would more then likely give out any minute. But before he could think any further, Jin swiped his hands in the air, sending many powerful air currents at him. Though he was able to dodge each one, the attacks took out large sections of the wall behind him, despite being about five feet thick. The Quincy jumped into the air and fired off a few arrows, but all of them missed and had even created a dust cloud, which shielded Jin's next action.

He had used his great speed to suddenly appear behind Uryu and send a strong knee into his back. Then he grabbed the teen by the shoulder, spun him around and delivered a painful head-butt into his face. Jin smirked as Uryu yelled out in pain as his nose broke from the impact and so he decided to send a powerful punch into the Quincy's stomach. To which Uryu coughed up blood, closed his eyes from the extreme pain and attempt to take in an impossible breath.

Jin brought his hand up, then backhanded Uryu against the face, sending him hurling down and into the roof's top. The Bount smiled widely and slowly lowered himself down to be positioned across from the raven haired teen; "You're almost out of power already? You have yet to cause me any serious damage." Jin claimed, chuckling smugly.

Uryu glared at the white haired man, then slowly and very painfully stood himself up, readied another arrow and fired it at him; "It's no use." the Bount said, just as he swiped the blue spirit energy away as if it were a bug.

But the Quincy's attack wasn't over, he pushed aside his pain and focused on his anger for the man, he then used a hirenkyaku to get on Jin's right side and fire off five more shots as quickly as he could. Yet Jin just used a whirl wind to destroy the arrows before they reached him and even counter attacked with a sharp air current. Uryu dodged out of the way, but he was met by a powerful fist to his face from the Bount, knocking him into the roof; "Even your speed has drastically fallen." the white haired man gloated looking down at him.

Uryu glared up at the man, ground his teeth together and was about to generate another arrow, but Jin kicked his arms away. The Bount smirked widely and was about to finish the raven haired teen, but he was interrupted by a voice from off to the side; "Kariya!"

Ran'Tao suddenly leapt toward them, as she came closer, she took a small silver rectangular-shaped trinket from her haori-like coat and narrowed her eyes on the Bount. She then pressed a small button on the top of the silver object and it suddenly opened, it divided into four triangles, with a glowing white disc in the center. But the most notable feature about the device was the Bount's crest in the center of the glowing disc.

As the brown haired woman came forward, she was engulfed in a large and powerful spirit energy and she hurled her body into Jin's. She wrapped her arms around his and used the spirit energy around to keep the Bount from attacking; "Wh-What? What is this? I can't get away from her!" Jin exclaimed angrily.

He then removed one of his arms as they slid back toward one of the walls, he attempted to deliver a punch to her side, but she suddenly pulled out a strange knife and stabbed him with it. Jin cringed from the blade entering his ribs, which in turn, stopped his attack and growl silently from the wound. Ran'Tao looked back to Uryu and narrowed her eyes; "Fire!" she called out.

The young Quincy's eyes became wide at her demand and just stood there for a moment, too stunned to move; "Do it now!" she yelled, snapping him from his daze.

"I can't." he said silently, but the other two were able to hear him, causing Jin to smirk lightly and Ran'Tao to turn her head to him fiercely.

"Don't worry about me and do it!" she screamed at him, to which he shook his head, obviously seeing too much of the Bount Yoshino in her to even think about hurting her.

"I can't do it!" he yelled back at her, but he froze as her eyes shifted to a determined yet pleading look.

"Please...don't let the Bounts win." she said, making the Quincy close his eyes, charge up an arrow and fire it just as he reopened his eyes.

Jin's eyes had become increasingly wide as the arrow came hurling right at him, but it had been aimed to miss Ran'Tao so he knew it would miss all of his vital parts. Yet it had done much damage to his body and even thrown the brown haired woman twenty feet away, making Uryu catch her before hitting the roof. But as he laid her down and shared a few words between the two of them, the Quincy stood up and started heading toward Jin to finish him off.

The Bount himself was starting to stand up, but he did so with great difficulty and much pain shooting through his body. But just as Uryu was about to charge up his finishing arrow, a sudden wave of orange-red spirit energy erupted from behind him. He looked back to see Ran'Tao crouching down in pain, then letting out a scream of pain; "What the-?" Uryu demanded to himself before running to her side.

The Quincy looked around at the spirit energy, then to Ran'Tao as she continued screaming from extreme pain; "No choice." he said to himself.

He then began gathering all of the spirit particles from her and formed a gigantic orange color arrow with it. Uryu pointed it toward the healing Bount, but due to the high amount of concentrated spirit energy, he wasn't about to fully point it at him before it suddenly shot all on it's own. The arrow hurled forward, just barely missing Jin and exploding on the wall behind him. The enormous blast had caused him to fly forward and tumble across the roof top till he hit the opposite wall.

Ran'Tao looked at Uryu with a shocked expression; "You tried to use the escaping spirit energy to destroy him." she commented, looking over at Jin as his wounds had finished healing, but at a much slower rate then normal.

"Yeah...kill two birds with one stone. But I couldn't hold that much power for long...it looks like Ichigo will get his chance after all. That Hitsugaya knew my limits better then I did." the Quincy said, mostly to himself as the bow on his hand suddenly shattered and his clothes returned to his normal human outfit.

"We had better get out of here...it's going to get pretty dangerous pretty soon." he continued, offering his hand the the brown haired woman, to which she was about to take it, but stopped as she heard the Bount's voice.

"Do you think I'll just let you go?" Jin asked darkly as he stood up and glared at the two, his wounds completely healed.

"No...but I already know that you can't get to us, regardless of how powerless we are." Uryu claimed, knowingly.

Jin ground his teeth together, brought his hand up and generated a large amount of wind in it; "We'll see about that!" he yelled out, swinging his hand forward and sending a large gust of wind toward them.

Uryu looked at it without a single drop of fear and even smirked lightly; "Word of advice, don't interrupt..." the Quincy started as a shadow suddenly moved from off to the side.

The gust of wind suddenly dissipated as it reached within ten feet of the two, which cause Jin's and even Ran'Tao's eyes to widen; "...Captain Hitsugaya's plans." Uryu finished as he looked to Toshiro at the spot the gust of wind was stopped.

Toshiro glanced back at Uryu and smirked lightly; "How long did you know I was there?" he asked.

The Quincy merely smirked back to him and turned to Ran'Tao as he helped her up; "Since the beginning." he claimed.

The icy captain smirked slightly wider, then it disappeared as he glared over at Jin; "But the Quincy has a point...you really shouldn't interrupt with my plans." he said, just before he glanced over to his left.

Jin kept his eyes narrowed on the white haired captain, but then he followed his stare to the side, just before an overwhelming blue spirit energy came hurling at him. The Bount dodged off to the side, but he was grazed by the attack on his left arm and leg; "Sorry...I guess I got here just a bit late." Ichigo commented as he appeared in a shunpo next to Toshiro.

"Hpmh...you'll need to work on that." the white haired captain said, turning around and looking to Uryu and Ran'Tao; "I trust you'll be able to take care of things here." he continued.

Ichigo smirked to Toshiro from over his shoulder and nodded; "Oh yeah...you can count on that." he said before leaping toward Jin and slashing down at him.

Toshiro smirked lightly as the sound of Ichigo's sword clashing with Jin's wind filled the air, then he walked toward Uryu and Ran'Tao; "Let's go." he said simply.

He then grabbed both of then by the arms and shunpoed them down to the ground, where they were met by Rangiku, Orihime and Chad. Uryu looked at each of them, knowing that they would more then likely show him their distaste for leaving without telling them anything. But before anyone could speak, a large spirit energy suddenly rose up and the echoing voice of Ichigo sounded in their ears; "Bankai!"

An enormous whirlwind erupted from the roof, which had caused Jin to leap into the air and stay there using his own wind. As the wind died down, Ichigo suddenly leapt from the roof and attacked Jin. They all watched them, but then Toshiro turned his attention to Ran'Tao; "So how many Jokaisho's are there and where are they located?" he asked, to which everyone turned their eyes to him.

Ran'Tao nodded to him, reached inside her jacket pocket, pulled out a folded up map and handed it to the icy captain; "I was wondering when you were going to ask. We've met up quite a few times and you never bothered...I was starting to think that you just forgot." she said, making Toshiro's expression to go from cold and serious to flustered.

He had even blushed slightly, but it had disappeared as his normal and icy composer was brought back to his face; "I was...busy." was all he said before taking the map and turning away from everyone.

They were all about to question him, but they were interrupted as Ichigo and Jin suddenly flew by them from above their heads; "Anyway, Uryu...get her some place safe so she can rest. And the rest of you can go after Kurosaki if you want...just don't get in his way." Toshiro said, giving all of them a hard stare.

Each of them nodded, then Uryu immediately took Ran'Tao by the arm and waist, helping her away. While he did this, Orihime and Chad started running off toward where they could sense their friend. But as Uryu walked, he could hear Rangiku speaking to her captain; "So why didn't you ask her before this?"

There was a long pause before he made a very silent response, but just loud enough so that the Quincy could barely hear; "I...I just forgot."

Uryu had almost tripped over his feet as he heard this, then glanced over his shoulder with an expression that asked; 'Are you serious?' But then Toshiro suddenly vanished in a shunpo as his lieutenant began laughing; "Aww, come on Captain! It was an honest mistake!" she called out, while still giggling madly from her amusement and following after him.

Uryu sighed lightly and rolled his eyes; "I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to being around these shinigami." he mumbled to himself as he kept walking with Ran'Tao.

* * *

Okay, there's Chapter 56, I hope you guys enjoyed. Since this chapter was mostly from Uryu's POV, the next chapter will feature Ichigo vs Jin and will be mostly from Ichigo's POV. Anyway, I hope to see all of you review, I got ten reviews for the last one, I hope I get just as much if not more. ;) And remember, any ideas, OC's or suggestions are welcome. But I will say this, the OC's won't have to big of a part, they will show up every once in a while though. Till next time. :D


	57. Chapter 57

I'd like to thank Tuli-chan for her help once again and all my reviewers thus far, you're all just fantastic for sticking with me for so long and giving me all your support. And an extra thanks to Dances with Wolves of the OC. ;)

* * *

Chapter 57:  
-Sokyoku Hill-

Ichigo swung Tenza Zangetsu down at Jin with a loud battle cry as the Bount just stood there with a smug smirk. As the blade came closer to him, he extended his arm out and deflected the black sword with his wind manipulation. The orange haired teen smirked lightly, then used the force of Jin's wind and spun himself around, swinging his Zanpakuto at the Bount once more. But as the red eyed man jumped into the air, than narrowed his eyes at the teen, brought one of his arms back, then stretched it forward, sending a large whirlwind hurtling at Ichigo.

Though he was able to dodge it easily, the Bount got behind him, kicked one of his knees and as the teen fell back, sent a powerful punch to the back of Ichigo's head. The teen yelled out in pain as he was tossed into the ground, but he pushed himself off once he put his hand down, flipped his body in the air and landed on his feet. Ichigo glared at the man, ground his teeth together, and tightened his grip on his Zanpakuto. While Jin just stood by with a smirk on his face. Then he vanished from sight and attempted another blow to the back of Ichigo's head.

The moment his hand reached within a few inches, the orange haired teen shunpoed away and behind the Bount. He narrowed his eyes and quickly swung his sword down before he could react, cutting a deep wound down his back. Jin stumbled forward with a pain filled expression on his face, making Ichigo believe he had gained the upper hand. But the moment he came forward for another attack, the Bount spun around and delivered a kick to his face. The two resumed their fighting stances once more, glared fiercely at one another, then jumped foward for an attack, not bothering with petty words at the moment.

While they clashed, they let out their own loud battle cries, as parts of the hill suddenly uplifted from the ground, then broke apart into tiny pebbles as if showing just how much power they were using. They continued to attack each other with everything they had in one swing, then they would vanish to another part of the hill and repeat the process again and again. After a few dozen times of doing this, they eventually separated and stood a few yards apart; "You're doing quite well. I thought I would have been able to kill you by now." Jin claimed smugly.

"Tch, you're not all that tough you know. I can go much faster then what I'm going right now." Ichigo claimed with a light but confident smirk.

"Then why aren't you using your full strength?" the Bount asked, smiling even more confidently then the teen, not believing his words.

Ichigo merely smirked a bit wider and shrugged his shoulders; "Well...Toshiro told me to defeat you as soon as possible, but there was something in his tone that told me otherwise. Like he actually wants me to wait for you to use your full power before I do. My guess is that he wants to test my limits, so I'm just abiding by what he wants."

Jin narrowed his eyes on the orange haired teen; "Is that so? Well then...I suppose I should abide by what he wants as well." he said, raising his arm into the air.

Seconds later, dark clouds filled a good portion of the sky and wind began swirling down towards Jin's raised hand; "Show yourself! Messer!" the Bount called out.

As the swirling wind came down towards him, he generated a whirlwind around his hand and once the two connected, a large tornado was suddenly formed. The wind blew around the two ferociously and loudly, but then Jin's sleeve was shredded and his arm began to form a pata sword, in the shape of a large silver Bount crest. Then as he lowered his newly transformed arm, a swirling wind generated on the end of it, creating the sword's blade.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and ground his teeth together in slight nervousness; "Looks like you're gonna be serious after all." he commented, trying not to show the edgy hint in his voice as he gripped his sword tighter.  
Jin merely smirked confidently, then as he pointed his make-shift sword at the teen, he narrowed his own eyes; "Well...I want to end this quickly after all." he claimed as the wind around them died down.

The two stared at one another for a long while before they suddenly swung their swords, Jin releasing a powerful gust of wind, while Ichigo fired off a Getsuga Tensho, once again yelling out a loud battle cry. As the two attacks collided, both were slightly surprised to see that they were tied and the combined power simply exploded between them. The blast knocked both of them back a few feet, but they quickly recovered and leapt at one another once more, their faces showing their extreme hatred toward one another.

They swung their swords at each other multiple times, causing large concussive waves that destroyed the ground around them. As Ichigo swung his sword once more, Jin vanished from sight and suddenly lunged at him from behind. But the teen was able to dodge by side stepping to his right, then using his momentum he spun around and deliver a heel kick to the white haired man's face. Jin was knocked back a few feet, but he was able to regain his balance, and then send a fierce glare at the teen, along with a powerful gust of wind.

Ichigo shunpoed out of the way, but continued his attack and though he was able to catch the Bount slightly off guard, a sudden blast of spiritual energy from the Bount sent him spiraling back. Ichigo planted his feet into the ground and glared at Jin as a powerful wind began swirling around his body; "I'm not gonna let you take this fight that easily." he claimed, jumping forward.

The orange haired teen readied his sword and braced himself, but just as Jin was about to reach him, he suddenly vanished from sight. Ichigo's eyes widened, then he quickly turned around to block the attack he thought was coming, but no one was there; "Up here." a voice said before a series of powerful waves of wind slammed into his body.

Ichigo was knocked onto his back and took the full force of the first two blasts of wind, causing him to close his eyes and grind his teeth from the pain. But as the third came toward him, he gathered his spiritual energy around his body and made it dissipate before it hit him. He then looked around, and noticed that he was surrounded by a think dust cloud, so he used a quick shunpo to get behind Jin before he could notice and kicked him hard in the back. Jin nearly hit the ground, but he used his wind manipulation to stop himself, turn over and plant his feet on the hill.

"Not bad. You're able to use your spiritual energy as a shield." the Bount commented, smirking lightly but smugly.

The teen smirked back to him then suddenly vanished in another shunpo, but as Jin readied to block the attack, he was met by were dozens of afterimages of Ichigo surrounding him. The Bount narrowed his eyes, trying to find the real one and looking for an opening. But one of the after images suddenly slashed at him and he had to turn around to block the attack. The moment Ichigo disappeared, Jin was instantly met by another slash and then another and then another.

Though Jin was able to block all of these attacks, as the next one came, Ichigo simply vanished without even attacking and then a nearby after image suddenly slashed the Bount across the back. Jin's eyes became wide as more and more 'Ichigos' seemed to get the better of him and make more gashes on his body, which ended up shredding his coat and staining the ground with blood. The white haired man narrowed his eyes, then sent an incredibly powerful blast of wind outward, sending Ichigo flying back over a hundred feet away.

"Alright...you have pushed me too far! I'm going to finish this now!" Jin yelled out as he raised his wind-made blade into the air, not seeming to be too affected by the wounds he'd been given.

The blade itself seemed to glow a bright yellow, making a crackling noise, similar to an electric sound; "This is the true form of Messer. The friction of the wind creates static electricity...which calls forth lightning!" he claimed as his glowing blade was suddenly engulfed in yellow electricity.

He then swung his sword down and sent a wave of lightning at Ichigo, which he was barely able to dodge; "It's useless." Jin said as he blasted another lightning bolt toward the teen.

"No matter how fast you move...you can't keep up with the speed of lightning." the Bount continued as both bolts of electricity curved themselves toward Ichigo and hit him full on.

The orange haired teen let out a scream of pain as the electricity shocked every part of his body, and as he hit the ground, it shattered beneath him and he was embedded into it a few feet. This ended up slicing a few cuts in his face and caused him to gasp for the air that he desperately needed back in his lungs. As he lifted himself up, he took in a few deep breaths and began panting from pain, exhaustion and lack of oxygen.

Jin just stood there smirking smugly, as if he was no longer concerned about the gashes that had been inflicted on him moments ago. Ichigo glared at him and clenched his sword tighter as he wobbled slightly on his feet; "What's wrong? Is this as far as you go?" Jin asked, his tone and words were filled with overconfidence.

"Tch, not even close!" Ichigo yelled out, grinding his teeth together as he pushed past his pain and jumped forward.

Jin smirked lightly, than he suddenly appeared right in front of him and lunged his sword at the teen's stomach. Though Ichigo was able to escape a mortal wound, he still received a deep gash that began to bleed heavily, causing him to yell out in pain once more. The teen spun around and fell back to the ground; "Hmph, pathetic. You don't have enough power to defeat me." Jin said, a rather bored look on his face as he gazed at the teen.

Ichigo looked at him with a light and rather shaky smirk; "I wouldn't be so sure." he said, before suddenly vanishing from sight.

The Bount's eyes slightly widened as he turned around to try and block the teen's attack, but he was too late. Ichigo's blade sliced Jin across his back, causing the white haired man to jump away, but as Ichigo was getting ready for a follow up attack, his body just froze in place. Jin raised a brow to him, but he just smirked widely and ran at the teen with his lightning blade at the ready. Ichigo's eyes were wide as his body refused to listen to him and had even begun shaking for seemingly no reason.

Just before Jin was about to stab him, Ichigo's arm suddenly moved on its own and sent a large Getsuga Tensho into the Bount's chest. Jin's eyes became wide as the blast knocked him back over a hundred feet away and left a heavily bleeding wound, which added a great deal of blood to the collection he had already lost. The white haired man breathed heavily and glared toward Ichigo with extreme hatred; "Where did that power come from?" he demanded.

But his eye brow raised slightly as he noticed the once brown eyed teen now had yellowish gold colored irises; "What is that?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes into a glare once more.

Ichigo's eyes became normal once more, and then he suddenly leaned forward, gripped at the left side of his face with his hand and began breathing heavily. Jin raised a brow once more, then smirked lightly; "I see. That must have been some kind of inner power. But it looks like that has been all used up." he claimed smugly.

The orange haired teen narrowed his eyes on Jin as the man raise his normal arm parallel with the ground; "But fortunately for me...I can heal myself countless times with the spirit particles around me."

But as the small bits of spiritual energy circled around him, they just seemed to reflect off his body, causing the Bount's eyes to become wide; "What? I can't absorb them?" he whispered to himself.

Ichigo smirked widely and gripped his sword with both his hands; "Looks like Ran'Tao was able to do it after all." he said aloud, causing Jin to glare at him.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, but the teen just shrugged lightly and readied himself for his next attack.

"I'm not sure, but Toshiro planned all this out and I'm just glad that this was one thing that did go accordingly." he stated before he shunpoed towards him and swung his sword down.

Jin ground his teeth together in frustration, then lifted his sword up to block Ichigo's; "And it looks like the playing field is even...now that you're not immortal anymore." the teen claimed.

Then he lifted both their swords up and came in for a lunging attack, to which Jin jumped out of the way and planted his feet on the ground. Ichigo was about to come at the white haired man once more, but the tattoo of the Bount's crest flashed a glowing blue, making Jin smirk. The teen narrowed his eyes in slight confusion, wondering if he unlocked some sort of secret power. But as Jin closed his eyes for a brief moment and vanished from sight, Ichigo back flipped over the slash the Bount sent at him.

"Looks like that small light show didn't do anything for you." Ichigo commented, smirking lightly as he pushed off the air and swung his Zanpakuto down at the man.

Jin blocked the attack and glared angrily at the teen; "It wasn't a power boost...it was telling me that the Jokaisho is almost ready for use." he claimed, smirking darkly.

Ichigo's eyes flashed in shock; "What?" he demanded, surprised that he was nearly out of time.

But he was unable to think much further as Jin took advantage of the teen's shock by kneeing him in the stomach, then punching him in the face. Though the blows hurt him, he quickly recovered and regained his fighting stance; "Well I'm just gonna have to kill you quickly!" he declared, clenching his hands around his sword even tighter.

Jin smirked and shook his head; "Is that so? Well...can you at least stop this?" he asked, suddenly pointing his lightning blade to his right.

A high concentration of electricity circled around Jin's make-shift sword, and then a large lightning bolt shot out and headed for one of the buildings beside the hill. Ichigo's eyes went from confusion to a shocking realization; "The other Jokaisho!" he exclaimed, shunpoing as fast as he could to catch up with the blast.

But though the teen could not move fast enough, the stream of electricity was suddenly stopped before it could even reach the edge of the hill. Both Ichigo's and Jin's eyes became wide when they saw the lightning bolt being absorbed by a dark figure; "Impossible!" Jin exclaimed, growling silently but angrily.

Once the blast was completely gone, the figure revealed to be none other than; Byakuya Kuchiki. The black haired man lowered his arm, then brought up his other and fired off a lightning bolt twice as large as the one he had absorbed. Jin jumped out of the way of the attack and landed a few dozen yards away from both of his enemies. Ichigo blinked a few times, but then smirked lightly; "Byakuya...good thing you got here when you did." he said, sighing with relief.

Byakuya looked at the teen, and though his expression remained stoic, his tone and words spoke otherwise; "Well, I wasn't going to count on your sluggish speed to stop it."  
"Why you...!" Ichigo called out in irritation, holding up a clenched fist at the raven haired noble.

"It looks like your plans aren't going as well as you thought, Kariya." a feminine voice spoke out as the silhouette of Yoruichi stepped out from behind Byakuya.

Ichigo looked at her and blinked once more; "Yoruichi-san" he whispered silently.

But he looked back to Jin as said Bount took a step closer to him; "It doesn't matter how many of you there are! I will destroy the Seireitei no matter what it takes!" he claimed, his red eyes showing his dark intent.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes on, while Byakuya remained emotionless, and Yoruichi just started laughing an amused and rather elegant laugh. Jin's eyes shifted to the tan woman and ground his teeth in anger; "What are you laughing at?" he demanded.

Yoruichi wiped an invisible tear from her eye as she looked toward the white haired man, then past him and to someone with similar color hair; "What do you think?" she asked, causing the Bount and Ichigo to raise a brow in confusion.

"I think this has gone on long enough." a cold and deadly sounding voice spoke up from the other side of the combatants.

"Toshiro?" Ichigo called out, somewhat surprised at the captain's sudden appearance; "I thought you said that you were going to help seal the Jokaisho's." he continued.

Toshiro merely shrugged lightly and started walking over to them; "I gave the Head Captain the map and all the information he needed...he should be able to handle this without needing my help." he said.

Jin glared at the white haired captain, then he looked around at the other people that stood against him; "Feeling a bit outnumbered now?" Yoruichi asked, smirking rather smugly.

"Yeah right! I'll just use the Jokaisho's power to kill you all now!" Jin yelled out as he was suddenly surrounded in an aura of bright red spirit energy.

Ichigo growled lowly but then Toshiro appeared in front of him; "If you're going to be drawing power from that...then it's only fitting that your opponent receives a similar power." he said, placing one of his icy fingers to Ichigo's chest.

Yoruichi smirked lightly, then moved away slightly, but not enough so that she couldn't watch the fight; "This fight is over." she muttered to herself as Byakuya looked over at her and nodded.

The orange haired teen stared at Toshiro with a slightly confused expression, but then he suddenly felt an enormous wave of power flood into his being. Ichigo stood there shocked as he was surrounded by bright blue spirit energy that covered his body and healed all his wounds at an accelerated rate; "But I thought you wanted to me to beat him myself." he said, confused.

Toshiro just smirked lightly at him and removed his ice covered finger; "You already have. He is completely out of his own power and he would actually still lose even if you didn't have my help."

Ichigo blinked at him as the power he had received began to pour out of him in the form of a bright blue pillar of spiritual energy; "But then why are you helping?" he asked, not understanding the white haired captain's logic.

"'Cause I'd rather have him defeated before the Jokaisho is ready to explode." Toshiro said, to which the teen nodded in understanding.

"Plus, I need to get my paperwork done and it's hard to do that when I have too much noise outside of my office." he continued, causing Ichigo sweat drop and almost fall over.

"Now get rid of this nuisance." the white haired captain said coldly, making the teen recover and nod once more in determination.

Jin narrowed his eyes as Toshiro walked away from the orange haired teen with a confident expression; "I'll be glad to oblige!" the Bount called out as if the captain's words had been for him.

A large red pillar of spirit energy, nearly as big as the one that surrounded Ichigo, suddenly erupted around the white haired Bount. As the two combatants stared each other down, they suddenly leapt at one another, clashing with overwhelming power that shook the earth beneath their feet. While their blades clashed, the ground began to break apart and crumble from under them; "I won't let you win this fight Kariya!" Ichigo yelled out, the spiritual energy surrounding him suddenly increasing in size.

Jin's eyes widened as his own power was quickly overwhelmed by the teen's, then he just closed his eyes slowly as his power finally gave way to Ichigo's and was engulfed in it. A large explosion blasted on the hill, blinding anyone who was looking and blowing many large rocks and debris everywhere. As everything cleared, Ichigo stood there by himself, Toshiro, Yoruichi and Byakuya were not seen anywhere near him.

But then Rukia, Renji, Chad, Orihime, Uryu and even the mod souls ran up to him from off to the side of where the battle had taken place. They all exchanged a few words, cheers and smiles of accomplishment, unknowing of the single set of eyes watching them with much interest. But they also held a sinister intent, much like the one that watched Toshiro the previous night; "Ichigo Kurosaki...you truly are a wonder."

* * *

Okay, one more chapter left before the actual ending to the Bount arc. But before I go off on my month break, I will give you all the Sword Frenzy and the First Bleach movie before I go. So for the next few chapters including the next one, I will be adding those two movies. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I hope everyone will review once more and give me more then just seven or eight. ;)


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58:**

-The morning after Jin's defeat-

Toshiro and his lieutenant sat in the Tenth Division office, continuously writing on the many sheets of paper on their respectful desks. Toshiro's stack was considerably larger then Rangiku's, due to the fact that the strawberry blonde snuck in half of her work into his. Though the icy captain discovered this fact every time, he never made a complaint about it, his thought was; 'So long as it gets done.'

But his mind was wandering today and wasn't able to concentrate on his work, causing his lieutenant to glance over at him every once in a while with a worried expression. Just as she was finally about to voice her concern, a knock came at the door and she turned her attention to the entrance; "Come in." Toshiro said.

The door opened immediately, revealing a black, spiky haired man with forest green eyes, which were covered by a set of sleek glasses; "Sorry for intruding...but I brought the Twelfth Division reports of the Bount incident. They need both your approvals since you were the Commander for over seeing the invasion." the man spoke, his voice sounding slightly nervous as he walked over and added to the two officers stacks.

Toshiro nodded to him and waved him off; "Thanks Nado. Your dismissed." he said, to which the man bowed to him and walked out of the office.

The two heads of the division restarted their work, but Toshiro still didn't seem to be paying as much attention to it as he normally did. After a few more minutes, Toshiro suddenly placed his brush down, looked over to the window and stared at Sokyoku hill. It was no more then a few seconds later that a small flashing light came from the large land mass; "Looks like sh-...they left for the World of the Living." Rangiku commented, trying to make sure that he didn't catch her mistake as she glancing at him once again.

The white haired captain looked over his shoulder at her, then simply nodded slightly and turned back to the papers on his desk; "I'm going out for a while. You can leave the rest to me, I'll do it when I get back." he said, standing up from his desk.

Rangiku stared at him for a moment as he began straightening out the two stacks of papers on his desk, realizing that he had caught her slip up. But just as he was leaving the room, she quickly stood up from her place on the office sofa; "Captain! You know you can talk to me if there is something bothering you." she said, before she even realized she had spoke.

Toshiro looked back at her from over his shoulder with a slightly surprised expression, but then he smirked lightly and nodded as he turned his head away; "Thanks, Rangiku." he murmured.

The moment the words left his lips, he walked out of the office and quickly shunpoed away as he reached the end of the hallway. Rangiku stood in the room alone with a small smirk on her face, all the while she stared at the spot her captain had been moments ago; "Well just remember that you owe me that drink." she whispered to herself.

-Outside the Tenth Division-

'Looks like she left again...and still without a word of good-bye.' he thought, staring down at the path before him as he continued walking.

He went down one of the many pathways that led out of the Seireitei, but the one that he was heading toward was the Western gate. The place that he met Yoruichi after the one hundred year separation not two weeks ago, but it seemed to be too soon that she left once more. He looked up at the top of the large wall to his left, then he bent his knees slightly and jumped into the air with so much force that he flipped over the huge wall.

His white hair had come within inches of the top, but his expression stayed the same the whole time, as if he expected to come that close. Toshiro landed on the ground with a cat-like grace and looked around the area around him; "C-C-Captain Hitsugaya!" a large voice stuttered out.

The icy captain glanced over to the source of the voice, but he was met by the huge bowing form of Jidanbo Ikkanzaka. The large shinigami moved his head to look at Toshiro and gulped down slightly; "I apologize sir...I had no idea that you were heading out. I would have opened the gate for you immediately!" he called out, sounding nervous towards his commanding officer.

Toshiro just waved him off with an ice covered hand; "Don't worry about it. I don't intend to make a big deal out of my coming and going." he said, starting to walk away without waiting for the gatekeeper's response.

"Y-Yes sir!" he called out to the leaving form of the white haired captain, whom walked through the first district of West Rukongai.

But as Toshiro walked, he received many mixed stares, some of the people looked at him in amazement and slight admiration, while others gave him resentful and hate-filled looks. Despite all of these stares, he simply ignored everything going on around him, even a silent sob that seemed to get slightly louder as he kept on walking. Toshiro had just reached the point that the quiet crying had begun to become even more silent, but he glanced over his shoulder, as if the sobbing was pulling at his normally icy heart.

He sighed loudly, then walked back to where he could hear the crying the best and noticed that it was coming from beneath a small and somewhat torn blue blanket, to which he lifted the cloth away. What he saw was a young girl with long brown hair, tied up in two pig tails, she also had a long fringe which hung over the left side of her face. She was wearing an ordinary grey color kimono with a dark blue obi tied around her waist; "O-Onii-chan?" she whispered, looking up at the icy captain.

Toshiro shook his head and kneeled down to her; "Were you taken from your brother?" he asked, ignoring the fact that the people around him were still giving him mixed stares.

The small girl shook her head and stared at him with her large green color eyes; "No...I was already a spirit when I met him. He used to visit me all the time, giving me flowers and asking me how I was. But then a monster attacked me and I haven't seen him in a long time." she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

The white haired captain nodded to her and placed an ice covered hand on her shoulder; "I'm sure that he knows that you're okay. And that your in a better place now." he said, allowing a small but comforting smile to curl his lips.

The small girl stared at him for a moment, but then she smiled back and nodded her head; "Yeah...but, just in case...could you tell him for me?" she asked, keeping her smile on her face.

Toshiro nodded to her; "Sure...what does he look like?" he asked, fully intending to help this girl in making her feel better.

"He's tall, has orange hair and usually has a mean face, but he always had a nice and warm smile for me." she said, staring up at Toshiro with a hopeful expression.

The icy captain blinked at her, then he smirked slightly wider then before, but in a knowing way; "Of course. I'll tell him." he said, nodding to her once more.

She smiled widely to him and just jumped up from her sitting position to hug him tightly; "Thank you!" she exclaimed, sounding happier then she had since had gotten there.

Toshiro raised a brow to her as he let her just hug him for a few moments, then as she pulled away from him, she smiled an even wider smile and pointed to his shinigami robe. He just raised his brow higher to her, but before he could ask her what she was thinking, she spoke up first; "Oh! Are you a 'Shinigami'? I've heard a few stories during my short stay here and most of them are about shinigami. Are you one of them?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei Thirteen and one of the Commanders of the Onmitsukido." he said, making his long introduction sound like something he spoke all the time.

"Wow~! You're amazing! My name is Tomiya. But you can call me Imoto-chan if you like, so long as I can call you 'Onii-chan', Onii-chan." she said as if not realizing that she had already called him brother.

The white haired captain nodded to her and smirked wide enough to appear as an actual smile; "Sure...whatever you like." he said.

Tomiya nodded back to him happily, then looked over in the Seireitei's direction; "Do you think I could go there too? I may not have been here for very long, but I've dreamed about it the whole time." she said, staring at the highest point of the tallest tower in the Seireitei with a hopeful sparkle in her eyes.

Toshiro silently chuckled, followed her gaze for a moment before placing an icy but gentle hand on her shoulder; "You will. You have a high concentration of spirit energy around you. Within a few years...I'm sure that enough will build up for you to become a shinigami yourself." he said.

'Although...it's probably due to the fact that Kurosaki had spent so much time with her that made her soul's inner strength come forth. Hmph, I suppose they have that effect on people.' he thought as the small girl smiled widely to his words to her.

"Really?" she exclaimed loudly, wrapping her arms around her self proclaimed brother once more; "I can't wait!" she continued in a giddy tone.

She then jumped to her feet and pointed a slim finger toward the Seireitei; "Just you wait shinigami! I'll be joining you soon, because Onii-chan believes I can do it!" she called out, earning her a few raised brows from the people around her.

Toshiro stood himself up beside her and placed an icy hand on her shoulder once more; "I'll be waiting too...Imoto-chan." he said, sounding and feeling slightly odd in saying her suggested honorific, but he smirked lightly to her nonetheless.

Tomiya smiled to him once more and nodded her head; "But in the mean time, keep yourself healthy and safe, alright?" he continued after a few moments of silence between them.

"I will. Thank you again Onii-chan!" she said, giving him one last hug before they separated from one another.

"I'll check in on you every now and then, see you around." Toshiro said, waving and ice covered hand at her before he suddenly vanished in a shunpo.

"See you later Onii-chan!" she called out to him as she waved her whole arm back to him.

-A mile way from any village in Western Rukongai-

Toshiro walked up to an enormous valley, large trees surrounded it on all sides, while an amazingly clear lake was at the far end. A wide river flowed into and out of the lake, with large, ice capped mountains stood proudly in the distance; 'I wonder why Yoruichi never says goodbye. She just leaves without so much as a 'see you later'. She always does that, even when we worked together in the Onmitsukido...whenever she went on a mission, she would just give me a small smile and leave.' he thought, looking down at the grass blowing in the light breeze.

'And why does she even leave? She has many places to stay in Soul Society yet she always goes back to the World of the Living with...him.' even in his mind, his last word was filled to the brim with venom.

"Even as a child...you always favored this place." a sudden voice spoke up from behind him.

The icy captain never reacted, nor responded, knowing that he would fall into deeper hatred if he spoke to this specific person. Whom had walked up next to him with a light smirk on their face; "Even though it was something that I detested back then...I have to admit, you sure picked a hell of a good spot." the person continued.

"What do you want?" Toshiro asked, spitting out his words as if it were a vile poison.

The person beside him chuckled lightly, something that the white haired captain had grown to hate almost more then anything; "Nothing...nothing at all. Just to check on you, that's all." but though the person's words seemed to be innocent and caring, their tone of voice was far from either.

"Tch. Maybe if I shove my fist down your throat, you'll see just how I'm doing." Toshiro commented, earning another chuckle from the person beside him.

"You never had the guts to raise your hand to me. And even now...with all of your power, your still just a little boy that's scared of his father." he said.

Toshiro remained silent, refusing to look at the man that he had once used the honorific of 'father', but this had only seemed to confirm Kansoyue's words. The brown eyed man had begun laughing a whole hearted laugh, but this had only made the white haired captain growl silently; "Are you sure you want to test that theory of yours?" he asked, clenching his ice covered hands into fists.

"No...not really. But I do want to know something while I have time to talk with you after almost forty years." Kansoyue said, to which Toshiro finally looked over to him and raised a brow.

"And what would that be?" the white haired captain asked, a cold breath coming out of his mouth and freezing the ground as he spoke.

"How are you and Yoruichi Shihoin getting along?" he answered, with a very suggestive tone in his voice.

Toshiro narrow his eyes on him, then looked away; "You're not getting any of their fortune...Kansoyue. Even if something has happened between us." he said coldly, making sure to call him by his name.

But the brown haired man just smiled widely to this and even chuckled once more; "So something has happened between the two of you. It's not surprising. She did give you a very interesting position in her life since day one." he all but laughed out.

The icy captain glared at the man, his claws twitching in anger and want for the man's blood to be splashed on the ground beneath their feet; "If your done here...then you had better go." Toshiro said, looking away from him.

Kansoyue smirked to him, shrugged his shoulders and let out a fake sigh of boredom; "If you insist. But just to let you know...I have a feeling that she's not very interested in you anymore. I mean...what kind of woman suddenly vanishes for that long and just shows up out of the blue? And with some other guy no less. It doesn't seem like she cares much for you anymore." he said, causing Toshiro's eyes to widen.

"Just a few words for thought." he continued before walking away and leaving the stunned captain alone.

Toshiro just stood on the grassy plain, not able to think of anything besides his adoptive father's words; 'I know that he said that to break me down, like he always did...but how is it that he had guessed what was on my mind? And how did he find out about her coming back?' he began in his mind, looking down at the grass once more.

'But she does go out of her way to talk to me whenever she is here in Soul Society. Then...she never stays longer then needed. Once the crisis is over, she just leaves...without saying anything to me. Plus, she stays with Kisuke at that tiny shop of his, why would she be willing to do that if she didn't like him?' he continued, not realizing how long he was actually just standing there thinking this and how many times he had thought it.

'But...now it's the fact that she met with him first that really bothers me. I had always thought that she would have come to me if something ever happened. But she didn't even tell me anything about what was going on...I had to figure things out for myself. I guess I really am not that important to her anymore...or maybe I never was.' Toshiro thought, as the sun's rays began to become more red as if began to disappear over the mountains.

'Even though it seems that she treats me differently then anyone else...how do I know that I am? For all I know, she treats everyone that way. I suppose I should just-' he then looked at the setting sun, still not realizing that he had been thinking the same thoughts over and over again.

After a few minutes of silence from both in and outside his mind, he literally slapped himself across his cheek with an ice covered hand; "No...I won't let you beat me this time Kansoyue. You've had an effect on my life for far too long and I couldn't help but fall every time you dictated my actions. But no more." he said aloud in determination.

'Because...I am different to her. I know that for a fact.' he thought to himself, recalling his and Yoruichi's actions during the Bount's invasion and even a few from their far past.

It was then that Toshiro snapped out of his trance-like state and realized that the sun was almost set on the horizon; "Have I really been here that long? I guess I should hurry to the office. I'll probably have even more paperwork to do then when I left." he spoke to himself, taking one final look at the area around him before walking away.

'I'll train next time.' he thought, before vanishing in a shunpo.

-Tenth Division office-

Toshiro stood at the foot of his desk with an almost saddened expression as he looked down at two large stacks of fully completely paperwork; 'You always do the opposite of what you're told.' he thought, allowing his lips to curl up into a smirk now.

He then looked at a small note left on his stack of papers, which said; 'You looked stressed so I helped you out this time. Just remember that you owe me that drink and we'll be even. Your wonderfully beautiful, talented and loyal Lieutenant, Rangiku.' She had also added small hearts as the dots for the 'i's' and put in a smiley face just below her name that looked similar to a cat. Toshiro smirked a bit wider and placed the note inside his haori pocket; "Thank you...again." he whispered.

But just before he was able to leave the office, he suddenly felt a distortion in the air around him, making eyes narrow and his icy hands to clench into fists; 'That can mean only one thing...' he thought.

"Baishin has broken free." he said, just before vanishing in a shunpo.

* * *

This is where the Sword Frenzy begins, I hope you all liked this chapter. And btw, Nado is one of the OC's I got and Tomiya is obviously the little girl that Ichigo visited before he gained his Shinigami powers. I wanted to add her in for good measure since I think she deserved to go to Soul Society. Till next time everyone. ;)


	59. Chapter 59

A quick but very heartfelt thanks to Tuli-chan, whom has helped me big time in this story. ;) Thanks. And thank the rest of you for all your ideas, suggestions and reviews. I appreciate them all. Alright...on with the story! :3

* * *

**Chapter 59:**

-The next day in the First Division-

"I have just been informed by Captain Hitsugaya that Baishin has broken free of the seal. I have ordered him to go on ahead as a scout and to inform the Shinigami Representative of the situation. We must destroy him at all costs! Captain Soifon, Captain Kyoraku, Captain Zaraki and Captain Ukitake! You will all go to the World of the Living and crush Baishin...immediately!" the Head Captain called out, looking at each commanding officer as he said their names.

"Dismissed!" he finished, slamming his staff on the floor boards, to which all of the called captains shunpoed away, while the rest calmly filed out of the room.

The mission bound captains met at the senkaimon in the Second Division grounds, but as they approached, they saw a lone figure standing next to it with a light smirk of their features. But as they realized whom the person was, Soifon quickly bowed slightly; "Yoruichi-sama." she said, looking to the purple haired woman.

"Looks like I already missed him." Yoruichi said, letting out a silent sigh as she gestured to the senkaimon; "Shall we?"

"Yes! Let's go!" Yachiru exclaimed, suddenly appearing on Kenpachi's shoulder; "Big Booby Kitty!" she added with a wide smile.

-Karakura town, outside a fast food restaurant-

Ichigo was suddenly slammed face first into the ground, all the while, Baishin drained much of his constantly flowing spirit energy through his hand on the back his neck. As the orange haired teen strained to get up, the large grey haired man pressed his foot on the teen's back and drained his power even more. As he continued, blue streams of spirit energy were flowing out of Ichigo's body and into Baishin's; "Ichigo!" Rukia and Renji called out worryingly from off to the side.

Baishin laughed loudly as he felt himself becoming even more powerful then before, testing his even more developed muscles as he did. But his enjoyment was cut short as Renji ran toward him, placed a mod soul in his mouth, which separated him from his gigai and then released his Shikai. The red head jumped into the air, then swung his sword down at him, which extended toward his opponent with almost lightning fast speed. Baishin merely smirked lightly and brought his hand up; "Pathetic!" the man yelled out, smacking the blade away as if it was merely a fly.

"I'm not done yet!" Renji declared, swinging his sword down once more, with even more force and ferocity then before.

All the while, Rukia had gotten out of her gigai, ran behind Baishin quickly and fired off a few strong kido spells. But the grey haired shinigami just stood there, allowing all of their attacks to hit him, none doing any damage to his body whatsoever. He then looked between the two and smirked widely; "Is that all you've got?" he asked smugly.

The two shinigami became slightly wide eyed in shock of not being able to even scratch him with their combined powers. Baishin then pointed his hands at the two and threw multiple blades from his sleeves, seemingly to come out of no where. Renji and Rukia were able to dodge each of them, but with some difficulty; "Your finished!" he exclaimed as another barrage of blades came at them at an even greater speed then before.

The two tried to dodge them once more, but because of the increased speed, they couldn't get away from all of them quick enough, not even with shunpo. Each of the blades came within a few feet of their targets before they were suddenly frozen in large blocks of ice. Everyone's eyes slightly widened, but quickly returned to normal after their realization; "Toshiro!" Ichigo called out as he had finally managed to stand up and stare at a shadowy figure standing on the top of the restaurant.

"About time you got here." the teen continued, to which Baishin looked down at Ichigo with a raised brow, then up at his newest opponent.

"Toshiro, eh? Never heard of ya! I guess that the Gotei Thirteen has gotten desperate if they're putting children in a captain's position!" Baishin laughed out, gesturing to the white haired captain's haori.

Toshiro closed his eyes and smirked lightly in amusement; "Hmph. I wouldn't expect you to think much of me. You killed two captain level soul reaper's before you were sealed away after all. But how about you enjoy yourself this time a little? You haven't been out in about three hundred years." Toshiro said, to which made everyone but Baishin to look at him slightly shocked.

Baishin himself looked off to the side in thought, then smirked widely and nodded his head in agreement; "Alright...sounds fine to me." he said.

Just as the words left his lips, he started backing away from everyone, opening a small garganta behind him in the process. But as he stepped back, multiple garganta's opened all over the town, with a minimum of three hollows coming from each one, all escaping into the World of the Living. Baishin laughed loudly; "How is that for fun?" he called out before vanishing along with the dark portal.

Toshiro sighed lightly as he jumped down from the roof, landing on the street, barely making a sound; "Why the hell did you let him go? Shouldn't we try to get rid of this guy before he causes more damage then what he already has?"" Ichigo demanded, gesturing to the fairly destroyed restaurant and the large cracks in the street.

The white haired captain looked at him and raised a brow, but just as Ichigo was about to continue his rant, Rukia and Renji hurried over to him and shoved his face into the ground to silence him. The teen mumbled his protests into the pavement as the two soul reapers expressed their apologies to their superior in unison; "Sorry Captain Hitsugaya! We know that you had good reason to let him go!"

"So what's the plan with this guy?" Ichigo asked as he was able to get his face out of the ground and speak properly.

"I'll explain once we get to Kisuke's shop." the white haired captain claimed, gesturing for each of them to follow him.

Ichigo rushed around to get back inside his normal body, all the while, Rukia and Renji returned back into their gigai's, only to follow after Toshiro, whom hadn't slowed or waited for them. But as they each caught up with him, they heard a far off voice from behind them; "Wait for me!"

When they looked, they noticed a small figure approaching them, at first they were confused about whom it was, not remembering whom they had seen before Baishin's sudden attack on them. But once the figure fell over, then quickly got back up and kept running, they all said the person's name in unison; "Hanataro."

Toshiro decided to wait for the small healer, but when he felt that it was taking too long, he decided to just resume walking once more. Ichigo and the others didn't notice his leaving until Ichigo asked him a question; "Should one of us shunpo over there and get him?"

Once they saw that the icy captain was already farther away from them then Hanataro was, they decided to just hurry along and catch up with him, but keeping their pace slow so their other friend could catch up. Though it had taken a while, they had all reached their destination and gathered inside one of the empty rooms of the shop. After they were all inside relaxing, Toshiro immediately went to Kisuke; "Where is she?" he asked, knowing that his long time friend would know whom he was speaking about.

"She went to Soul Society to join up with you...looks like she left a little too late. Or maybe you just left too early." Kisuke chuckled lightly, to which Toshiro smirked almost invisibly from slight amusement.

"I'll just have to meet up with her after all this is over." the icy captain said, turning around and walking back toward the room that he left the others in.

"You let him go so you could have the excuse to stay here long enough to talk to her." the blond haired shop owner speculated, making his turquoise eyed friend look back at him with a raised brow.

"Why would you say that?" Toshiro asked, waiting for an explanation of his reasoning.

"Well...you never used to let your enemies go. You always finished them off the moment you saw them. You're always cold and calculating when it comes to fighting an enemy. Except for when it involves Yoruichi...and maybe your Lieutenant." the blond claimed, smirking at him knowingly.

But before the white haired captain could say anything, his friend just continued on, in a much lighter tone then before; "But I do think that it's very sweet of you to do that." he chuckled out, opening his fan and waving it in front of him in a dismissive manner.

Toshiro narrowed eyes on him, but then he let out a silent 'Hmph' of amusement as he walked away without another word; 'I guess I was pretty transparent about my actions. But...I don't like the fact that he seems to know my own reasoning so quickly.' he thought, going into the room that he could hear Ichigo and Renji arguing with each other.

"Enough!" he called out, raising his voice slightly from it's normal tone, yet the reaction from the others in the room was as if he had just screamed at them like a father to his children.

"Now...Baishin won't be difficult to beat. He is slightly weaker then Jin was with the Jokaisho's power. So that being said, Ichigo...you'll be the one to kill him." Toshiro ordered, just before he started walking towards the open window on the right side of the room.

"Eh? Hold on Toshiro! Why do I have to do it? Don't I get a break at all? Besides...if he's that easy to beat...why can't Renji do it?" Ichigo demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the red head he called.

"Hey! Why do I have to do it? You're the one that always saves the day! So go do it again! Or are you too scared?" Renji shot back, smirking slightly smugly.

"What was that?" Ichigo countered, glaring daggers at him, but then they both became silent as they felt the rooms temperature drop significantly.

"Do you two ever shut up?" Toshiro asked icily, giving them both a look that made them feel like they would truly die at any second.

"Ichigo...your killing Baishin. Renji, Rukia and Hanataro will be support. The other captains should be arriving soon, so we'll be taking care of the hollows that he released into the town. You three just concentrate on just finding him. Got it?" Toshiro commanded, not even waiting for an answer before vanishing in a shunpo.

Ichigo growled to himself as Renji, Rukia and Hanataro gave a bow and a 'Yes sir!' despite the fact that he was already gone. But no sooner had the icy captain disappeared, a senkaimon opened up from off to the side of them; "Captain Ukitake!" Rukia called out, giving her commander a bow.

"Wow...either he's really good at guessing, or he is just that good." Ichigo muttered, blinking a few times at the new arrivals.

Renji smacked him outside the head as he too bowed down to the captains; "Hey! What was that for?" Ichigo demanded, his frustration building up again.

"Idiot. Show some respect." Rukia piped in, giving him an extra smack for good measure.

"Quite hitting me already!" the orange haired teen exclaimed in aggravation, to which all the captains, save for Soifon had chuckled lightly.

Yoruichi looked around the room, then opened her senses to everything around her and ended up frowning in a halfway pout. She looked to Ichigo and his friends and sighed lightly; "I must have just missed him, huh?" Yoruichi said, sounding a little saddened.

The group in front of her nodded their heads in unison; "Hmm...I guess I'll meet up with you guys later...I wanna talk to Toshiro really fast." she said, looking to the comrades that she came with.

Each of the other captains nodded, save for Soifon, whom walked up to her as if waiting for her to go so she could follow; "I would like to accompany you Yoruichi-sama." she said, giving a light and brief bow.

Yoruichi smirked lightly and shrugged; "I suppose you can." she said with a slight nod.

She then looked to the other captains and gave them a quick wave; "Make sure to keep your eye out for Kenpachi, with Yachiru giving him directions...who knows where he'll end up." she said before shunpoing away with Soifon in tow.

"My oh my, everyone is in such a hurry today." Shunsui commented, tilting his hat up.

"It seems like it." Jushiro said, giving a light smirk as he looked from out the window to his very long time friend.

"But it looks like we had better head out as well." the pink kimono wearing man said, gesturing toward the window.

Jushiro nodded to him then looked to Ichigo and the others; "Start your search at the temple that Baishin was sealed in, he might return there. Kuchiki-kun and Abarai-kun know the way. Make sure to be safe." he said before he and his friend vanished in shunpoes.

"Yes sir!" the two called out together, even knowing that their superiors wouldn't hear them.

Ichigo raised a brow, then sighed lightly; "They make this all seem like its no big deal." he commented, sounding somewhat frustrated on the fact.

"Tch, because it isn't...your just weak." Renji claimed, to which the orange haired teen growled and came face-to-face with his 'friend'.

"What did you say?" he demanded, both males glaring and growling at each other.

Rukia simply sighed and rolled her eyes to them; "Men." she muttered to herself, none of them noticing Hanataro finally leaned up from his bowing position since the captains had arrived.

-Near the Karakura town bridge-

Toshiro stood on the short grassy hill that led down to the river, separating Karakura town and Naruki City on the other side. Though his gaze was on a small spot in the middle of the water, his senses were completely open, but he was mostly tracking a spirit energy that had originated from this area. He continued to look around with a suspicious expression on his face; 'I know I sensed something come out of here. But I don't see anything and it all feels fine.' he thought.

He then narrowed his eyes as he saw a faint hint of light from the water; "What is that?" he spoke aloud.

"Talking to yourself again?" Yoruichi asked in a light giggle as she and Soifon appeared a few feet from him in shunpoes.

"No...just checking something." he said, to which both women raised a brow, but he turned to them and glanced over to his right; "We should get rid of these hollows before they spread out over the town too much."

"Yes. Captain Hitsugaya." Soifon said, giving him a light bow, to which he nodded to her with a light smirk.

Yoruichi smirked as well then brought one of her hands up into a fist while the other was placed on her hip; "Alright...it'll be fun fighting hollows with you again. It'll feel like the old days." she said, winking at him.

Toshiro looked over at her, with a slightly wider smirk and nodded in agreement; 'I definitely mean more to her then just a farewell friend.' he thought, then turned his attention to Soifon.

'I don't think I'll ever be insignificant in her life...just as she is very important in mine.' he continued before they all vanished in shunpoes.

-Across town-

Ichigo, Renji and Rukia rushed forward, heading for the shrine that Jushiro had spoke of, but as they ran a large explosion erupted in the train station nearby. They swiftly changed direction and headed toward the scattering crowd; "This way! Hurry up!" Ichigo called out, attempting direct the people away from the explosion.

But as he did this Rukia walked up to him and raised a brow; "You do remember that they can't see you right? Your a shinigami and normal people can't see you." she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The orange haired teen silenced himself immediately and froze in place as he sweat dropped heavily; "Oh...right." he muttered sheepishly.

Rukia sighed loudly and shook her head; "How would you ever go on without me?" she asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes.

"Hey! When you two aren't too busy!" Renji yelled out as he sliced the head off a large hollow that came at him with an ear piercing roar.

Ichigo and Rukia looked from each other, nodded briefly and jumped into the fray of hollows, swords at the ready. They slashed, stabbed and decapitated dozens of hollows, staining the ground with so much blood that the pavement became a sea of red. The three friends had all ganged up on the last hollow and sliced it three different ways in a single instant; "That's the last of them!" Ichigo said triumphantly.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Rukia said, turning around to face twice and many masked monsters as they had defeated coming for them in a rush.

"Damn! Where are they all coming from?" Renji demanded, sounding very annoyed and slightly tired.

"Baishin spiked his spirit energy to attract them...but there still shouldn't be this many." Rukia speculated as she put her hands together and out in front of her.

Rukia shot kido spell after kido spell, while Ichigo and Renji slashed and sliced at the never ending hollows. As another group came toward them, Ichigo narrowed his eyes on them; "They just don't know when to quit! Getsuga...Tensho!" Ichigo cried out, sending a powerful wave of blue spirit energy toward several hollows, destroying them instantly.

The three had begun to pant lightly from slight exhaustion, starting to feel the effects of fighting off so many hollows one right after another. As the next wave of hollows came walking toward them, three other figures suddenly appeared in front of them; "Get going...we'll take care of them." Toshiro said, looking back at them with a stern expression.

Ichigo smirked thankfully to him, looked over to his friends with a nod and they all shunpoed away toward their previous destination. Toshiro looked around at the hollows as they surrounded all of them; "Not even worth our time." Soifon muttered, to which the other two nodded in agreement.

Toshiro twitched his hand, looking slightly anxious to fight, which was not lost by Yoruichi or Soifon, whom both smiled lightly; "Getting a little excited are we?" the purple haired woman asked in a halfway giggle.

"It is an honor fight along side you once more, Captain Hitsugaya." Soifon said, not realizing that she had an almost giddy smile on her face.

Toshiro and Yoruichi smirked to her, then nodded; "What do you say? Hakuda?" Yoruichi asked, glancing between her two friends.

"Sounds good to me." the white haired captain said as the dozens upon dozens of hollows completely encircled them.

"I agree Yoruichi-sama, Captain Hitsugaya." Soifon said in a nod, to which they all allowed a slightly excited smirk curl their lips.

"Let's go." Toshiro said, before they all took a step forward in battle ready positions.

The three seemed to look like they turned slightly invisible for a moment, then just returning to a relaxed state and stared at the hollows almost smugly. A second later, blood gushed out of all of the hollows bodies around them, which staining the ground even more as they all disintegrated into nothing. Yoruichi smirked widely, walked over to Toshiro and hugged him; "Now 'that' was just like old times! I think you got more then me...again." she claimed, smiling widely at first, but then ending in a fake frown.

"Hmph, well...I've stayed sharp and trained for all this time. You probably spent most of the time in your other form." the white haired captain said in a silent sigh.

Yoruichi giggled lightly, released him from her hug and placed her hands on her hips with a pouting expression; "Well being a cat can be exhausting too you know." she said, looking away in an obviously fake anger.

All the while, Soifon just watched the two before her in admiration; 'I missed this so much...they are both so amazing, even when they don't agree.' she thought as a small smile curled her lips.

Toshiro smirked invisibly at his friends as they looked at him, noticing that he was going to say something; "Hey...I-" he began, but was cut off as he felt Ichigo's spirit energy rising and clashing with Baishin's.

"We better see if he's having trouble. I didn't account for Baishin being able to absorb spirit energy from other people." Toshiro said, turning away from the two, making them look down a bit sadly.

Yoruichi and Soifon looked to each other, then shrugged lightly as they walked up next to Toshiro, one on either side of him. He looked from one to the other, receiving nods from them before they once again disappeared in shunpoes. They had made it to the orange haired teen and his friends' location in seconds, but were met by a rather odd sight. Renji was laying face down, bleeding heavily from deep wounds on his chest, arms and legs, with Rukia beside him, trying to pull out the long blades from his body.

All the while, Ichigo was down on the ground with Baishin standing over him with a wide smile and laughing maniacally in his victory. Soifon huffed silently, showing that she was obviously disappointed; "Pathetic...they didn't even leave a scratch on him." she pointed out.

"They really must be tired from the Bount invasion." Yoruichi commented, blinking a few times at her defeated friends.

"I guess I should have given them a little more time to rest before pitting them against someone as powerful as Baishin." Toshiro said, sighing lightly and stepping forward.

"I'll take care of him quickly...then they can have their rest." he continued before anyone could say anything further.

As he came forward, he tilted his head to both sides, then shifting his arms back and bending his ice covered knuckles, all of which made loud cracking noises. As he did this Yoruichi smiled widely in anticipation, while Soifon looked as if she was thinking about running after him. But the moment the raven haired woman did just as she was considering, Yoruichi placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her immediately; "But...Captain Hitsu-!" but Soifon was cut off as Yoruichi shook her head.

"Come on Soifon...you can't tell me you're not interested in watching him fight." the purple haired woman said, smirking widely.

Soifon looked down slightly as a faint hint of red was seen on her cheeks; "I..I suppose so." she all but whispered as she looked back to Toshiro.

"Quickly eh? You seem to be quite confident kid! Let's see how well you do against me!" Baishin called out smugly and even more confidently then he was the first time Toshiro met him.

The large shinigami smirked widely and shunpoed behind Toshiro, driving a blade toward his back, but the icy captain moved to the side, easily dodging it. Toshiro smirked lightly as he spun himself around, closed his eyes and just allowed his other senses to 'see' for him. This had angered Baishin greatly, so as he let out an aggravated growl and battle cry, he began lunging, swiping and throwing blade after blade as quickly as possible. But the white haired captain kept his eyes closed and dodged each attack without any difficulty whatsoever.

"Don't think your speed will be able to save you!" he exclaimed loudly, shunpoing behind him once more and continuing his barrage of attacking blades.

Baishin began smiling widely as he saw that Toshiro was not turning around, believing to have the upper hand on him, not realizing that the icy captain had a light smirk curling his lips. The attacking shinigami jumped back a few feet and sent dozens of blades toward him, to which Toshiro flipped over them swiftly. But as Toshiro came down, he noticed Baishin moving closer to him in order to stab him with another blade from his sleeve; "Hmph...not bad..." he said silently, landing on the ground and suddenly vanishing before Baishin could finish his attack.

"...but not good enough." a voice spoke from behind the grey haired shinigami, causing his eyes to widen in shock.

Out of reflex, Baishin swiftly turned around, slicing at the air before noticing that Toshiro had disappeared once more; "Where are you looking?" the white haired captain asked, sounding a bit smug in his voice, but a slightly dark way.

The moment Baishin attempted to back kick him, Toshiro flipped over his head, kicked off the spirit particles in the air and sent a powerful punch to his face as he looked up. The grey haired shinigami was smashed into the ground, creating a ten foot deep crater that was over thirty feet in diameter. Toshiro stood over Baishin with a blank but icy expression as he saw a large gash on the man's cheek from his ice covered hands. But then he narrowed his eyes as he saw the man crack one of his eyes open, unable to open them both from his face being in so much pain.

"You really shouldn't have judged me so quickly...but then again, that's what gave me such a huge advantage over you." Toshiro said rather coldly, just before he suddenly kicked Baishin in his face as if kicking a ball.

The force had been fairly light, but still caused the grey haired shinigami to fly back into a tree, breaking it down as he hit; "Hmph. I thought I hit you lighter then that." Toshiro said, shrugging slightly.

Baishin got himself up slowly and rather painful, then glared at Toshiro furiously; "Where were you hiding that strength? You barely have any muscle on you!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Trust me Baishin...your muscles don't even compare to his." Yoruichi commented knowingly from off to the side, to which Soifon blushed lightly.

Toshiro rolled his eyes as he heard this, but he then moved his head away as a long blade went shooting past him; "I don't care! I'll kill all of you!" the grey haired shinigami yelled out as his spirit energy suddenly began rising drastically.

Neither of the three batted an eye lash as he screamed out a battle cry and began glowing a deep red color; "Bankai!" he called out, to which a large flash of red blinded everyone around him.

Toshiro blinked a few times from the light, then raised a brow as he saw the transformation that Baishin underwent. He was basically a moving metal statue with hundreds of blades for arms; "That's it? That's your Bankai?" he asked, not impressed whatsoever.

Baishin growled angrily, then leapt forward at the white haired captain, but he was stopped as he found his legs suddenly frozen to the ground by a thick layer of ice. His eyes became wide for a moment, but they returned to a glare a split second later as he struggled to escape the ice, which seemed to be even colder then normal ice. Toshiro walked up towards him calmly, but the closer he got, the more ice covered Baishin's body; "It's over Baishin." he said with an almost bored looking expression.

"You haven't beaten me! I'll kill you when I-!" but his words were cut short as Toshiro seemed to be split in half before his eyes.

But before his mind could process what was happening, a long line of blood spurted from his body, from his head all the way down to his groin. Then his body just split apart and fell to the ground in two large heaps; "Sorry...I didn't want to hear your rambling anymore." Toshiro commented.

Then the two halves of the man suddenly exploded in a large blast of spirit energy, disintegrating them and left nothing but a zanpakuto laying in his stead. Yoruichi walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder; "That was quite an interesting show there. I never expected you to slice him in half like that, but I suppose it was the quickest way to end it." she said, to which Toshiro nodded to her.

"He must have merged with his zanpakuto." Soifon speculated, walking toward them and kneeling down near the kantana before them.

But as they each shared a short moment for the fallen shinigami, Ichigo suddenly jumped up off the ground with his sword ready; "Ah! Where is he! I'll kill that asshole for taking my spirit energy!" he yelled out, looking around quickly.

"Idiot...Captain Hitsugaya has already defeated him." Rukia claimed, rolling her eyes as she had finally gotten over the image of seeing someone being cut in half.

Ichigo looked over at her, then to Toshiro and the two woman next to him; "I guess I passed out from him draining my power." he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't give you much time to rest after you defeated Jin, so it's only right that I should defeat him for you." Toshiro said, turning his attention away from everyone.

"Oh...well, thanks Toshiro." the orange haired teen said, smirking lightly.

Said captain's eye twitched slightly and he quickly turned around with an annoyed expression; "And it's Captain Hitsugaya to you." he said, to which Yoruichi giggled at him.

Ichigo shrugged lightly and smirked, finding it funny that the white haired captain never failed to correct him whenever he had the opportunity. Suddenly, Shunsui and Jushiro arrived in shunpoes nearby and walked up to the rest of the group as Rukia began helping Renji get to his feet. Toshiro greeted the other captains with a nod, to which they returned and looked over their shoulders with a raised brows. Hanataro came running up to them, completely out of breath and exclaiming that he was sorry to be late.

"Looks like he got left behind." Shunsui chuckled out, tilting his hat up, then pointed toward Renji as he leaned against the bark of a tree; "He's the only wounded around here...help him out would ya?"

Yes sir!" Hanataro exclaimed, hurrying over to the injured red head; "Don't worry Lieutenant Abarai...you're going to be fine."

As the timid shinigami began to heal Renji, Rukia walked over toward Toshiro and the other captains; "Sorry for not being able to defeat him ourselves." she said, bowing low to them.

"Don't blame yourselves, Rukia. None of you had time to prepare for this and I didn't take into account that he could drain spirit energy. So don't worry, it's over now anyway." Toshiro said, smirking almost invisibly to her.

Rukia looked at him, nodded with a light but thankful smile, then as she bowed once more, she noticed a small piece of ice on the ground. She raised a brow to it, picked the shard up and held it in her hand for a few moments; "Hyorinmaru?" she questioned, blinking in slight surprise.

Toshiro took the piece of ice from her hand as she, the other captains and even Ichigo raised a brow to him as he seemed to smirk lightly at it. He then looked at each of the staring faces around him and sighed lightly; "This is how I knew that Baishin escaped. It is a memory shard that I developed when training for mastering Hyorinmaru. I'm able to leave a small piece of ice in a spot, which enables me to sense just about everything that happens with a three mile radius of that area." he explained.

Each of the people staring at him, blinked a few times, then Yoruichi smirked lightly; "So you can even sense things in Soul Society right now?" she asked, taking on her mischievous tone that Toshiro knew all to well.

The white haired captain rolled his eyes and shook his head; "No...I don't use them to spy either." he said, sounding like the head of the Kuchiki clan when he above something petty.

Yoruichi pouted to him, trying to make herself look as cute as possible, but then Renji started walking towards them with Hanataro, the former looking in much better shape then before. He then took a deep bow to his superiors; "I apologize for not being able to defea-" but he was cut off by Toshiro as he raised an icy hand.

"Like I told Rukia, you don't have to worry about it...so don't. And that's an order." the white haired captain said, turning away slightly, not allowing Renji any room for argument.

"Y-Yes sir." was all the red head could think of to say, then suddenly shoved Ichigo roughly; "And what the hell is wrong with you?"

"What?" Ichigo demanded angrily, shoving Renji back and pressing his forehead against his.

"I only took those blades cause I thought it would bide you time to attack! But all you did was lay there! You pansy!" Renji yelled, pushing the orange haired teen back with his head.

"What did you call me? And who ever said I needed you help anyway?" Ichigo pushed back, making Renji lean back from the force.

"EH? This is coming from the guy who was directing people who couldn't even see him!" now Renji made Ichigo leaned backward from the force of him pressing forward.

"What was that?" Ichigo growled as they found themselves evened out as they pressed forward with the same amount of force.

"You know...you two are almost like brothers." Yoruichi commented, smirking widely.

"Shut up!" they both yelled out as they turned toward, the now laughing woman.

Rukia rolled her eyes and face palmed, but then Ichigo looked up thoughtfully; "Oh hey. How long are you guys gonna stay? I've heard about a really nice club that opened in town recently. Would you like to come with us? We planned on going after we got back from Soul Society, but things didn't work out as you can tell." he said as if offering a thank-you note to them.

Renji and Rukia blinked at him, then looked to each other and over to the captains for their opinion and permission. Toshiro, Yoruichi, Soifon, Jushiro and Shunsui had all looked from them to each other, then shrugged one right after the other; "What kind of club?" Yoruichi asked smirking widely.

* * *

Alright, the Sword Frenzy is done...or is it? :) Anyone that has seen the ending of it will know what I'm talking about when I mentioned the club. ;) I'm turning the ending parts as my extra chapter for reaching 60 chapters! XD I look forward to everyone's reviews and if you want to to add an idea for this next chapter, make sure you do it quickly, cause I'm about to start it now. ;) Till next time everyone.


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60:**

Toshiro stood off to the side of the large group of gigai wearing shinigamis as they all talked and gossiped amongst themselves, on the right side of the street. Which was where the train station that they expected to see Kenpachi and Yachiru arriving from, and the place that had been covered in hollow blood not two hours ago. While on the other, was a clothing store that they were all waiting to go to together for the suits and dresses they planned to wear to the club.

Toshiro let out a deep sigh and crossed his arms; 'I still don't know how he got approval from the Head Captain to get almost every officer in each division to have a one day vacation.' he thought, thinking of when Shunsui said he was going to deliver the message of Ichigo's invitation.

He then looked down at the black, school-like outfit he was wearing, picking at it in various places as if to make it more comfortable. But as he did this, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, then looked up and noticed Yoruichi coming toward him with a raised and expecting brow. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that hugged her curves, a set of shoes that looked almost identical to her silver color ones she normally had. Yoruichi also had on a purple T-shirt that showed off her chest very well, which held a black panther design on the front.

She came right up to him, grabbed him by one of his arms and started dragging him where everyone else was gathered; "H-Hey...hold on a second." he exclaimed, not wanting to be seen in his slightly demeanoring clothes.

"Not a chance...I looked a long time to find that outfit, just so you would have something to wear in the World of the Living. So your not hiding. Besides...we're getting you a suit, so you shouldn't complain." Yoruichi claimed, bringing him closer to the large group.

But just as he was about to make a comment about her taste in male's clothing, he was interrupted as something soft suddenly collided with the back of his head and a set of arms started squeezing him further back. He growled silently as he could hear a squealing noise from above him; "Oh my god Captain! You look so cute!" Rangiku called out, hugging him even further into her chest.

Toshiro sighed deeply then looked to Yoruichi for some sort of support, but all his purple haired friend held was an amused smile. When Rangiku had eventually released him, she backed away a few steps and spun around, giving him the chance to see her fairly provocative outfit; "Do you like it?" she asked with a light smile.

She had on a black tank top that held hundreds of small red roses on it, the shirt also had extra thin straps and the bottom stopped just above her belly button. Her pants were white with black chains leading from her belt to the left side of her hip, they also hugged her form almost like a second skin, but was still loose enough so it would be too revealing. Lastly, she had on a set of dark red shoes and a midnight blue hair band that kept her strawberry blond locks out of her face.

Toshiro sighed once more; "You don't need nice clothing to look nice Rangiku." he said silently, not realizing that his words meant more then what he thought they would while he said them.

"Awww, thank you Captain." Rangiku said, hugging his face into her chest and giggling lightly, the vibrations slightly tickling him.

Once she had let go of him once again, she looked toward the grouped shinigamis with a slightly raised but thoughtful brow; "But you know...I'm still a bit surprised that the Head Captain allowed us to take this mini-vacation." she muttered.

"I wonder if he has something up his sleeve." she continued, but then Shuhei came walking up to her.

"Hey Rangiku, I know that we're waiting for everyone else to get here before we all start our shopping and head to the club." Shuhei began, taking a glance at the shinigamis behind him then back to Rangiku.

"But...would you like to come with me, Izuru, Ikkaku and Yumichika in shopping? That way we can get to the club earlier and even get in a few drinks before everyone gets there." he continued, smirking lightly to the strawberry blond, adding a wink to her in a slightly suggestive yet subtle way.

Rangiku looked up in thought, humming lightly to herself as she looked from Shuhei, to his companions, then over to her captain; "Well..." she began, taking a one last glance over to the other shinigamis gathered a few yards away.

"...I think I'm gonna pass on that one. 'Cause once Captain Zaraki and Yachiru get here, I'm going with my captain so I can help pick out a nice suit for him to wear. Plus, I need to think of the cute dress I'm gonna get and I don't want to do that drunk. Why don't you ask one of the others to go with you guys." she finished with a wink to the tattooed man.

"I did. They all said that they either; didn't feel like drinking, don't like alcohol, or they're just gonna wait till the captains get back." Shuhei commented, frowning slightly, but his words didn't seem to effect her at all.

"Sorry. Maybe next time. Just wait for Captain Kyoraku to get back...he'd love to go with you guys." Rangiku said, winking to him once more.

She then placed one of her hands on her hips, used the other to flip her hair up slightly, only for it to join her other hand on her other hip. Shuhei watched her, then shot a slightly envious glare at Toshiro before he sighed in disappointment and nodded his head; "Alright...I guess we can wait for him." he said, turning around and walking to his group of sake drinkers to tell them the news.

Toshiro had his brow raised fairly high as he stared at his subordinate questionably; 'She gave up drinking to help me pick out clothes? I know she likes shopping, but I didn't think it was that much.' he thought, but then shrugged it off and looked over his shoulder, toward a silvery object in the distance.

As it neared, it could be obviously identified as a speed train; "Wow...they're here already? Jushiro told me that they'd be at least another half hour. He told me that not ten minutes ago." Yoruichi said, blinking a few times as the train came to a halt at the station.

Just as the doors opened, a loud giggling voice was heard from within it, which was followed by a small pink haired girl, in a miniature maid outfit, running out of the train. As she came out, she instantly saw everyone waiting, smiled very widely, but then ran straight up to Toshiro and jumped on his shoulder. Though he saw her coming the whole way, he made no move to stop her or get out of the way; "Hello again! Snowy-chan!" Yachiru exclaimed happily.

Kenpachi walked out of the train, he was wearing a heavy metal motorcyclist outfit, with a purple shirt underneath the jacket. As he spotted Yachiru hanging over the short captain's shoulder, he held back a laugh at how odd it appeared and just allowed a wide grin. He then walked over to them and towered over each of their heads; "Hey Hitsugaya...I heard from Ukitake that your the one that killed Baishin." he said, smirking his trade mark grin.

"Yeah. And I'll give you a preview later on. But for now...I'm heading toward the clothing store." Toshiro said, glancing over to Yoruichi and Rangiku.

The two women smiled lightly to him, but Yachiru pouted to him and tugged on his white hair; "You can't go yet! You haven't even said 'hi' to me!" she exclaimed, frowning cutely by puffing her cheeks out.

Toshiro sighed loudly, closing his eyes and tilting his head down for a moment, mentally rolling his eyes before looking back to her; "Sorry...Hi Yachiru." he said as if seeing her for the first time that day.

The small pink haired girl smiled widely, nodded to him in acceptance, then leaped off his shoulder and onto Kenpachi's; "That's better. It was nice seeing you again Snowy-chan, but me and Ken-chan are going to pick out some cute things for us to wear! So we'll see you later." she claimed as if it was her idea to do that.

Yoruichi and Rangiku let out silent giggles as Toshiro merely sighed lightly and waved to her as the two began leaving; "Well...we better get going too, eh?" the purple haired woman said, winking to both of them.

Rangiku nodded quickly and wrapped one of her slender arms around Toshiro's; "Indeed." was all she said, smiling widely as she did.

Just as Toshiro was about to say something to his lieutenant, Yoruichi came up and mimicked the strawberry blonde's actions; "Well let's go then." she said, giggling lightly as the white haired captain growled silently from their antics.

Before he knew it, they had already begun leading him toward the clothing store across the street, with Kenpachi and Yachiru out in front of them. Toshiro wanted to voice his protests, but found that he just couldn't bring himself to say anything and simply allowed a light smile to curl his lips as they went. Then, as they reached the large building's doors, the first thing they were met with when they went inside was a brown haired woman that smiled kindly to them; "Welcome to Jshoppers. Is there anything that I can help you find?" she asked.

Kenpachi and Yachiru didn't even answer her, they just kept walking in a random direction that Yachiru said to go in, to which the woman that greeted them blinked a few times and turned to the other three. Toshiro remained silent as he looked around the store, Rangiku did the same, only she had a light smirk on her face instead of a blank and icy expression. Yoruichi sighed lightly and smiled to the woman; "Well...could you tell us where the men's suits are?" she questioned, to which the woman nodded and pointed toward an isle to her right side.

"They're right down there. But if you don't mind me saying...shouldn't he be getting something from the children's section?" she offered, looking down at Toshiro with blinking eyes.

The white haired captain closed his eyes and sighed loudly; "Trust me...he's far from a kid." Yoruichi said winking to the woman and smirking somewhat suggestively.

Her actions and tone caused not only the woman but Toshiro to blush lightly, while Yoruichi and Rangiku just giggled to themselves; "Come on...we better hurry and get his suit so he can help us pick out our dresses." the purple haired woman claimed, taking hold of Toshiro's arm a bit tighter and leading him away.

As Rangiku walked with them, the woman that greeted them had just gotten out of her state of shock and looked at them as they disappeared behind one of the aisles; "I wonder if he is older then he looks. He is really cute, those two are pretty lucky. But the same could be said for him." she whispered to herself with a light smile.

The three made their way through the many racks and shelves filled with shirts, pants, ties and coats; "I think you should get this one." Yoruichi claimed, holding up a fully white suit.

"No...this one!" Rangiku called out, bringing out a light green suit from one of the racks.

Toshiro had simply sighed deeply, then stepped out of the dressing room that neither woman notice him going in to. He was wearing a normal black suit, tie, pants and shoes, with a white button up shirt beneath and while one of his hands was in his pocket, the other was scratching the back of his neck. The two blinked at him before they squealed, ran up to him and hugged his face into their chests; "You look so cute!" Yoruichi exclaimed.

"I don't know if your more handsome, cute or just adorable!" Rangiku said, both of them smiling widely.

The white haired captain growled as the temperature in the store seemed to drop suddenly; "You two..." he began, his left eye beginning to twitch in aggravation.

"...WILL YOU QUIT DOING THAT!" Toshiro yelled out as Yoruichi and Rangiku suddenly ran out of the clothing store, laughing loudly at the blur that was their friend giving chase, after throwing a random amount of money at the clerks.

Kenpachi looked around the store as he looked at a dead end wall; "Another dead end and we still haven't seen anything for suits."

"How strange." was all Yachiru said before Kenpachi turned around and headed in another direction.

-An hour later-

Ichigo, Renji and Rukia stood along the side of a street with a large group of people gathered around. However, the three friends were the only ones in the crowd that were wearing formal dress, Ichigo having a black suit with a orange shirt to match his hair. Renji had on a deep red suit and a black shirt, all the while, Rukia wore such deep blue dress that it almost appeared purple. Her dress had wide straps that covered her shoulders, a slightly open back and a long enough length to reach down almost five inches past her knees.

The crowd all watched as a horse driven carriage came to a halt on the side of the road, then as the coach stepped down from his spot and opened the large wooden door. Byakuya stepped down the carriage steps, onto the pavement and then took a short glance around the people gathered. He wore a simple black suit, a hat covering the kenseikan on his head, and a white button down shirt, with gloves of the same color.

Plus, with the brown cane in his right hand, he appeared as to be from the 1800's. Earning him many squeals and whistles from the women in the crowd. All the while, all of the men just stared at him with envy; "No...way Rukia." Ichigo and Renji whispered to their raven haired friend, shaking their heads at her.

"What? It's the highest style of popularity in the World of the living." she commented, smiling lightly to them, using all the sounds and stares from the crowd as her evidence.

"From what era?" Ichigo asked, rolling his eyes at her, to which Renji nodded in agreement, then shrugged his shoulders.

Rukia smacked them both on the back of their heads and growled silently, in a similar fashion to her white haired instructor; "Shut up." was all she muttered as Byakuya walked past each of them and into the clothing store.

"I wonder if Yoruichi-san and Lieutenant Matsumoto have gotten to pick out their dresses yet." Rukia continued after a few moments of silence between them.

"Yeah...Toshiro seriously seemed annoyed after he chased them around. Fortunately they got his tie and tossed it far enough for them to get away." Ichigo said, chuckling lightly.

Renji and Rukia chuckled with him for a moment before the red head looked up thoughtfully; "I wonder what happened to them. They all just vanished after that. It's a bit odd don't you think?" he asked, looking to the other two, whom nodded lightly.

"Hmm? What are you three talking about? What's a bit odd?" Shuhei asked as he came up to them with Izuru, Ikkaku and Yumichika in tow, all of them being in their own suits in various colors.

Shuhei's and Ikkaku's were the normal black, Izuru had a light gray, and Yumichika's was a combination of a purple suit, an orange shirt and a red and yellow tie. But while they looked good from a certain perspective, Ichigo, Renji and Rukia couldn't help but laugh lightly at them. None of the were able to hold back the amusement of the three being dressed in such a manner; "What's so funny?" Ikkaku asked raising a brow.

"Nothing. And the thing that's odd is how Toshiro, Yoruichi-san and Rangiku suddenly vanished about an hour ago." Ichigo said, shrugged lightly and successfully holding back his laugh.

Hisagi's expression suddenly turned to one of dread and despair, while the other three raised a brow in question; "It...It can't be..." the black haired man mumbled, tilting his head down and slumping his shoulders.

"What's with him?" Ichigo asked, looking to Renji and Rukia with a raised brow and a thumb pointed to Hisagi from over his shoulder.

"He finds Rangiku really-" but Renji was cut off as a black limo drove up toward them.

As it slowed down, the farthest window rolled down slightly and Yoruichi's face was seen, with a small hint of Rangiku's; "Hey guys! You better hurry to the club! Most of the others are already there!" the tan woman called out in a wave.

The window rolled up and the limo drove off rather quickly as if to give them incentive to move faster; "Well...I don't know the rest of you, but I'm not gonna wait for Captain Kuchiki." Ikkaku said, suddenly taking off at a run toward the club only two blocks away.

"H-Hey! Wait for us!" Izuru called out, running after his bald friend and the limo, followed closely by everyone else.

But just as they ran by, Byakuya stepped out of the clothing store, dressed in a normal black suit, still with the kenseikan on his head. He watched as they all ran by him in a rather big hurry, but then he smirked almost invisibly in amusement; "I suppose I should hurry along as well." he said to himself, walking back toward and into his carriage.

-At the club-

The limo pulled out in front of the doors, where a somewhat short figure could be seen before them. As the vehicle came to a stop, the figure opened the door, held it open and offered Yoruichi their hand. The purple haired woman smiled widely and took their hand; "Why thank you...Toshiro." she said in a wink.

The white haired captain nodded to her with a light smirked to her, looking at her up and down as he examined the beautiful red dress she wore. He then turned toward the other occupant of the limo and offered his oddly naked hand, to which Rangiku took immediately; "I'm so used to you having ice covering your hand." she commented with a light smile on her face as she held onto his hand for a few extra moments.

"Same here...and I do have to admit that I forgot how soft your hands are." Yoruichi said, giggling lightly as the two woman wrapped their arms around his.

"Well...shall we?" the strawberry blond asked, looking from the glass doors to her long time friends.

But as just as they started walking to the entrance, the sound of multiple foot steps came closer to them and calls for Rangiku's name caused the three to look back. They saw Hisagi, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Yumichika, Ikkaku and Izuru all run up toward them, the first being the one yelling the strawberry blond's name. But then they suddenly stopped at a sudden figure that appeared before them; "Captain Soifon..." Renji said, sweat dropping at her.

She was wearing a light pink dress, with a dark pink obi around her waist, a pair of light blue shoes and a small flower on the chest of the same color. She looked at each of them with a cold stare, as if daring one of them to move; "You will not be entering this building before Captain Hitsugaya, Yoruichi-sama and their guest." the petite woman claimed.

Toshiro and Yoruichi sighed lightly, while Rangiku sweat dropped and frowned slightly from being identified as 'their guest'. Ichigo and the others merely nodded to her with a gulp, to which Soifon nodded back in acceptance and walked over to herself proclaimed commanders. She quickly bowed to them and positioned herself so she could follow in right with the three; "Would it be alright for me to join you?" she asked, in a much gentler voice then the one she used on the still nervous teen and his friends.

"Of course...it wouldn't be the same without you with us." Yoruichi said with a smile as the two door men opened the door from the inside and welcomed them in.

The first thing they saw was Shunsui at a table with multiple women with him and many sake bottle around them; "Looks like he already started having fun." Rangiku commented with a smirk and light chuckle.

Then they saw Nanao walking up toward him with a pitcher of water; "Oh boy...here we go." Yoruichi said in anticipation as she and the strawberry blond leaned forward, holing back a laughing fit as they did.

The glasses wearing woman then proceeded to dump every drop of water on her captain's head, soaking him completely and arousing much distaste from the other women around him. But all the lieutenant had to do was remove her glasses and they all seemed to move faster then Yoruichi's or even Toshiro's shunpo. As the two beside the white haired captain watched this, they both bursted out into a fit of laughter, all the while Toshiro and Soifon allowed themselves to smile lightly.

After their amusement had died down, they continued to glance around the club, even after Ichigo and his friends had come in and slowly walked by them. As to not catch the attention of the small woman standing behind Toshiro; "We're almost there." Izuru whispered, but the sound had caught Soifon's ears and she swiftly turned to them, to which they all fled in separate directions.

While across the room, Jushiro playing a game of pool with Retsu, Isane, Kiyone and Sentaro. But while the first three enjoyed themselves, the last two had decided to fight over whom could be their captain's partner and who should sit out for the game. They quickly looked away, then to a bar, where they saw Kisuke talking to a few woman and laughing with them at a joke he had told; "Who invited 'him' here?" Soifon demanded, glaring at the blond man with a rather angered expression.

"He has every right to be here as us." Toshiro said simply, to which Soifon instantly went silent, save for the; "Yes sir." she gave him.

They then made their way toward the back of the club where a lounge area was seen, which included Byakuya in one of the seats reading a book. Yoruichi blinked at him and tilted her head; "How did you get here so fast? I don't even remember seeing you go through the doors." she asked, placing her free hand on her hip.

"I am here...it's doesn't matter how." was all the raven haired man said, not even looking up from his book.

"Hmph...if you say so." Yoruichi replied back, then looking over to see Kenpachi and Yachiru.

The first being in a normal black suit and the second in a pink dress, which had white puffy sleeves and had pink flower on her waist, being held there by a bright red strap. Rangiku and Yoruichi smiled widely to the small girls outfit; "That is a very pretty dress Yachiru." the strawberry blond said with a wink.

"Thank you Biggest Boobie-chan! I like yours too!" the little pink haired girl exclaimed in a wide smile.

Toshiro got his arms free of the two woman, allowing him to sit down near of Byakuya, not knowing that Soifon was in the process of moving several chairs around them for the others to sit in. As soon as all of them were situated so they would face one another, the occupants of the room sat down in the seats and begun to talk amongst themselves. Though he was participating and listening, Toshiro's mind was mainly focused on other thoughts; 'I wonder how many more days we'll have like this?'

But as if reading his mind, Yoruichi had placed a hand over his and as he looked to her, she winked at him with a smile that basically told him; 'Forever.'

Toshiro smirked back to her, but when Rangiku noticed them staring at one another, she frowned at first, then smirked deviously and quickly pushed her captain forward. The action had the exact effect that she had been aiming for, the two friends suddenly had their lips crashing together in a kiss. But while they were both stunned, neither pulled away and had even closed their eyes in the process; "Ehem! I didn't mean for you two to enjoy it that much." Rangiku commented, causing both of them to blush lightly and pull away.

The strawberry blond laughed lightly and smiled at them; "Just remember captain...you still owe me a drink." she said, winking at him as she spoke.

Toshiro blushed lightly once more as he noticed that almost everyone that had gone to the club was staring between him and Yoruichi. But then Rangiku spoke up before anyone else had the chance; "What? You guys can't tell me you didn't want to see that." she said in a giggle.

Most of the people shrugged and continued on with conversation, but still eyeing the two every so often in suspicion. While others just wouldn't stop staring at them, that is until Toshiro gave them his icy glare, to which they looked away quickly. But after everyone had looked away, Rangiku leaned in close to her captain and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek; "Don't I get a 'thank you'?" she asked with a wink.

The icy captain froze in place, just staring at his lieutenant with wide and blinking eyes. He then composed himself as he allowed his lips to curl up slightly into a smirk, then nodded his head to her; "Thank you...Rangiku." he said.

Rangiku smiled widely to him and nodded back; "You're very welcome."

Yoruichi looked between the two and smiled widely, knowing that it was only a matter of time; "But you still have to do next weeks paperwork before I can take you out for that drink." Toshiro said suddenly, all but making both women fall out of their seats.

"So cruel captain." Rangiku whined in a pout, to which the white haired captain hid a light smirk.

As all of this happened, Soifon had gone from shocked, to admiring, to jealous, then finally to slightly amused all in the brief few moment since Toshiro and Yoruichi kissed. But as the white haired captain noticed these changes, he smirked lightly once more, then gestured for her to come a little closer and join in on the conversation. To which the raven haired woman nodded rather happily to him and wasted no time in sliding her chair nearer of his.

They had once again begun small talk between the four of them, all the while the others were going on with their own conversations as well. But just like before, Toshiro was listening and participating, yet his mind was still elsewhere. Only this time, it was in a more peaceful place; 'I hope this night never ends.'

* * *

Btw everyone, my computer got a virus and everything I had was erased. So I had to start from square one. =/ All of the stories I planned on writing during my break from this one are gone. I'm a very pissing off person at the moment, but that's why this chapter is so late. I hope you guys can forgive me. Please leave a review...I need all I can get. Till next time...for the beginning of the First Bleach movie: Memories of Nobody. ;)


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61:**

-Tenth Division-

Toshiro stood on the top of his squads barracks, just staring up at the sky with narrowed eyes and crossed arms; "I knew something was up. It took two weeks, but it's finally becoming evident." he said to himself.

The sky itself had a large hole-like portal in it, showing Karakura town from above, as if the skies of the World of the Living and Soul Society were touching somehow. Only the town had a slightly shimmering look, like it was being looked at through a shallow pool of water with a bit of oil on the top. He had continued to stare at the hole, even as a member of the Onmitsukido arrived nearby and knelled down before him, to which he briefly looked down at the man to acknowledge him being there.

"Sir! The members that attempted to inspect the phenomenon of the space connecting the two worlds have been disconnected with the Twelfth Division! What do you wish to do sir?" the man asked, keeping his head bowed to his superior.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on him, then back to the sky before uncrossing his arms and responding; "Inform my lieutenant and tell her to meet me at the senkaimon in ten minutes."

"Yes sir!" the black dressed man called out, vanishing in a quick shunpo.

"This has to be the Valley of Screams...but if that's true, then someone must have sped up the process so the access memories would have no where to go. So who is it?" he whispered just before he disappeared in his own shunpo.

-The World of the living-

Toshiro and Rangiku walked casually through a large group of people at an amusement park, knowing no one could see or feel them; "Man...that kid can be so hard to find at times. Even if his spirit energy is constantly pouring out." the strawberry blond claimed with a light roll of her eyes.

"Or his orange hair." the icy captain said, agreeing with his lieutenant's words.

"No kidding. I mean, he may have a unique and kinda cute look to him, he's still ordinary enough to blend in to a crowd." Rangiku commented, keeping her eyes and senses open for the Shinigami Representative.

Toshiro raised a brow to her, then simply rolled his eyes; "Now, if we were searching for you, we'd find you in minutes...if not seconds. You have the most unique and cute look ever after all." she continued, glancing over at him with a wink.

He looked to her with an even higher raised brow then before, a small and almost invisible tint of pink on his cheeks. But he quickly snapped his head to a sudden movement on his right side, to which Rangiku followed his gaze. What they saw was a young, orange eyed girl, with dark purple hair, tied up in a spiky pony tail by a yellow band, and wearing a school uniform. She was about to run right by them, but she noticed the two out of the corner of her eye and briefly slowed her pace as she looked at them.

Toshiro stared at her in suspicion, as he could sense her shinigami powers, but not the spirit dampener that he knew every gigai had that Kisuke and even Mayuri made. After a brief moment that lasted less then a second, she returned to her previous speed and quickly ran by; "Hey! Come back here!" a voice called out.

Toshiro and Rangiku looked toward the source of the call and saw Ichigo running at an even faster pace then the girl had been; "Eh? Toshiro? Rangiku-san?" he asked, stopping as he saw them.

"You chasing girls? How appropriate." Rangiku commented with a light giggle and amused smirk.

"EH? That's not it! I was just-!" the orange haired teen began, seemingly very flustered, but he was cut off as Toshiro waved a hand in front of him.

"It doesn't matter. Come with us...now." the icy captain said simply, not allowing any room for argument from him or anyone.

"But I-" Ichigo was about to say something, but Rangiku gave him a cold stare that gave him a chill up his spine, similar to the white haired captain's normal glare.

"You're coming with us now." the strawberry blond said, as both she and Toshiro started on their way away from the amusement park, with Ichigo reluctantly in tow.

"Just wait here! I'll be back later!" the orange haired teen called out from over his shoulder as he followed the two heads of the Tenth, which had earned him many stares and raised brows.

"What a strange boy...just randomly talking and yelling to himself." someone had said as the three had exited the park and quickly gone directly to Kisuke's shop.

As they were greeted by the blond man, they were instantly brought into the dinning area of the shop, where each of them sat down around the small table; "So...what's new?" Kisuke asked, fanning himself with a light smile.

"You already know. But unfortunately, Kurosaki doesn't...so we'll have to explain it to him." Toshiro said, giving his friend a slightly raised brow.

"Oh my...you know me so well. But it's just pure chance that I happened to tell Tessai to draw up a few figures not ten minutes before you got here." the blond man said, keeping his fan in front of his face so no one could see his expression.

Toshiro rolled his eyes, Ichigo stared at him in light annoyance and Rangiku simply giggled silently in amusement; "Yeah...pure chance." the icy captain muttered before looking to the door that Tessai had just slid open.

"Anyway...shall we begin?" Kisuke asked as his tan friend sat down with a notebook in hand.

Tessai had immediately shown the first picture in it, which was of a yellow circle, a light purple cloud and a blue spiky sphere. Each of them had their own kanji written within them, the circle had 'World of the Living', the cloud had 'Soul Society', and the spiky sphere had 'Severed World'. The three shapes were in an obtuse triangle formation and in front of a purple background; "Beside the World of the Living and Soul Society, there is an in-between world that makes sure that these two never touch, known as the Severed World or simply the Dangai. It's that a tunnel-like dimension that you had to get away from the Kototsu in." Kisuke explained, smirking lightly the whole time.

All the while, Tessai had flipped the page to show the next picture, which was of two small, yet very frightened figures running away from an odd light. This image made Ichigo sweat drop as he remembered him and his friends having to run for their lives from that large 'cleaner'. But then Kisuke continued on talking, placing his fan in front of his face once more; "But three days ago, a new dimension was formed within the Dangai. It began to grow larger and larger until it touched both worlds."

As the blond spoke, his tan friend flipped the pages quickly, showing the yellow circle and the purple cloud on either side of the page, with a small 'angry face' between them. As Tessai flipped the pages, the face grew bigger and bigger until it pressed against the two drawings on the two sides of the paper. Then as the orange haired teen raised a brow, Kisuke just continued on; "And now that it's stuck, it's become a sort of lens. Resulting in the World of the Living town appearing in the sky of Soul Society."

Once he had reached midway, Tessai flipped to the next page, showing a two-way microscope in place of the 'angry face', and the two 'worlds' had their own rabbit shaped figures looking through either end. But even though the blond was doing a good job of explaining the problems and happening for what was going on, Ichigo wasn't getting any of it due to the very poor drawings that were being used.

"Of course, it resembles a mirage more then anything else." Kisuke claimed, gesturing to the notebook with his hand.

"I sent a squad of Onmitsukido to investigate, but the Twelfth lost contact with them not even five minutes after entering." Toshiro added, finally speaking up after remaining quiet with Rangiku during the blond's explanation.

"So we figured that the best and only way to enter would be from this side." he continued, looking at Ichigo with a hard stare that basically told him that there was going to be trouble again.

"So I'm guessing this probably has something to do with those white things with red pixy hats." the orange haired teen said, looking off to the side thoughtfully.

"Blanks." Kisuke reported silently, to which Toshiro nodded his head.

"Looks like I was right. It really is the Valley of Screams. And if they're able to get here, then this is the only side that we can get inside from." the icy captain said, narrowing his eyes slightly on a seemingly random spot on the table.

"The Valley of Screams? You mean that place that-" Rangiku started, but she was cut off as Kisuke flipped his fan closed and pointed toward Tessai and the notebook.

"On to explanation number two!" the blond exclaimed, holing up his free hand, putting his index and middle fingers up in a 'two' count.

Tessai flipped the paper, showing the exact same page that had been on before, with the three shapes in a triangle; "As you know, the circle of reincarnation has souls moving in and out of both worlds." Kisuke said.

As he spoke, the sunglasses wearing man picked up a red marker and placed dots that lead from the 'World of the Living' to 'Soul Society' and back again. He then held the notebook closer and higher so it could be seen clearer; "However, some souls have accidents or other troubles while in the Dangai, and get ejected from the circle." the blond continued as Tessai flipped to the next page.

This one already had the red dots on it, but somehow they had moved to different spots on the page; "Those souls wander aimlessly. Lost in the tunnel. Inevitably making their way to one certain area." he explained.

Tessai had kept flipping the pages, showing how the red dots eventually met in one area just as the blond said and had formed into an 'angry face'; "This gathering causes the formation of a new dimensional space called, the Valley of Screams."

Just as Kisuke finished, the tan man flipped to a paper that made the 'angry face' expand into a two headed figure, both of which seemed to be screaming and very rabbit-looking. But while one head was green, showing a kanji for 'memories' on it, the other was red with a kanji for 'energy' on it; "In the valley, the energy and memories of these lost souls are separated, in preparation for returning to the normal cycle of life."

After Kisuke had finished explaining this, he suddenly leaned forward to the teen, with a hand in front of his face as if to see if his next words would reach him; "Still with me?" he asked with an amused smile.

"Of course!" Ichigo claimed, in slight nervousness, causing Rangiku to giggle slightly, noticing his lie immediately.

Toshiro sighed lightly and looked to Tessai; "I think you should take a few lessons from Ururu instead of Rukia." he suggested, earning a fake sob from the man and a nod as he flipped to the very last page, which said 'The End'.

"Kurosaki-san, what you saw were souls that have been separated from their memories; Blanks." Kisuke said, surprisingly the one person that was trying to keep everyone on topic.

"Where do their memories go?" Ichigo asked, narrowing his eyes on the blond as he suddenly reopened his fan.

"It's said that they merge into one entity and return to the World of the Living. That entity is known as the Memory Rosary." he responded, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"The Valley's appearance is a naturally occurring phenomenon, so we've seen it many times. But the problem is, this one is connecting the World of the Living and Soul Society. Which has never happened before." he continued, to which Ichigo nodded his head lightly.

"So it's the first time that this has happened. Does that mean that someone is doing this on purpose?" the orange haired teen asked.

"Yeah...whom that is, we don't know." Toshiro said, causing Kon to suddenly appear from over Ichigo's shoulder.

"That reminds me! I saw some weird looking dude and his posse wearing some really odd looking armor, right in the middle of all those white ghost-looking things." the lion plushy announced, jumping off the teen's arm and onto the table.

"Armor?" Toshiro whispered to himself, raising a brow in the process as Rangiku looked to him in question.

"Can you remember specifics?" Kisuke asked, smirking lightly yet with a scientific glint in his eyes, closing his fan and reaching inside his coat.

"Of course I can! Now let's see...there was a...or maybe it was a-" but Kon was cut off as the blond shop owner took a blue fingerless glove from his pocket, placed it on his hand and poked the plushy on his head.

Once Kisuke's finger made contact with the mod-soul, the small green orb that was Kon's true form was knocked out of the stuffed animal and bounced across the table. Tessai stood up, walked over, picked it up and held it in front of Ichigo for seemingly no apparent reason; "I'll take this in for analysis." was all the tan man said before walking out of the room.

"At any rate, if this is really being done by someone, then it is definitely not for a good purpose. And if my hunch is right, then they'll be looking for the Memory Rosary, which must be in the World of the Living. But while we're finding more about the enemy, I would like for you to continue watching over the town and find the Memory Rosary if you can." Kisuke said, somewhat sternly.

"And remember, the enemy is sure to make another appearance...so keep your eyes open for him, her or even them." he continued, making his tone even more serious then before, to which Ichigo narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"And if you find out what the Memory Rosary looks like, then just give me a call." the blond claimed, flipping his fan out in front of his face once more and smiling lightly from behind it.

"You don't even know." Ichigo speculated in annoyance, sighing lightly after he spoke.

"Well, considering the fact that it changes each time, there isn't any possible way of keeping track of the outer appearance of the Memory Rosary." Toshiro claimed, closing his eyes knowingly.

"Why don't you guys just come out and say that you don't have any more of an idea then I do?" the orange haired teen asked.

"Yeah...good luck with that one." Rangiku whispered, but she was still loud enough for the white haired captain and the shop owner to hear her.

"What was that?" Toshiro asked, raising a brow to her as if daring her to say her words again.

"N-Nothing Captain. I was just saying how wonderful, smart and fair you are." she claimed in a nervous giggle.

Kisuke halfway held back a laugh as he spoke; "The first and last are a little exaggerated."

"Oh shut up Kisuke, you're not one to talk." Toshiro said, rolling his eyes as he did, none of them seeming to notice how Ichigo snuck out of the shop as quickly and silently as he could.

"Looks like we chased him away." Rangiku commented as she turned away from the two childhood friends.

They each suddenly seemed to become silent and quite serious; "So do you think it could be them?" Toshiro asked, narrowing his eyes on Kisuke.

"It would make sense, the Ryodoji clan was exiled into the Dangai, so it could be possible for them to make their way into the Valley of Screams." the blond said, placing his thumb and pointer finger to his chin.

"But what would they need the Memory Rosary for? Normally it would be some incomplete soul that we would just destroy so the Valley would stay within the Dangai." Rangiku added, looking to her captain.

"So...if they're willing to speed up the process to such a degree, they need the Memory Rosary to be a complete soul. And possibly be powerful enough to do something for them...but what?" Kisuke questioned out loud.

"Well, they've connected the World of the Living and Soul Society for a reason, and considering how much they hate Soul Society...I wouldn't doubt that they'll use the Memory Rosary to destroy both worlds. They're not meant to be connected like this after all, everything is becoming unstable at the moment." Toshiro said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Hmm...and the fact that they've had a thousand years to plan this, we're gonna have to work a little faster then we normally do." Kisuke claimed, looking at Toshiro with a hard stare.

The icy captain nodded his head to him, but then narrowed his eyes once more as his lieutenant spoke up; "But the thing that's really bothering me...that girl, that Ichigo was chasing, she had a shinigami's spirit energy and I've never seen her before...ever. And he didn't even mention her just now, I wonder why."

Kisuke raised a brow to her, then looked up thoughtfully; "A young girl with shinigami powers, just so happens to show up around the same time as the Blanks and no one has ever heard of her. He might not think that she may not be who she really is."

"You think she could be the Memory Rosary." Toshiro said, slightly narrowing his eyes on his friend.

"What? You were thinking the same thing." Kisuke countered, hiding his face behind the fan in his hand.

"Should we report this to Soul Society?" Rangiku asked, to which her captain just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it...I believe Rukia is already on it." he claimed, to which his lieutenant blinked a few times and looked around as if to see the raven haired girl.

"Where is she anyway...I haven't seen or sensed her at all since we got here." the strawberry blond said in a light pout.

"I believe she returned to Soul Society not five minutes before you arrived." Kisuke said in a shrug.

"Aww! This sucks! I wanted to have some fun girl time with her and Orihime...but it looks like it'll just be me and my fellow big br-." Rangiku claimed, but was cut off as Toshiro cleared his throat.

But the strawberry blond merely looked up to the ceiling in thought, making it obvious that she was thinking about everything that the two could do together. This had caused Toshiro's brow to twitch in annoyance and Kisuke to smirk lightly at what she might be thinking about; "Don't even think about it Rangiku...you're a bad enough influence on the woman in our division, I don't think you need to 'infect' another victim with sake." Toshiro said, making it obvious that he disliked the drink very much.

The strawberry blond woman frowned at him, then pouted fairly cutely; "So mean captain. I was only gonna take her out shopping." she declared, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Yeah well...I'm sure she has enough clothes." Toshiro said, taking in a deep breath and sighing it out slowly.

"Woman such as us...can never have enough clothes." Rangiku claimed, smirking almost proudly of the fact, causing both friends to roll their eyes at her; "What?" she questioned innocently.

* * *

Here is the beginning of the first movie; Memories of Nobody. I hope you all will enjoy. Till next week. ;)


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62:**

-The next morning-

Toshiro and Rangiku stood atop one of the many buildings in Karakura town, both of them waiting for word back from Soul Society. After sending a hell butterfly almost an hour ago, with information they had gathered the previous day, they took on rather bored expressions upon their faces. Then strawberry blond lieutenant glanced down to her captain with a raised brow and sighed lightly; "I know that she's innocent...but are you sure that you wanna go against the Seireitei on this?" she asked.

"Positive." was all Toshiro said before he looked to his right as a senkaimon opened on another building roof top.

Rangiku nodded to him, as if her question was merely to see if he was truly being serious; "Well...so long as your sure, let's save this girl from torture and tyranny." she said, smirking lightly and giggling silently.

The two looked to the side as they saw Rukia and Renji appear out of the gateway and turn toward them; "Captain Hitsugaya!" the raven haired girl called out as she and her red headed friend jumped across the roof top and onto the one Toshiro and his lieutenant stood on.

"So what's the verdict on this girl?" Rangiku asked, crossing her arms under her chest and letting out a quick sigh.

"Central 46 has declared that she must be imprisoned and possibly executed so no one will be able to use the Memory Rosary to destroy either world." Rukia reported, kneeling down with Renji as she spoke.

Rangiku looked to Toshiro and smirked lightly; "Just as you thought." she muttered, causing the other two friends to look at them and raise a brow.

"Where are the others?" the white haired captain asked, knowing that the Central 46 would send more then them to retrieve the Memory Rosary.

"They're on their way. Captain Soifon decided to bring Captain Ukitake and a squad of Onmitsukido in case Ganryu makes another attempt to take the Memory Rosary." Renji spoke up in a professional tone.

"The Research and Development Institute said that they're able to move between the World of the Living and the Valley of Screams at will. So they created spiritual tracers so Captains Ukitake and Soifon should be able to reach the Memory Rosary within a few minutes and we'll be able to tell where and when Ganryu and his group will appear to attack." Rukia said, holding up a small silver device with a few round red buttons and a black screen.

Toshiro nodded to them, then looked in the direction that he could feel Ichigo's spirit energy the strongest; "Let's hurry...I doubt that Ganryu will wait very long before attempting his attack." he said before jumping across the roof tops, followed quickly by the other three.

-In a festival area-

Ichigo turned just in time to see a senkaimon opening near of him and Senna. He then narrowed his eyes on the figures exiting out and clenched his fists as he saw each of them take a defensive position. Once the senkaimon closed and the light from it died down, the orange haired teen recognized the figures as Jushiro, Soifon and a group of masked shinigami. He immediately took a stance in front of Senna and narrowed his eyes even further on them; "What are you guys doing here?" he asked, his tone having a hint of suspicion.

"Sorry Kurosaki-kun, we're going to have to take her to Soul Society. Now." the long white haired captain said, his normal gentle expression being replaced by a very serious one.

"What? What are you talking about?" Ichigo demanded, not liking how each of the shinigami before him were treating his newly made friend like an object.

"That girl you call; Senna, is the Memory Rosary. And is vital to Ganryu's plans to destroy both worlds. So stand aside...Shinigami Representative." Soifon claimed, putting extra emphasis on the teen's title.

"But...I..." Senna began, looking at the people before her with much fear and confusion showing through her orange color eyes.

"Sorry...but I'm not gonna let you just take her." Ichigo said, standing completely in front of his purple haired friend.

The shinigami before them became slightly wide eyed at the teen's defiance, but then narrowed their eyes on him as he continued to speak; "She is as real as any of us. She experiences anger, happiness and pain just as much as any of you. So what makes her so different? Are you really gonna ignore that and lock her away? For something that's not even her fault? You're no better then them!"

Jushiro merely kept his eyes closed, knowing how the teen could hold such an attitude, but also knowing that orders from Central 46 could not be ignored. All the while, Soifon just narrowed her eyes and readied to battle; "Silence! If you protect her now, we'll just have to destroy you as well!" she yelled out.

"Sorry Kurosaki-kun...but we have no time to discuss this. Ganryu will be here any moment for their last chance at taking the Memory Rosary." the long white haired captain said.

"Captain Soifon! They're approaching now!" a male member of the onmitsukido called out, pointing to their right.

The moment the words left his lips, multiple dark portals opened up in the sky and five figures dropped out of the air. But before any of them could touch the ground, a flash of white was seen before each of them went spiraling backward and hitting the ground very hard; "Captain Hitsugaya!" Soifon called out, sounding more pleased at his arrival then shocked by it.

Toshiro flipped through the air, landing on the ground a few yards between each of the two groups. He was then joined by Rangiku, Rukia and Renji a few seconds later, to which Ichigo smirked lightly at their arrival. But then he frowned deeply as dozens of everyday souls suddenly swarmed around them, and transformed into Blanks before their eyes. He quickly took Kon from his pocket and swallowed the green orb quickly, separating him from his body; "Look after her!" he called out.

"You got it!" Kon claimed, running off with Senna in his arms.

Several of the Blanks were suddenly sucked away by an invisible force, them being drawn straight toward where Toshiro had sent the figures crashing to the earth. A few seconds later, all five of them came flying at each of their opponents, each one picking it's own target. The only woman of the group went toward Soifon, a rather skinny black haired man went for Jushiro, a large ten skinned man with seemingly permanently closed eyes came after Ichigo, Kon and Senna.

While the last two, which were a very large man with two tetsubos as his weapons, and a somewhat skinny man with two large rocket packs on his back attacked Toshiro. During of which, the onmitsukido were busy trying to fight off all the Blanks, with very little success until Rukia, Renji and Rangiku came in and helped; 'They should all be fine for now.' Toshiro thought, looking around at each of the 'line-ups'.

The white haired captain narrowed his eyes at the two opponents circling around him, one going in front and the other in back. Yet neither moved in close enough for an attack, as if they were hoping for Toshiro to make the first move. This caused him to smirk lightly as he twitched his hand and the two all but jumped in nervousness. But then the larger one growled silently from being fooled and jumped forward to attack the icy captain. Toshiro had easily dodged out of the way, then spun around and sent a palm into his face.

Though the man's face was covered by a purple cloth and he couldn't see how much damage he did. The feeling of his skull cracking from the pressure and the blood seeping through the cloth was proof enough. The moment the large man was sent backward from the blow, the other opponent shunpoed behind him and tried to stab him with an oddly shaded blade. Though Toshiro easily dodged it, the weapon suddenly opened into three blades and they begun spinning at a very fast rate.

The man swung the spinning weapon to try and slice Toshiro in half, but he had simply flipped over it as his eyes closed and his senses opened. The white haired captain could feel a presence coming closer to him which he recognized as his larger opponent; 'On his feet already?' he thought somewhat confused.

Toshiro then swung his body around to deliver a kick at the smaller man, whom just barely dodged out of the way. But as the larger one came closer, he continued to spin around so once he got close enough, his icy foot caught him across his face, tearing much of the cloth and skin away. As the man flew backward, Toshiro caught a glimpse of his face; 'Yikes...no wonder he covers his face up.' he thought with a slight shudder even as he steadied himself on the air.

Then his second opponent tried to catch him off guard by unleashing a series of silver rockets from the packs on his back toward him at a great speed. Toshiro narrowed his eyes, then used shunpo to dodge each and every one, moving closer and closer as he did. Once the white haired captain was within a yard of the man, he shunpoed behind him, pressed his icy hand to one of the packs and frozen them both almost instantly. This shocked him slightly as he looked back and saw two of his rockets were frozen in mid flight; "Damn it!" he muttered before he was suddenly punched in the face.

The blow sent him spiraling through the air, but he was quickly replaced as the larger man came forward with both his tetsubos swinging down. But Toshiro easily caught them both with only one of his ice covered hands, causing a small percussion that knocked many of the Blanks down; "You're not strong enough to overpower me." the icy captain said before pushing the large weapons away, jumping up slightly and spinning a downward kick to his head.

His large body hurled itself into the ground at such a velocity that he created a large crater and mushroom cloud. Then as Toshiro was about to steady himself, he suddenly pushed off the air, flipping and twirling his body around so he was up side down and spinning many times. As he did this many rockets flew by him as his actions allowed him to dodge all of them effortlessly; 'These guys are a bit tougher then I thought. They're able to use the Blanks to heal themselves and fix any abnormalities with their weapons. This might be a challenge...if they could heal faster.' he thought before vanishing in a shunpo.

Both the large man on the ground and the smaller one in the sky were looking around almost frantically as Toshiro seemed to literally disappear. But they didn't look for more then a few brief seconds before the smaller man was suddenly knocked forward by a seemingly invisible and powerful force. He flew forward a few dozen feet before he was once again hit by the force, only this time he was knocked higher into the air. This continued multiple times, seeming like the man was simply being thrown around in the air by some invisible person, drawing much blood each time he went a different direction.

Then Toshiro finally made himself visible by halting his extremely fast shunpoes and delivering a very powerful kick to the man's stomach, causing him to cough blood. He also used the force of his kick to flip backward and behind the larger man as he had suddenly appeared behind the icy captain a split second before. Toshiro clenched one of his fists, gathered a small amount of strength and hurled it into his opponents back before he could dodge or even turn around. This had sent him spiraling forward but even though the icy captain didn't use much force, it was enough for the larger man's spine to snap in half.

Toshiro watched carefully as many of the Blanks were rushing to both his opponents in order to heal them; 'It takes about twenty seconds for them to heal from severe wounds and only three to five for light ones.' he thought, taking this time to look around at the other fights going on.

"Kurosaki is fighting fairly well against his opponent, but he should be doing much better." he muttered aloud, looking at the teen as he fought.

"Soifon is doing very well, she's overwhelming that other woman in every aspect of the fight...as is Jushiro." he continued, smirking lightly as he watched.

"Hmph, those three are more than fine." Toshiro stated with a light smirk and confident tone, seeing how Rangiku and Rukia were back to back, and destroying all of the Blanks that came near them

All the while, Renji was swinging his released zanpakuto wildly, yet with expert precession at every and all of the Blanks that came within his range. But then Toshiro raised a brow as he noticed that Kon and Senna were no where to be seen. He scanned the area once more, but still never saw either of them and had even begun trying to sense them through their spirit energy. As he continued, he finally caught a glimpse of both of them, but he had been somewhat distracted and didn't notice when his two opponents appeared on either side of him.

The smaller man reached up, pulled out his strange spinning blade from his rocket pack, and sung it down at Toshiro along with the larger man and his tetsubos. But though it seemed like Toshiro was still focused on the ground, he glanced over at his enemies with a light and knowing smirk. He then caught both weapons in either of his ice covered hands with almost impossible ease. Toshiro looked back to the ground and finally saw Kon and Senna fighting off a few blanks a few hundred feet away from everyone else; 'When did they get so far?' he questioned, raising a brow, but then he shrugged his shoulders light in an uncaring manner.

The two enemies pressed down on his ice covered hands even further, to try and over power the icy captain together. Toshiro then spun around quickly, dragging each of them forward and elbowing them both in the face with so much force it knocked them ten yards away. He then looked to the two of them and sighed lightly; "I suppose I should finish this now." he said clenching his fists and preparing to shunpo.

But before he could move, another figure appeared above him, swing a sword down at him, to which Toshiro caught it and swiftly sent it to the side. But his new opponent quickly spun himself around and sent a kick toward the icy captain, causing him to block the blow; "It seems that the leader finally shows himself." he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

The man smirked lightly as his long white hair moved away from his face, to reveal a long scar on the side of his face and pair of purple color eyes; "Toshiro Hitsugaya, it's an honor. I never thought that I'd get to meet you so soon." Ganryu said, smirking lightly.

Toshiro just stared at him as he backed away and saw the other two join by his side; "You roughed Riyan and Bau up pretty good." the white haired man commented, looking down as the two men as they knelt down from pain and slight exhaustion.

"Forgive us Ganryu-sama, we couldn't defeat him." the one called Riyan said, sounding slightly out of breath.

"I never expected you to beat him, Hitsugaya is very well known for being incredibly powerful. So much so that no one has ever seen his true power. But I doubt that if anyone has...they'd live long enough to tell the story about it." the purple eyed man said, sounding almost amused.

Toshiro had a silent stare down with Ganryu, but it was interrupted as a figure suddenly shot past the white haired captain and toward the leader of the enemies group; "Call forth the Twilight, Mirokumaru!" was heard along with a loud whistling of the wind.

But it came to a halt as the figure reached Ganryu, causing Toshiro's eyes to widen slightly; 'How in the hell didn't I sense her? Or at least hear her? What's going on with me?' he demanded from himself.

Just as Senna's form became limp, Toshiro stepped forward to take on all three of them and get her back. But the moment his icy foot hit the air, he felt his whole body go numb, causing his eyes to widen; "W-What?" he asked, surprised at this turn of events.

"I'm guessing your starting to feel the effects." Ganryu said, smirking lightly and showing a small needle on the front of his boot.

"Poison." Toshiro muttered as his breathing became more difficult and his massive spirit energy began to drain, but his mind was able to replay the moment when Ganryu kicked him the way he did so the poison could easily flow into his body.

"I know well enough that we can't defeat you...no matter how powerful all of us are together, or how many Blanks we absorb. So taking you out of the fight completely was the only option. Plus...your overconfidence in knowing that you can beat us easily was a major factor." the white haired man explained, keeping his light smirk.

Toshiro tried to speak but his body was almost completely numb and his mouth wouldn't move; "You'll be out of it for at least three days. You won't even be conscious for the end of both worlds." Ganryu continued, walking forward with Senna in his one arm.

"Too bad." he finished before flicking Toshiro in his forehead, sending him crashing into the ground.

As he hit, everyone looked over to him in complete shock, so much that the remaining group of Ganryu's allies were able to shunpo into the air without being stopped; "Good work Jai, Benin, Mue...I believe we can leave this world now." the long white haired man said with a smirk.

"Captain!" Rangiku screamed out as she instantly ran toward Toshiro as his consciousness began slipping away.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Soifon and Rukia called out in unison as they both hurried over to their fallen friend as well.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo yelled out, still in surprise, but then he narrowed his eyes and held out his large sword; "Bankai!"

A huge rush of spirit energy and wind surged around everyone, then as the fluctuation began to balance, Ichigo suddenly appeared before the group of exiled shinigami; "No one hurts or kidnaps my friends and gets away with it!" he yelled out, leaping forward.

"And no one that stands against the Dark Ones will ever live." Ganryu said simply before each of his allies came at the teen in a full on attack.

Ichigo quickly shunpoed around all of them, surprising them slightly by his incredible speed, but once he came to the leader, he was stopped in his tracks by a long golden spear going through his stomach. It was at this moment that Senna had gained consciousness, and upon seeing her only friend being impaled on a spear, her eyes became increasingly wide and her body began trembling from shock; "Ichigo!" she screamed loudly.

The orange haired teen reached out for her, but his vision blurred and his hand missed her completely, but managed to remove the red ribbon in her hair; "Ichigo!" she yelled out again as she was taken into the Valley of Screams with the Dark Ones.

All the while, Ichigo plummeted to the ground, not far from where Toshiro was laying unconscious with Rangiku, Soifon and Rukia near him. But the raven haired girl noticed her friend's falling, screamed out his name and began rushing toward him; "Ichigo!"

Just before he was about to hit, he was caught in midair and set down carefully by Jushiro, whom then looked at the closing dark portals; "Looks like this is going to get complicated." he said to himself, narrowing his eyes on the sky.

* * *

Alright, the next chapter may or may not be the end. The last parts of the movie will be the most complicated to explain so it might take another two chapters, but we'll see. And just for fun, I've thought of a really good idea for all of you readers out there. I'm going to have a little contest, it'll be 'Who can make the best one-shot'. ;) Out of all the couples I've made for this story, Toshiro x Yoruichi, Toshiro x Rangiku, Toshiro x Soifon, Toshiro x Kukaku, Toshiro x Nemu, Toshiro x Isane (this one isn't very big but who cares), Toshiro x Hinamori and Toshiro x Rukia (I guess). I want a bunch of the readers to try their hand at making a one-shot for one or more of these couples. Just let me know which couple or couples you'd like to have in your review, and I'll try and get everyone involved. Once your done, send it to me through Dox. The contest will last until I come back to this story, after I'm done with this movie of course. ;) Then I'll read all of them, pick the best ones...(which have to be realistic, at least 2,000 words long, can't contain lemons since I'm not gonna have those in my story, but they can have lots of fluff, and finally...they have to fun. :D)...out of them all and have them integrated into the story at one point or another. You know how in the Arrancar arc they wait their for a whole month before another attack, well...they need something to do. :D And as an extra bonus, the ones that win will be able to add something to the story other then their one-shot, like if their is a scene in the series that you would like to go a certain way for my story, I'll let you direct on what will happen. (Just remember to make it realistic, alright?) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and will leave at least a small review. Till next time. :3


	63. Chapter 63

Just as a reminder, I'm holding a contest for one-shots in each couple in this story thus far. I'm not going to be repetitive so if you want to participate then just send me a pm. ;) Alright, on with the chapter. I'll explain why its so short at the end.**  
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**Chapter 63:**

-Urahara shop-

A loud slapping noise echoed from inside the small building, which was followed by an angry scream; "You bastard!"

Yoruichi stood over Kisuke as he looked up at her after flying straight through a wall; "I told you to keep me informed! Now look what's happened!" she yelled, her eyes narrowed rather dangerously at her friend as she pointed to Toshiro.

The icy captain himself was laying ten feet away, completely unconscious with Ichigo on two rolled out futons and many of the others grouped around them; "I swear...if it wasn't for the fact that you're helping get rid of that poison inside him, I'd hit you so hard...both Orihime and Unohana would only be able to keep you alive!" she continued, her pupils somehow turning to slits as if her cat transformation was leaking through.

"Sorry Yoruichi...I just didn't have the tim-" but the blond's words were cut off by a punch to his face.

"Don't you even think about telling me that bullshit! You could have gotten word to me if you wanted! That's why you gave me this!" Yoruichi exclaimed, throwing a small black device to the ground with enough force to break it into many pieces.

"Next time you want to investigate a new dimension...do it yourself!" she continued, stomping her foot down on the communicator that her friend spent days making just for her.

Kisuke looked at the broken device, then up at his trembling friend; "Sorry." was all he could say as he tilted his head down at the floor.

Yoruichi growled silently to herself, then began pacing back and forth with her teeth grinding together. Each time she came toward Kisuke in her pacing, she shot an angry glare at him and seemed to consider hitting him again. But after a few minutes of clenched fists, silent but angry muttering and a few death threats, she finally took in a deep breath. As she began to calm her nerves, she looked to her blond friend and let out a sad sigh; "No...I'm the one that should be sorry." she began, now looking to the floor.

"You're his friend too, healing and helping him comes first. And I really shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I'm sorry I hit you like that...and for breaking your communicator. You worked really hard on that and I just crushed it." she finished, gripping one of her arms with her opposite hand.

"It's fine. But I hope you'll at least break what you buy." Kisuke said, smiling lightly to her as he stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, letting her know that everything was forgiven.

"Sure...whatever you say." she said, letting out a light giggle and a wink to her blond friend, her eyes and attitude returning to normal.

"Well...for now, we should try to figure out a strategy in getting to the Valley of Screams and defeating the 'Dark Ones'." Kisuke said, as he and Yoruichi walked through the hole in the wall and looked to the others as most of them sweat dropped to the two.

Rangiku was just sitting next to her captain with a worried expression, her being the only one not to even register what had happened between them. Orihime was kneeling between the Ichigo and Toshiro, her Soten Kisshun covering both of them. Chad and Uryu were sitting next to each other, on the opposite side of the hole in the wall, which was at the feet of the two sleeping males. Lastly, Rukia, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu were sitting on the right side of Ichigo and Toshiro, just waiting for one of them to gain consciousness.

"So Yoruichi-san...did you find a way inside the Valley?" Kisuke asked as most of the others finally stopped sweat dropping from the two friends' display.

"Yeah...I found an entry way over in the river. It leads directly into the Valley, like a door." Yoruichi reported with a light nod as she walked around to sit next to Rangiku.

Kisuke nodded back to her and sat down near of Tessai and Rukia; "Well...I think it's safe to assume that we have at least a few hours before they'll be ready to destroy anything."

"Why is that?" Rukia asked, raising a brow to the shop owner.

"'Cause no power great enough to wipe out two worlds will be able to be generated instantly." Kisuke said, opening his fan and covering the developing bruise on his face.

Yoruichi looked down for a few moments after she noticed her blond friend do this, but she tilted her head to Toshiro and just let out a sad sigh. But then the orange haired teen suddenly turned his head and spoke up, gaining everyone's attention; "Well then...we better get started."

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime exclaimed happily, allowing both sides of her Soten Kisshun to return back to her hair pins.

"So all we need to do is go through this portal in the river and we'll get to the Valley, right?" he asked, sitting himself up, regardless of Orihime's gentle hand on his chest to keep him down.

"I'm alright. Don't worry." Ichigo assured as he nodded to the burnt orange haired girl; "Thanks for healing me."

"I-It was nothing." Orihime said, smiling widely to him and waving quickly to him in a frantic but dismissive way.

"Yes, Kurosaki-san. That's exactly what you'd have to do. But if they were clever enough to poison Toshiro without his knowing...we should plan carefully before we go anywhere." Kisuke warned, answering the teen's question as he started waving his fan slightly.

Though it was obvious that Ichigo wanted to argue, he looked over at the white haired captain beside him and reluctantly nodded his head in agreement; "Alright...so what do we do first?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well...first we're gonna have to strategize your entrance. You should try to go in stealthily to catch them off guard, probably kill two of them on the way in." Yoruichi began, leaning forward slightly, causing everyone else to as if in a huddle.

"Next you need to-" but she was cut off as something somewhat cold touched her hand, causing her to gasp slightly and silently.

"Yoruichi...this is Kurosaki you're talking to. Just let him wing it like usual, it'll work out." Toshiro said, smirking lightly at his purple haired friend.

"Toshiro/Captain." Yoruichi and Rangiku whispered in unison, which was followed by said captain to sit up slightly, only to be smothered by the two as they hugged his face into their chests.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Yoruichi exclaimed loudly into his hair.

"Please don't scare me like that ever again Captain!" Rangiku called, following the tan woman's lead; "We were so worried about you!" they both screamed out.

The others that were watching all this were slightly sweat dropping and smirking lightly in amusement. Something of which Toshiro couldn't see, but began growling in annoyance anyway; "You can let go of me now." he said, chilling the air with his halfway annoyed tone.

"Awww! But we were! We stayed right by you since it happened!" they continued together.

"Except for Soifon...she was ordered to go back to Soul Society. Ukitake-san can be quite the commander when he needs to be." Yoruichi commented, giggling slightly at the end.

Everyone but the teenagers and children in the room chuckled lightly in agreement to her words; "It seems my antidote has taken effect even faster then I thought." Kisuke claimed silently, smirking lightly from behind his fan.

Toshiro nodded to him, beginning to test and flex his muscles to make sure they were working properly; "Seems like it."

"So we just go running in like usual?" Ichigo asked after a few moments, raising a brow in question, but his body language was telling everyone that he was itching to go out and save his friend.

"Basically...yes." Kisuke said, appeasing the orange haired teen in staying on subject; "Just be sure not to be too reckless, alright?" he continued, winking one of his shadowy eyes.

Ichigo nodded to him, then stood himself up, grabbed his zanpakuto and headed out the door; "I'm going. I'll meet you there." he said hurrying through the door and out of the shop.

Rukia had followed the orange haired teen's lead and quickly exited the small building, but while Orihime, Chad and Uryu were about to follow their friends, they were stopped as Toshiro cleared his throat. They each looked back to the white haired captain in question, but all he held was his normal icy expression before he spoke; "Don't follow him. Soul Society will be sending reinforcements soon and if you're there...it's more people to worry about getting out."

They raised a brow to him, but Toshiro merely looked to Kisuke to explain his words, then grabbed his zanpakuto and headed out the door. His lieutenant hurried toward him, calling out to him in a pouting and somewhat whining voice the whole way; "Wait for me Captain~!"

Yoruichi smirked lightly, then gave the blond shop owner a nod and quickly followed after their white haired friend; "Well..." Kisuke began, gaining each of the teen's and pre-teen's attention.

"...even though we would like to save Senna and defeat those 'Dark Ones', Soul Society has deemed the Valley of Screams too dangerous and will destroy it as soon as possible. More then likely...the Head Captain won't wait till she's rescued, he'll only wait till it seems absolutely necessary, and who knows how long that will be." he continued, looking around as everyone's eyes widened slightly.

"But...then better help Kurosaki-kun all we can!" Orihime exclaimed, ready to go running out the door once more.

Kisuke closed his fan quickly and loudly so none of the people around him would move or make another sound for that matter; "Sorry...you couldn't even if you wanted. The Valley of Screams is a spiritual realm like Soul Society, normal human beings can't enter." he finished, keeping his eyes slightly narrowed the whole time.

-Near the river of Karakura town-

Toshiro, Rangiku and Yoruichi appeared in the sky just as Ichigo and Rukia dived into the strangely lit portal in the water. The hole-like portal held a slightly distorted image of a seemingly barren waste land with nothing but high mountains and deep canyons. Rangiku raised a brow and placed her hands on her hips; "That's what the Valley of Screams looks like?" she asked aloud, sounding rather disappointed.

"Well at least the name fits...I'd be screaming out of boredom if I had to live there too." she added, causing the other two to roll their eyes, but after Yoruichi had to stifle a giggle.

"Rangiku, wait here till the others arrive. Once they do, lead them inside. Yoruichi and I will keep them busy till then." Toshiro said, narrowing his eyes on the portal in the water.

"Yes sir." the strawberry blond said with a serious nod and expression.

Toshiro nodded back to her, then quickly pushed off the air with Yoruichi and flew straight into the water, leaving Rangiku just standing there with an examining look on her face. But as the white haired captain and his tan friend made their way through a small in-between dimension, which was all that was left of the Dangai, Yoruichi turned to Toshiro and raised a brow slightly; "Why are you waiting for the reinforcements to get here? Couldn't we take care of all of them easily?"

"No...my power is only at ten percent right now. I couldn't even beat Rangiku with my Shikai right now." the icy captain said, looking down slightly and narrowing his eyes.

Yoruichi turned to him with a slightly dumbfounded expression, but they quickly came out of the Dangai and entered into the Valley of Screams itself, so she just shook her head and narrowed her eyes. As they dropped toward the ground, they both changed direction and literally began flying toward a large structure that was sticking out of one of the canyons. Once they came closer, they noticed Ichigo and Rukia fighting off each of the 'Dark Ones', save for Ganryu, whom was standing off to the side with a light but satisfied smirk on his face.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo called out, sending an enormous wave of blue spirit energy, which destroyed much of the landscape before them and had even sliced a large portion of the structure in the canyon.

"He's just too much like his father. Always charging in head first, not even bothering to look where he's going till he's already there." Yoruichi said, smirking widely at the sight.

"Hurry up and destroy them! They're becoming a nuisance!" Ganryu called out, frowning deeply at the orange and raven haired teens.

But just as the five were about to obey their leader, Toshiro and Yoruichi appeared in shunpoes before them and narrowed their eyes on the 'Dark Ones'; "How can you be on your feet already? I made sure to make that poison potent enough to put you down for two days at the very least." Ganryu claimed, glaring at the white haired captain.

"Sorry...but you underestimated my tolerance for most poisons, and Kisuke Urahara's skill in antidotes." Toshiro said calmly.

"Plus his bonds of friendship with me and his students gave him the motivation he needed to conquer your evil poison and free the damsel in distress, from the clutches of you 'Dark Ones'!" Yoruichi announced in a very dramatic way.

Her outburst caused both sides to raise a brow and sweat drop to her; "Ha! Gotcha!" she called out with an almost deadly tone.

She suddenly appeared behind the one called Mue, then proceeded to kick him straight toward Toshiro, to which he sliced the rather pale man's head clean off with his icy hand. All of this shocked their opponents to the point that they had just froze in place, but it only lasted a few moments as Toshiro appeared before Riyan and drop kicked him into the wall of the canyon. Ganryu clenched his jaw tightly together, then charged at Toshiro, yelling out a battle cry and readying his sword as he did.

"I don't think so!" Ichigo called out as he got in the scarred man's way and blocked his blade with his own.

Toshiro smirked lightly, then dodged out of the way from a flying blade that came right for his head; "I'll make you suffer for killing him!" Jai screamed out as he caught the blade and threw it at him again.

'This guy is quite annoying.' Toshiro thought as he narrowed his eyes and clenched his ice covered hands; 'But I suppose this will be a good test to see just how powerful I am with only ten percent of my power.' he smirked lightly yet dangerously as Jai came closer.

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Alright, that's the end of this chapter, and the reason why its short...it's because I wanted to. Lol. jk. But it's because I wanted to make it to chapter 65 before I go on break, so the next chapter will basically have all the fighting. The next one after that will be the after math and such. ;) Hope you all enjoyed. :D Till next time.


	64. Chapter 64

I would like to add a thanks to Tuli-chan, whom has been helping me since the beginning. ;) And also for her contribution to my contest. Her and Mr. Hourglass that added his one-shot. Thank you both very much. And just so no one feels left out I'll thank everyone that has reviewed and given me ideas for the story. Thanks. :3

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**Chapter 64:**

Toshiro leapt over the blade of Jai as the dark skinned man came at him in a fury; "Die, you bastard!" he screamed out in anger as he came forward with the weapon in his other hand.

Though the white haired captain was able to dodge his attack by side stepping to the right, Jai spun around and managed to kick Toshiro with his heel. But the blow hadn't done much to him, enabling Toshiro to make a counter attack by using the force of Jai's kick to spin himself around and sweep his only grounded leg. Immediately after the tan man's balance was lost, Toshiro came forward with a powerful punch and sent him back ten yards away; 'I guess ten percent is all I need.' Toshiro thought to himself, smirking lightly.

He then glanced over to Yoruichi as she kicked Bau in his stomach, which caused blood to come from the very large man's mouth and for his body to be literally tossed hundreds of feet away. Toshiro smirked lightly as he saw this, but he didn't have much time as a silver color rocket came right at him, to which he shunpoed out of the way; "You don't have time to look away!" Riyan called out, smirking darkly as he did.

Almost a dozen more rockets came at him, but each one missed the icy captain as he had shunpoed away from every one, a light and almost bored smirk covering his face. Then Toshiro sensed Jai getting up and coming forward at him, but at the same time, Riyan brought up his odd blade and aimed it right for the white haired captain's throat. He narrowed his eyes slightly, then once they had both come within a few inches of him, he smirked lightly once more and shunpoed out of the way, right at the last second.

Toshiro's action caused the two to almost stab one another, being only a few inches away from each other, both all but gasping from their 'close call'. Riyan had quickly backed away, while Jai glanced around quickly to find their shared opponent, but Toshiro suddenly appeared behind the smaller man and kicked his arm forward. His icy foot proceeded to push Riyan's blade toward Jai, the larger man trying to dodge to the side, but the cold steel pierced through his shoulder, spilling much of his blood on the ground. Toshiro grinned icily as the large man yelled out in pain, but then he flipped backward from them, pressed hard off the ground and flew right at the two, delivering a powerful elbow into Riyan's back.

The blow knocked both of them a few dozen yards, all the while they hadn't been able to dislodge the blade from Jai's shoulder till they crashed to the ground. Toshiro once again took his free time to examine the rest of the battlefield, Ichigo was able to push Ganryu back toward the large structure in the canyon. Where of which, the icy captain guessed that Senna was being kept; 'Just a little longer and they should be here.' he thought.

He quickly glanced over to his two opponents as they dislodged the blade from the larger man's shoulder and began to heal themselves as fast as possible. Toshiro looked over where he saw Rukia fighting off Benin as she tried to shoot her with her cross bow's arrow. But just before he could turn back toward Jai and Riyan, dozens of rockets and blades came hurling at him, barely giving him enough time to dodge with a few shunpoes. He then sensed Jai coming toward him from his right and narrowed his eyes; 'Use the projectiles as a diversion, attack from the side, then from behind, projectiles once more and finally from above.' he thought to himself, closing his eyes and planning his own strategy.

Just as Jai was about to slice Toshiro's head, the icy captain's eyes snapped open, revealing them to be even colder then usual; "Now." he whispered to himself.

He quickly flipped his body sideways so Jai's blade missed by inches, then Toshiro pushed off the air, spinning himself around and into the air. Though Riyan's attack from behind miss completely, he quickly turned himself around and began shooting his rockets. All the while, Jai started throwing his blades that kept forming in his hands, thanks the the Blanks. But as all the blades and rockets came closer, Toshiro quickly pushed off the air and landed on the ground allowing each of their attacks to collide with each other, creating a smoke screen above and around him.

He quickly focused his power into a clone and shunpoed high into the air, to which the clone smirked lightly; "Three...two...one." Toshiro whispered to himself as Jai and Riyan suddenly came out of the smoke.

They came down and stabbed the clone with downward slices, causing it to bleed heavily; "Not so powerful! Are you?" Riyan laughed loudly.

The icy captain smirked lightly to himself, then shunpoed down and behind the far too confident man; "Not at the moment I'm not." Toshiro began, causing both of the men to become wide eyed.

"Then again...I only need this much power to beat you two." he continued, stabbing two of his icy fingers into their spinal cords, paralyzing their limbs instantly.

"Especially since you're very predictable in your strategies." he finished as they managed to look back at him with complete fear in their eyes.

Toshiro returned their stares with an icy and almost dark smirk, then twisted his fingers around, causing them to yell out in pain and for a fairly large amount of blood to start gushing from their backs. But the white haired captain wasn't done, he quickly lifted them both up and above his head into the air, making their screaming become louder. He just stared at them almost emotionlessly as some of their blood dripped onto his face and their yelling became almost ear piercing.

But as he stared at their blood dripping and heard their loud screams of severe pain, something inside of him stirred and he felt his rationality beginning to slip. Toshiro then pushed both of them high in the air, gathered strength into his legs and leapt into the air with so much force, he had cracked the ground to the point of shattering it in a twenty foot radius. He caught up to the two men quickly, clenched his icy hands into fists and narrowed his eyes, which almost seemed to have a golden tint to them.

Jai and Riyan were about to say something, may it have been a plea for mercy or a possible insult, Toshiro didn't allow either of them to speak as he punched both of them. The magnitude of the blows had blown both of them hundreds of feet into the air within a split second. But Toshiro had still managed to move fast enough to get ahead of them, only to send a powerful kick to their faces. Which had torn away much flesh and made way for a large amount of blood to cover them.

This kick had also sent them hurling back toward the ground, but they never made it even twenty feet before Toshiro had hit each of them once more. He continued to punch, kick, elbow and knee them through the air, spilling so much blood that it seemed they would run out any second. On top of this, no one on the ground were able to hear the horrendous screams they let out in their pain, due to the fact that Toshiro was keeping them too high in the air.

As Toshiro stood in the air holding each of his opponents by their throats, he noticed that none of the Blanks were coming up to heal them; "Guess you're in too much pain to try to get help from them, huh?" he said more as a statement then a question.

He then allowed another dark and icy smirk on his face, then he just let go of them as if he would allow them to try and heal themselves. But before they even fell more then a foot, Toshiro unsheathed his zanpakuto and sliced them a hundred different ways before they could blink and ended up falling to the ground in a heap of cut up flesh. Toshiro just stared down at the remains of his opponents and smirked almost proudly, but then he shook his head as if trying to shake away a thought in his head; "How did that happen?" he asked aloud, clutching his forehead in his ice covered hand.

'I was only at ten percent power...I shouldn't have been able to do that as fast and powerfully as I did. I must have unconsciously combined my hollow powers with my shinigami. That would put me at twenty percent and would make more sense. But...how did that happen? I thought I mastered my hollow powers years ago.' he thought to himself, testing his hand muscles as he felt his power reducing back to ten percent.

Toshiro then looked around, Ichigo had activated his Bankai and was fighting on par with Ganryu as he had released his Shikai; 'Tch...he probably doesn't even know Bankai. I can't believe he was able to poison me like that.' he thought in annoyance.

He turned toward Yoruichi as she knocked Bau away with a swift palm to his chest; "Just give it up already...you guys have already lost and our back up is nearly here." she claimed, sounding somewhat bored.

The white haired captain raised a brow to her words but then looked over and saw that Rangiku, Soifon and Kenpachi were heading right toward them. He then narrowed his eyes to each of them and looked off to the side; 'How didn't I sense them? I may be only at ten percent power but I should still be able to sense them coming a mile away. Maybe his poison has more of an effect then I thought. Or...' he began in his thoughts, but was brought out of them as Rangiku came up to him.

"Captain! Are you alright?" she asked, looking somewhat worried at the sight of so much blood covering him.

"Yeah...this isn't mine." he said simply, finally looking down to see how much blood there really was on him.

Though it seemed he had close to a half gallon of blood covering his clothes, face and hair, but he simply ignored it and watched as Soifon stabbed Benin in her back. Then Rukia came up and stabbed her through her chest, causing the purple haired woman screamed out in pain. As her last few breaths came far too quickly, she trembled in fear as her after-life came to an end and she dropped to the ground dead. Toshiro just nodded slightly in acceptance and turned his gaze toward Yoruichi, as she finally decided to kill her opponent with a powerful kido spell through his chest.

Rangiku just watched him with a questioning expression, as seeing him covered in other peoples blood came as no surprise to her, but she had never seen him with such an unfocused expression after a fight "What is it Captain?"

Toshiro turned to her and upon seeing her somewhat concerned look, he decided to tell her the one thing he left out of his explanation of what happened one hundred years ago. But before he could get out a single word, the maniac laugh of Kenpachi and the giggling of Yachiru interrupted him as the large shinigami came hurling down and sliced Ganryu down his back. The pink haired girl just seemed to appear out of no where and cling herself onto the grinning man's haori.

The white haired man yelled out as blood gushed out of him, but he was cut short as Ichigo took advantage of the situation and sliced Ganryu in half at his waist. Once the last bit of the 'Dark Ones' leader vanished, Ichigo began digging his way through the large white structure in the center of the canyon; "Senna!" the teen called out as he finally reached his purple haired friend.

The icy captain sighed lightly and looked to his lieutenant once more; "I'll tell you later...let's go." he muttered, looking toward the dimensional rift that made up the entrance and exit to the Valley of Screams.

Rangiku nodded and looked around as they all grouped around the two, a few giving Toshiro an odd look as they saw all the blood on him. They then quickly flew toward the rift and came bursting out of the river near Karakura town. All the while, Toshiro had used his power to freeze the blood and slowly have it left behind in the Valley, so when he emerged, his appearance looked the same as before he left. As each of them let out a satisfied sigh, glad for the fact that they had stopped the worlds from colliding, everything around them began shaking like an earthquake.

"What's going on?" Yoruichi demanded, looking down at the Valley of screams as they saw it begin destroyed.

"Idiots! They fired the kido canon! They just guaranteed that the worlds will collide!" Toshiro called out, obviously angry about the turn of events and shocking everyone with his words.

"But...Kurotsuchi said that the blast would probably be able to knock the worlds back into place." Soifon said, also being angry, but mainly because of the possibility of being deceived.

"It would have...if it wasn't for the fact that the Valley of Screams was just pulling the worlds a few moments ago. That pull will only cause the explosion to implode and just suck the worlds in like a black hole!" Toshiro claimed, clenching his fists.

Everyone including Kenpachi looked at him shocked, then cringed in anger as they turned their heads to the portal that held the image of a melting and exploding world. The sky of the Valley was black and dripping down into the canyons as if it was a thick liquid. The canyons themselves were blowing to pieces as if random explosions were placed all over the place and simultaneously going off. As everyone was watching this, they all took on an expression of hopelessness, like the end was truly here.

Yoruichi and Soifon each came up toward Toshiro and Rangiku, the former had closed his eyes and clenched his ice covered hands, while the latter had her eyes right on Toshiro; "C-Captain...if this is the end..." Rangiku began, to which the white haired captain opened his eyes and looked to her.

"...I..I want you to know...I-" but she was cut off as a loud splash was heard by everyone, which was followed by Ichigo calling out Senna's name.

Yoruichi and Soifon stopped midway in going up to Toshiro, as they along with everyone else looked at the portal as they saw Senna being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Blanks. Then Toshiro's eyes widened as he realized that she was temporarily gaining the power of an entire dimension; 'Does she really care for this world and Kurosaki that much?' he then narrowed his eyes on the girl and just watched.

An enormous light flashed before their eyes, blinding everyone and making them cover their eyes from it. A few seconds later, the world around them stopped shaking and the dark clouds that no one had even noticed began disburse in the sky. Each of them looked around, then down at the closing portal as a group of disappearing Blanks held Senna out of the water for the last few seconds that it stayed open. Ichigo immediately shunpoed down to her and just before she dropped back into the water, he caught her and brought her up into her arms.

'She really sacrificed herself to save everything and everyone. Even though she was made up of people's memories...she's braver than most people in this or any world.' Toshiro thought to himself, smirking almost invisibly.

Rangiku blinked her eyes as she saw Ichigo come back up and join them, only he had a rather saddened expression on his face. She then turned back to her captain and realized what she was about to tell him, causing her to blush and turn away quickly before he could notice. But though Toshiro didn't see it, Yoruichi and Soifon had as they were in her line of sight; "Rangiku..." Toshiro started, causing said woman to almost jump at his voice.

"Y-Yes?" she answered, gulping down at the thought of him figuring out what she was going to say.

"Come with me...we have one last thing to do before this is over." he finished, turning around and starting to walk away, slightly confusing almost everyone.

Kenpachi wasn't even paying attention as he was already walking away with Yachiru giving him directions, in the wrong direction. Yoruichi, Rangiku and Soifon had raised a brow, but Ichigo looked at him in anger; "She just saved your life...and you can't even thank her?" he asked in a low growl, looking down at the girl in his arms.

Toshiro didn't even turn around as he shunpoed away, to which Rangiku quickly followed after him, and making the orange haired teen grind his teeth in anger; "Bastard." Ichigo commented, turning away and shunpoing off with Senna in his arms.

Yoruichi and Soifon looked to each other, then turned in Toshiro's and Rangiku's direction and quickly started on their way; "I'm sure he won't just leave this as it is...right?" the raven haired woman asked, sounding knowing the beginning, but finishing with a truly questioning tone.

"I think he does." Yoruichi said with a nod, seemingly quite confident, not portraying any amount of doubt in her white haired friend.

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Okay, chapter 64 is done. As you can probably guess...the next chapter won't be too long...but I'll make it as good as possible. Till next time guys, and remember...the competition will last till I come back after a month break, starting after the next chapter, which will be the conclusion of the First Movie. ;)


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65:**

Ichigo stood at the foot of a grave, Senna pressed on his back as he held her up with his arms around her legs; "Is there a name?" she asked silently, her voice sounding quite harsh on her throat.

The orange haired teen knelt down and looked at the grave before him; "I have something in my eye...I can't read it." she added, hoping the he would tell her, not realizing that her sight was leaving her as her body began to break down.

"Is it there?" Senna asked, sounding on the verge of tears, to which Ichigo narrowed his eyes sadly at the names upon the grave, neither being her name.

But just as Ichigo was about to answer her, he was interrupted; "No...it's not. You're made up of thousands of souls' memories, so you yourself was never alive till now." a voice claimed almost coldly.

Ichigo spun around quickly, glaring at the source of the voice, whom was on the other side of a row of graves that blocked most of their body. But the teen was able to make out the person by the voice; "Toshiro!" he exclaimed, spitting his name out like it was venom.

"But you also don't have to be bound by those memories. You are you, regardless of who's memories you have in your head." Toshiro continued, stepping up into the air, over the graves and back down to the ground.

While Ichigo kept a glare at the white haired captain, his brow was slightly raised in question, as he was slightly confused about his words to Senna, whom had taken on a slight smile. She then tilted her head toward Toshiro, her smile being a very hopeful one; "Really?" she asked, her voice sounding the same as her expression.

Toshiro nodded to her, even though she couldn't see it very well; "Now put her down Kurosaki...and stand aside." he began, unsheathing his zanpakuto and narrowing his eyes on the two.

The orange haired teen looked at him shocked, while the orange eyed girl blinked in confusion; "What?" they both said in unison, only Ichigo said it in a distrustful manner and Senna said it in questioning way.

"But why are you taking out your zanpakuto?" Ichigo demanded, giving the white haired captain a very suspicious glare.

"Because this is something that needs to be done for her and I need you to stand away!" Toshiro claimed, raising his voice midway through, almost frightening the two before him.

Ichigo looked back at Senna as if asking what she wanted to do, but all she offered was a nod; "I'll be fine." she whisper with a weak smile, her body beginning to glow slightly as her existence was fading away.

The teen nodded back to his friend, then set her down in a kneeling position and stepped back a few feet; "You better not hurt her." was all he managed to say before Toshiro suddenly stabbed Senna through her chest.

The moment his blade pierced her fading skin, an enormous and blinding white light erupted around them, which caused Ichigo to put his hand in front of his eyes to block it out. It also caught the attention of Rukia, Rangiku and Yoruichi, whom were standing outside the cemetery, waiting for their respective friends. But while the two woman made no big reaction, the large eyed girl blinked in shock; "What was that?" the raven haired girl asked.

"It looks like he really did do it." Rangiku muttered, smirking lightly with Yoruichi as they both looked slightly fondly at the light.

After a few more moments, the white light began dying down and as it completely vanished, Ichigo noticed Toshiro standing a few feet back from where he was before, with his back turned toward him. Then he looked toward Senna and was shocked to see her back in her shinigami form, completely fine and with a shocked expression of her own. Both of them made eye contact and then turned toward Toshiro; "But...how?" they questioned together.

The white haired captain looked over his shoulder at them, giving only an almost emotionless look; "I simply transferred some of my spiritual energy directly into your soul using this." he began, holding up his zanpakuto and pointing at a small black device at the tip.

"Unlike how Rukia transferred all her spirit energy to you...I used this to funnel in my own and siphon it to be in it's purest and most powerful form. I had to use as little of my power as possible, since I'm just starting to get my full power back. It would have been fatal for me if I hadn't. But what I gave her her was enough to return her being back to normal and even increase her own shinigami powers." he finished, placing his zanpakuto on his back, to which the sheath appeared around it and held it in place.

The two behind him had shocked faces and blinking eyes, but it was the purple haired girl that spoke first; "W-Why would you do this for me?"

"Because...you saved all of us. And no good deed should go unrewarded." was his simple answer, turning his head forward once more and starting to walk away.

"Wait!" Senna called out, holding out her hand in a gesture to fit her cry and tone, to which Toshiro stopped and looked to her once more.

"I...I didn't catch your name." she said, smiling lightly yet thankfully to him and walking around to face him directly.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of the Tenth Division and Duel Commander of the Omnitsukido." he said, making it almost too obvious that he had said this more times then he could count.

Senna smiled wider once more, nodded to him and slightly bowed; "And I'm Senna, Memory Rosary and a friend of both the World of the Living and Soul Society."

Toshiro smirked lightly to her and nodded in a silent greeting; "Nice to meet you officially." he said holding out an ice covered hand, to which the girl took into her own hand immediately.

"You as well." she said happily and enthusiastically.

They shook their hands for a brief few seconds, then broke apart as Ichigo just looked between the two, raising a brow the whole time as they had officially introduced themselves to each other. Then Toshiro closed his eyes for a brief moment as if in thought about something, to which the two before him raised a brow. Just as they were about to ask him what he was thinking about, he already answered them as he opened his eyes and spoke; "Senna...would you like to join the Gotei Thirteen? I'll place you in my squad as a Sixth or Fifth seat."

The purple haired girl blinked a few times, then glanced over to Ichigo, whom shrugged and smirked in a way that told her that it was her decision, to which she looked up thoughtfully. But she didn't take long as she looked to Toshiro once more and nodded; "I would be honored to join." she declared happily with a wide smile.

The white haired captain nodded back to her, then turned to the side just before the three outside the cemetery had started making their way toward them; "So...what did we miss?" Yoruichi asked, smirking lightly.

Toshiro shook his head, but Senna took it upon herself to start the 'meet and greet' with the other three; "Hi! My name is Senna." she proclaimed, smiling widely and giving them all a friendly wave.

"Shihoin Yoruichi. But you can call me Yoruichi-san."

"Matsumoto Rangiku. Just call me by my first name and add any suffix you want."

"Kuchiki Rukia. You can do the same for me, I don't mind." they each said, giving her a wave back.

"Nice to meet each of you." Senna said, nodding to each of them.

But then she noticed Rangiku's lieutenant badge and quickly noticed the same insignia on Toshiro's haori; "I'm guessing you two are part of the same division?"

"Of course! I'm Captain Hitsugaya's lovely, wonderful, hard-working, and absolutely gorgeous Lieutenant." the strawberry blond claimed, smiling very widely and proudly.

Toshiro rolled his eyes and sighed; "You're mostly right...but the 'hard-working' is all but non-existent." he commented, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.

Everyone else blinked at him as he failed to see what he didn't, to which he cracked one of his eyes open and raised his brow; "What?" he asked.

"So you're basically admitting that she is lovely, wonderful and gorgeous...but not hard-working?" Yoruichi questioned, but making it sound like she was stating a fact.

His tan friend's words caused him to blush lightly, look to Rangiku, whom was also blushing slightly, then just looked away; "Awwww! So cute! And romantic!" Senna exclaimed, almost sounding like a fan-girl.

Ichigo just looked at each of them with a dumbfounded expression, which all but said; 'How did I get mixed up with these people?' all over his face. Rukia had a light but almost jealous smirk on her lips, Yoruichi was just smiling widely and Rangiku continued to blush lightly but covered her face with her hand to hide it. Toshiro still refused to look at any of them, keeping his scowl and light blush to himself, but Senna was tugging on his haori with a giggle; "What's wrong? Come on? I wanna see your blush!"

As all this went on a shadowed figure smirked from beneath a mask and clenched their fists; "Soon Toshiro...soon."

-A few hours later in the Tenth Division-

Toshiro walked up to his office door, opened it with a light sigh and just laid himself down on the sofa after closing the door behind him; 'Such a long day...I'm glad Rangiku decided to take care of showing Senna around after I got her enlisted. Even though I forged her into the records...I'm sure no one will realize it for quite some time. And by then, she should have made a name for herself here and they won't even care.' he thought, staring up at the ceiling with an exhausted expression.

Just as he started to close his eyes to rest, he saw a hell butterfly come in through the window, to which he held up an icy hand for it to land on. The moment it's small legs touched the ice, it began relaying it's message; _"Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, this is a message directly from Head Captain Yamamoto. The Patrol Group Leader of the Onmitsukido; Shusuke Amagai has been selected to take the captain's proficiency test. You have been recommended by the Head Captain himself to be one of the captains to witness this test. Please report to the First Division tomorrow at ten a.m."_

The white haired captain sighed lightly and was about to dismiss the insect, but it continued on before he could; _"Further more...the remainder of this message is to be kept a secret from everyone outside the Tenth Division and is a top priority mission. You are to help transport a Royal artifact known as the Oin from Soul Society to a location in the World of the Living, which will only be revealed the moment of departure. You are to report to the First Division two days from now at one thirty p.m to meet up with the Royal Procession."_

Toshiro raised a brow as the butterfly finally flew away; "An inspection of a revenge filled traitor and a royal delivery of one of the most powerful items in creation." he whispered to himself, closed his eyes and placed his arm over them.

"I will never get any sleep...will I?"

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And this is where I leave you...for one whole month. Lol. Sorry. And yes, I am combining the Diamond Dust Rebellion, the Amagai arc (or whatever they call it), and a bit of the Arrancar arc since it is supposed to start soon anyway. ;) I hope you all enjoyed my story thus far. And if you're a new reviewer and have reached this point (or if you have been reading along and haven't been reviewing a lot). I would greatly appreciate if you went back and left a review for all the previous chapters, they don't even have to long, only a few words at least. I would like to have like 600-700 reviews when I get back. Cause one person can add 65 reviews, that would only need like three or four people to do that. And if everyone that reads this story does this for me then this story will have even more reviews then that...and I love reviews. ;) And as an extra reminder, the competition is still going on for all that want to participate. Till next month everyone. :3


	66. Chapter 66

Hello everyone. Happy to see me? I'm pretty glad to be back, it was a nice break...but it was kind of sad but fun when it ended. I get to write again, so it's both sad and fun. Sad that I'll have stress at times again, but fun cause people will enjoy my work. XD Although...I am very sad that no one reviewed more then they had to, no one went back to review so I could have more. =/ *sniff* I'm sad now. I guess no one likes this story enough. I suppose I'll just have to make it better so they will. I have no idea how I'm gonna do it but I really want more reviews. ;) Anyway...on with the chapter.

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**Chapter 66:**

-Karakura High School-

The air was thick with the sounds of chairs sliding, pencils scribbling, shoes squeaking and students conversing within the classroom. But all of them halted as the teacher walked through the door, her very presence silencing everything and everyone; "Alright...at least everyone is in their seats already. It even looks like everyone is here today. Good start for the new semester." Misato said, placing a blue notebook on her shoulder as she smiled lightly.

She looked around the room as if confirming that all the students were indeed in the class room, knowing all of them by name and face; "Oh, and I have some news for all of you. We're going to be having four new transfer students!" she began, faking her excitement about the fact, not overly happy about the possibility of having four more slackers in her room that never show up.

"Alright...come on in!" she called out, turning toward the door as it slid open immediately after her words.

Just as it opened fully, four figures walked inside, the first was a little girl with green eyes and long blonde hair, which was held back by a brown hairband. The second was a fairly tall young man with blue-black hair and icy blue eyes. Right behind him was a very large and muscular man with a small mohawk in the shape of a lightning bolt and a pair of small sunglasses over his eyes. The last was a brown eyed teen with jaw-length, straight blonde hair and a smile that revealed his upper teeth.

Though the last of the new students seemed a bit odd, most of the occupants in the room were occupied with staring at the first three. But the one that stared the most was a familiar orange haired teen; "You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed, looking at the three in shock.

"My name is Kenryuu. This here to my left is Enryuu. And this person is..." the second student began, but as he finished his words he and the large man bowed behind the small blond haired girl.

She then cleared her throat, smiled widely to everyone then spoke in a fairly sophisticated way; "Kasumioji Rurichiyo. Nice to meet all of you."

As all the students just stared at each of the three in disbelief, the forth stepped forward and widened his already wide smile; "And my name is Hirako Shinji. What's up?"

After a moment of silence from the class about who these new students were, an announcement suddenly come on over the intercom; _"Will Misato-sensei please report to the parking lot. Your vehicle is going be towed if you don't remove it from the principle's private parking area."_

The words from the speaker, caused her to freeze in place, even in mid-smile. But then she suddenly ran to the door, slid it open and took off down the hall; "All of you behave till I get back~!" she called out, drawing out her last word as if to emphasize her getting farther away.

Each of the students just stared in awe as they just looked around the room, not sure of what to do, but they eventually began their own conversations amongst each other. Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Kenryuu, Enryuu and even Rurichiyo had all grouped together, all the while Shinji had scooted himself a bit closer to listen in. But as they talked amongst themselves, the rest of the class had created their own groups and began talking in their own conversations.

"So Rurichiyo-chan...where did you move from?" Orihime asked, smiling lightly to the young girl and leaning in to hear her answer.

But she was shut out as Kenryuu stepped before her and answered for the blond girl; "From far away."

"Why did all three of you transfer here?" Mizuiro asked, taking up Orihime's lead in asking questions.

Yet just like before, Kenryuu stepped before him and answered his question with a blunt and uninformative answer; "We're relatives."

"Well...where do you live now?" Tatsuki asked, crossing her arms to the icy blue eyed student, showing a suspicious expression toward him.

"That's classified." Kenryuu claimed, looking at her with a mirroring suspicious expression to her own.

"How about you tell me what your measuremen-" Chizuru began, but was cut off by a punch to the face from Tatsuki.

"She's way too young for you." the raven haired teen girl growled out as she retracted her fist.

"Um...why are you answering all the questions for her?" Keigo asked, pointing at Rurichiyo but looking at Kenryuu.

"Because, Rurichiyo-sama is a refined lady. She shouldn't have to speak directly with low-class beings like yourself." was the man's blunt and somewhat cold answer.

"Low-class? Come on...don't take the joke that far." the brown haired teen said, smiling lightly and walking up to the small blond girl.

But as Rurichiyo just stood there, not appearing to be even acknowledge his existence, Kenryuu walked up between Keigo and the young blond with a severe glare at him; "Listen up you pathetic creature. Don't come anywhere near Rurichiyo-sama. If you do...your life will end." he said.

The brown haired student backed away immediately, muttering an apology, but he bumped into something on the way and quickly turned around to apologize once more. But the moment he saw whom it was he bumped into, he blinked a couple times and tilted his head; "Oh...it's you. I haven't seen you in a while. Sorry about running into you like that."

"Who are you talking to over there Keigo?" Ichigo asked, raising a brow to his long time friend and speaking up since his outburst.

"Hmm? Oh...just this kid I ran into a while back." he responded, moving out of the way and pointing to the person behind him.

They all saw Toshiro just standing there with a bored yet tired expression on his face, his arms crossed and his haori missing from his shinigami uniform; "Toshiro?" Ichigo exclaimed, blinking his eyes as he looked around to see who else could actually see him.

As far as he could tell only everyone in their immediate group was actually looking at the strange boy in the classroom. But the fact that the new student Shinji was also looking right at him irked the teen, but he wasn't able to think upon the fact as Kenryuu and Enryuu suddenly kneeled before Toshiro as if he was a king; "Lord Hitsugaya!"

"Forgive us for not giving you a proper entrance into this facility! If you like, we will dispose of this man for coming into contact with you!" Kenryuu claimed as he and his partner lowered their bows even more and pointed to Keigo.

"Don't be so over bearing Kenryuu. Not today anyway." Toshiro said, waving his ice covered hand dismissively and looked around some what suspiciously.

Though he noticed that Tatsuki, Mizuiro and even Chizuru were all staring at him with somewhat shocked expressions, he merely looked away and toward Kenryuu as the blue-black haired man spoke again; "As you command My Lord!" but once he finished, he looked slightly up, only to see Rurichiyo walking toward Toshiro.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Lord Hitsugaya. Someone with such power and status as yourself being here is truly lucky." the young blond said, bowing slightly at the waist, smiling lightly to him and straightened herself up.

"Huh? What are they talking about Toshiro?" Ichigo asked, directing his raised brow toward said captain, whom had merely nodded to Rurichiyo's greeting.

Each of the orange haired teen's friends nodded to his question, all of them also wanting to know why three of the new students were treating a weird kid like he was the ruler of the country. But where they had wonder and question int their eyes, Shinji had amusement and even let out a silent chuckle at everyone's expressions. Only Uryu noticed this however and just he was about to ask who he was and what his knowledge about Toshiro really was, he was interrupted by Kenryuu as he spoke up rather loudly.

"Fool! Address Lord Hitsugaya correctly! His ties with the Shihoin and Kuchiki clans are so great, he is regarded as a true Shihoin and Kuchiki! With power as the acting Head for both clans when the true heir is away! And due to the fact that the Shihoin has been without it's heir for so long, everyone places him as the actual Head of the clan! He has power over two of the four most powerful clans in Soul Society! You should treat him with the greatest respect!" Kenryuu explained.

His words and the tone of his voice had caught the attention of all the students in the class, to which he simply looked at them with an expression that told them to mind their own business. Toshiro simply smirked lightly as he saw each of the students look away, but glance over their shoulders just to see what else he would do. He had even heard one of them talk about how the new students must have been part of a play as they thought it was the only explanation for talking to the air.

"Today's really not that useless after all...surprisingly." Toshiro said aloud, smirking lightly in amusement.

Rurichiyo blinked at him, wondering what would make the day 'useless', but she, nor anyone else had time to say anything as Toshiro walked over toward the window; "Though...it seems that it'll rain here soon. So unless you like getting soaked, get an umbrella." he said, making everyone raise a brow to him as the sudden change of topic was incredibly odd.

Though his concerning words were completely off topic, his tone sounded appropriate for the words themselves and didn't make them sound too suspicious; "Oh, and Kasumioji...everything is going to be alright. But make sure a guard is around at all times. But I promise that you'll be safe." he said, giving them each a light smirk.

His tone and words made Kenryuu and Enryuu blink at him in surprise, while everyone else, including Shinji to raise a brow in confusion. But after a few moments Tatsuki stepped forward, crossed her arms and raised a brow; "Can I ask you something, Hitsugaya was it? Who exactly are you?"

Toshiro looked over at her and raised his own brow, but she continued to speak due to the fact that he didn't seem to be making any attempt to answer her question; "I get that you're someone important...apparently." she began, glancing over to Kenryuu before looking back to the icy captain.

"But you don't look familiar from anyone I've seen at this school...and the outfit doesn't help either. Then there's the fact that Ichigo knows you, then these new guys all but worship you. Plus this guy looks like he knows you too. And I'll be asking you about who you are and how you know him later." she continues, pointing to Shinji, whom blinked to her then just stuck his tongue, revealing a circular piercing upon it.

Tatsuki ignored him and continued staring at Toshiro with a suspicious expression; "So...sorry if this is rude, but I really don't like the fact that no one can even see you besides us." she claimed, gesturing to the rest of the class that had begun talking about how she must have 'joined the play' as she was now talking to the air.

The others had noticed this, but only Mizuiro, Chizuru and Keigo started looking from the rest of the class then back to Toshiro in confusion. Then Keigo came up toward Toshiro and started poking him as if expecting for his finger to go right through; "No one else can see you? How are you doing that? Are you able to make only certain people see you? Or is it that they just can't?" he asked, continuing to poke the icy captain.

Toshiro sighed heavily, then cleared his throat, causing Keigo to stop his actions; "So...I'll ask again." Tatsuki suddenly started again.

"Who are you?" she finished, keeping her eyes narrowed on him.

Ichigo groaned silently as he was starting to get a bit worried that she would push Toshiro too far with her questions. Uryu adjusted his glasses as he just kept his eyes narrowed on each of the people around him, but mainly on Shinji. Orihime was trying to calm Tatsuki down and get her to drop the subject as she too didn't want her best friend pushing the white haired captain too far. Chad just stood in the same spot he had been in the entire time and remained quiet like he were nothing but a statue.

Keigo was staring at the icy captain with a questioning look, as if wonder what his answer would be or if he would even say anything at all. Mizuiro had a similar expression on his face, only his was less obvious and more laid back then his brown haired friend. Chizuru merely stared at everyone as if she didn't understand what was going on at all, as she could see Toshiro the least, but could still make out his figure. Tatsuki just stuck with her suspicious and questioning look as she all but had her eyes glued on the white haired captain.

Rurichiyo was blinking her large eyes to each the students as they continued their conversations about speaking to the air, not understanding why no one else could see Toshiro in the room. Shinji merely had a bored expression on his face, not seeming to care what was happening around him very much. Kenryuu was creeping up with Enryuu to 'silence' Tatsuki, but were stopped as Toshiro waved to them in a dismissing way. Toshiro himself was just looking at everyone around him, that could see him, but after a few moments of silence, his lips curled into a smirk and he began walking forward.

He came right up to Tatsuki, much to her confusion, then suddenly patted her on the back two times and turned away from her; "What was that for?" she demanded as he still remained quiet for some reason.

She and the rest of the teens raised a brow, then narrowed their eyes on his back as if trying to figure out his intentions. But just as Tatsuki was about to say something further, she suddenly noticed something on the floor before her and became wide eyed; "What's thi-" but she was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" a split second after the voice, Rukia came running into the room.

She was inside a gigai and wearing the school uniform, but she was out of breath and had a had a frantic expression on her face. Her look and condition had made everyone either forget about what Tatsuki was about to say or about the 'teens practicing a play in the back of the class'. Rukia had quickly looked right to Toshiro just as he walked over to Uryu's desk and placed a small folded up piece of paper on it. But before the raven haired girl could move any closer or speak, the icy captain suddenly vanished in a shunpo; "Wait!" was all she could cry out.

"Rukia? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, now rather confused about her sudden appearance.

"I actually came here to tell you what happened to Captain Hitsugaya, but I happened to catch a hint of his spirit energy on my way here. It looks like he came to see you." she said, looking to each of them, all the while ignoring the questioning stares from the rest of the class.

"Tell us something we don't know." Shinji said sarcastically, speaking up in a very bored sounding voice, but as he looked to the note on Uryu's desk, he narrowed his eyes; "So what does it say?"

Uryu readjusted his glasses and narrowed his eyes as well, only his stare was on Shinji himself; "You know that shinigami...don't you?" he questioned.

The blond just sighed lightly and nodded his head; "Of course I know Toshiro...we go way back him and me, now what was his message? It's probably quite important." he said, placing his hand under his chin and propping his head up with his arm.

"Hold on a second...how do you guys know who he is?" Tatsuki demanded, her eyes shifting from everyone in their group, including Rukia as she come up toward them.

Ichigo, Orihime and Keigo each looked away as if to try as avoid being the ones to answer her question. Kenryuu, Enryuu and Chad each just gave off an aura that said that they didn't have any intention of answering. Rurichiyo was preoccupied with greeting Rukia as she recognized her as a Kuchiki, but Rukia herself was looking at Uryu and Shinji. Both of which were still exchanging looks to one another for their questions to be full answered, a similar look that Tatsuki was giving everyone.

She finally just sighed heavily, but then looked back to the ground, narrowed her eyes and kneeled down; "Alright...if you guys won't answer me on that one, then tell me why he was bleeding?" she asked, standing back up and holding out her fingers, which had a good amount of blood on the tips.

Though mostly everyone else was looking to each other, hoping that someone would volunteer to explain, but when her question sank in, they all looked at her shocked. Kenryuu had even ran up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders rather roughly; "What do you mean?" he demanded before Tatsuki grabbed his arms, flipped him around and slammed him to the ground.

"What do you mean; 'What do I mean'? There's a small blood trail in the spots that he was just standing." Tatsuki claimed, pointing at the penny sized drops of blood on the waxed floor of the classroom before Kenryuu's face.

"He's...hurt?" Rukia muttered aloud, her tone making it sound like she believed Toshiro to be all but indestructible.

"He gave you a note Uryu...what does it say?" she continued, not paying attention as the classroom cheered Tatsuki on in her defeating one of the new students, as they only saw him forcefully grabbing her shoulders.

Each of them turned to Uryu, looking at him anxiously as he simply sighed, unfolded the small piece of paper and read it's content out loud; _"First letters Uryu Ishida. P.S: Kurosaki, go with Shinji and begin your training. Do not argue with anything he tells you to do...that pertains to the training that is."_

Ichigo raised a brow and had an expression of confusion on his face, but Shinji smirked widely and nodded; "Excellent! Now we can get things moving right along." he said, smirking widely in a successful way.

"Wait...what?" was all Ichigo managed to say before the teacher came running back inside and told everyone to sit back down in their seats, not even realizing the addition of Rukia in the room.

After a while, Rukia had snuck a folded up piece of paper on Ichigo's desk, the top of it saying; 'This is why I'm here.'

But after the orange haired teen opened the note and began reading it in his own mind, he suddenly became wide eyed and stood up from his chair in a frantic manner; "WHAT?" he exclaimed loudly.

Due to the fact that he was still looking at the paper, he didn't notice all the staring faces from the class, save for a certain glasses wearing teen. Whom was busy writing on a sheet of paper that only seemed to contain random letters, but due to his narrowed eyes, it was obvious that he was trying to unravel some kind of mystery. But thanks to Ichigo's out burst, no one saw the smirk that came over his face as he figured out the secret to Toshiro's message.

-Inside an abandoned building on the other side of Karakura town-

Toshiro sat on the cold ground of the facility, taking in a deep breath as he stabbed two of his ice covered fingers inside his open wound. His eye slightly twitched as he could feel the healing flesh rip open once more and make way for even more blood then before. After a few seconds, he took his fingers out of his ribs and let out the breath he had been holding in. Though his actions only brought him more pain, his expression was more of pride then anything else.

'I won't let my high speed regeneration take effect. When I face him again...I'll do it as a shinigami...not as some freak or experiment.' he thought, narrowing his eyes slightly.

He stood himself up, his breath hitching in his throat as the pain hit him once more; 'Although...considering how much blood I'm losing right now, I'll only be able to keep myself conscious for an hour at most. He was able to stab me in one of my arteries after all.' he speculated.

"I'm sure Ishida should be able to figure out my message in a few hours...if not sooner." he breathed out, sounding much more exhausted then he had before.

Toshiro took in a breath and began walking out of the large empty building, slightly limping as he did, but not enough to be completely noticeable. But the moment he exited the facility, he narrowed his eyes, clenched his ice covered fists and glanced over his should at two slim figures; "Didn't take you two long to find me." he claimed, turning his body to face the female arrancars as they sonidoed a few feet from him.

The first woman had short red hair, a sleeveless white jacket, red elbow-length gloves, with white bracelets on each wrist. She also had red colored sock-like stockings, black boots, and short red 'schoolgirl-like' skirt. The second looked exactly like the first, only her hair was blue and slightly longer, plus her gloves, stockings and skirt were all blue as apposed to the first's red. Both the remnants of their Hollow masks appeared to act as a headband, which went vertically down the middle of their heads before reaching their eyebrows.

They narrowed their eyes on the ice captain and pulled out their large pins from behind their heads, to which they expanded and became their respective weapons. The red wearing woman's was a sword covered in flames, while the blue wearing one's was a long whip that seemed to hold a constant flow of electricity going through it. Though their expressions made it obvious that they were rather nervous, they still spoke with as much confidence as possible, which wasn't as much as they would've liked; "We are the arrancar twins; Yin and yang. Kusaka-sama ordered us to take you to him, conscious...or not."

Toshiro smirked lightly, but somewhat darkly and let out an amused chuckle at them; "Is that so?" he asked, but mostly stated his words then actually questioned.

"Well...we'll just have to see about that." he finished before unclenching his ice covered hands quickly and allowing a wider, but even darker smirk on his face.

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Alright, there's chapter 66, hope you all enjoyed it and are back into my story as you were a month ago. ;D


	67. Chapter 67

Alright...the next installment. ;) Thank you very much to all of you that reviewed, we totaled 16 reviews for the last chapter alone. You guys are awesome. Now...on to the story! Hi diddily de! A writers life for me! Lol.

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**Chapter 67:**

-Warehouse district-

The twin arrancar laid face down on the chilled pavement as they bled heavily from wounds on their chest and stomach. All the while, Toshiro started walking away from them, blood dripping from both his hands and even from the single injury in his ribs. Though the icy captain's movements seemed slightly sluggish, he managed to leave the warehouse before a dark figure arrived and took the two women away.

As Toshiro walked, he stumbled slightly, wavered on his feet and grunted from pain; 'That took a little longer then I thought. Then again...I'm losing even more blood then before. I probably won't make it much farther before I pass out.' he thought in a silent sigh.

He continued on in seemingly a random direction, but he eventually saw a small structure out in the distance that the white haired captain had only seen through a photograph. Though he knew what that destination would hold, he kept walking in a slightly wavering and stumbling manner. But as Toshiro came closer, he saw a small yet wide river before him and clenched his icy hands into fists; 'Damn...I only have a few minutes left of consciousness. I can't waste time looking for a bridge.'

Toshiro stepped forward and onto the water, which froze all the way through in an instant, allowing him to cross easily. But as he walked the last few feet, he felt the blood loss finally taking its toll and fell to his knees on the gravel after the river. He then collapsed completely on the ground and growled silently at his own weakness; "Damn...is this really as far as I can go?" he asked himself, closing his eyes slowly.

"Looks like it...but hey, you made it farther then I thought." a familiar voice spoke from above him, but Toshiro's consciousness slipped and he wasn't able to stare into the face of someone he hadn't seen in many years.

-Seireitei, First Division-

"We have thoroughly searched the area, but found no trace of the Oin, the thief, their accomplices, nor of Captain Hitsugaya. The only trace was of his haori, which was found by myself not far from the incident." Soifon reported, all but spitting out her words, save for her 'former' commander's name.

The Head Captain simply nodded as his eyes remained closed, but anyone and everyone could tell that he was slightly on edge. Soifon herself held a straight and hardened expression, similar to the one Byakuya also had as he stood with the other captains. The new captain Shusuke Amagai was looking between the other captains in the room, his messy blue, shoulder length hair waving around as he did. Though his expression made it obvious that he was unsure of what he was supposed to do or say, he decided to just take on a similar expression as Byakuya's and Soifon's. But there was also a hint of interest in his dark grey eyes that spoke of a highly intelligent person.

Retsu had her eyes closed, her head tilted down as if in deep thought and her constant gentle, yet somewhat frightening expression. Sajin had his own animal-like form of a disappointed scowl as he detested traitors as much as the Head Captain did. Shunsui had his arms crossed and his head tilted up toward the ceiling in thought as if he were trying to figure out some kind of puzzle in his mind. Kenpachi was merely looking at Soifon as she spoke, allowing a small but rather blood thirsty look onto his face, making it obvious that he wanted to be the one to fight the icy former-captain if it was ordered.

Mayuri had a bored expression on his face, but he also shared a bit of the same excitement that Kenpachi was feeling. Jushiro had a concerned but very serious look, as if he too was trying to figure out the same puzzle that Shunsui and Retsu were working on. Lastly, Rangiku kneeled down before each of her superiors, all the while she glared down at the ground and grinded her teeth together. She replayed the events of a few hours ago over and over again in her mind, but still couldn't come up with an explanation for her captain's actions...

-Three hours earlier-

Toshiro stood on the air with a serious yet somewhat bored expression on his face, while the wind whipped around him, causing his shinigami robes to flow in the air in a rough manner. But his eyes were on the enormous cloud moving above him, it appearing to be a normal cumulus cloud but it held one of the most powerful artifacts in Soul Society.

"Captain!" Rangiku called out from behind him as she appeared in a shunpo; "All squads report that everything is quiet."

"Alright." was all the white haired captain responded with.

"The closer you get...the more impressive it looks." Rangiku claimed, looking at the large cloud that seemed to make the two appear incredibly small.

"Tch, Royalty never goes anywhere with out a bit of fanfare." Toshiro commented with a light roll of his eyes.

"Even though I completely agree..." she began with a light giggle; "...if they heard that kind of thing, they might get mad."

The icy captain merely sighed and glanced off to the side, looking as if he was slightly distracted by something in that direction.

"Hmph. They'll just send in some cocky representative that will just try and intimidate me to 'watch my mouth'." he claimed, sounding rather bored at the thought of his words coming true.

The strawberry blond chuckled lightly and nodded; "Yeah...and that's all they'll do. Even if the person they sent will be shaking in their fancy sandals."

Toshiro smirked lightly, but as he continued looking to his right sight, his eyes suddenly became wide as he sensed something very familiar in the direction. But he wasn't able to concentrate on it for very long as a flash of fire and lightning came hurling toward the cloud above them at a blinding speed. The two looked up, narrowed their eyes and then glanced to one another; "Alert the squads." Toshiro commanded.

Rangiku nodded to him and vanished in a shunpo just as Toshiro himself did as well. The strawberry blond had called forth all of the squad members quickly and headed straight for the top of the cloud. Once she had reached it, she immediately saw the area was filled with smoke, making it difficult to see or breath very well. But then she noticed her captain kicking a strange woman in white and red off the Oin's carriage.

She was about to go to him but sensed a strange power behind her, to which she jumped out of the way just as a large blue lightning bolt flew by her. The silvery-blue eyed lieutenant shifted herself to the side as if getting ready for a fight. At the same time, the lighting bolt came hurling at her again, but this time, Rangiku stayed perfectly still. Just as the lightning came within a few feet of her, she raised one of her arms and easily stopped the moving electricity with her hand.

Then moment her flesh made contact, the lightning disbursed and revealed a young woman with a bone fragment on her head and wearing a white and blue outfit.

"And who might you be?" Rangiku asked, narrowing her eyes on the woman before her as she stared in shock at the strawberry blond.

But before she could receive an answer, the blue and white wearing female suddenly disappeared; 'That's different...it seemed like a shunpo, but a bit different.' she thought to herself, looking and sensing around for her opponent.

Rangiku couldn't feel the woman's spirit energy at all and just narrowed her already narrowed eyes; 'I guess I can't get them all. But Captain is gonna be-' but she was cut off from her thoughts as a familiar, yet very different spirit energy filled her senses.

She quickly looked toward her captain just as she saw him being stabbed in his ribs; "Captain!" she called out.

Though she knew he wouldn't be killed by such a shallow wound, she was concerned about the fact that he didn't dodge the attack whatsoever. Rangiku shunpoed near of the carriage, her eyes slightly widening as she watched her captain just stand there in a trance. Then her eyes narrowed as a masked figure came up to Toshiro and whisper something to him. But even as the masked person retracted their blade, her captain still seemed to be in a still state.

That is until his opponent swung their kantana at him, to which he dodged out of the way by bending backward. But then he had to flip backward as the figure attempted to sweep his legs with a kick. The moment Toshiro landed on his ice covered feet he jumped into the air and spun his body around. Kicking away his opponents blade away and delivering a back kick to the corner of the strange, hollow-like mask.

Once the white object was broken away from figure's face, it was revealed to be a raven haired male with crimson red eyes and a large scar that ran the length of the right side of his face. He appeared to be about a few inches taller then herself, but the thing that surprised her the most was that beneath the brown travel cloak he wore, there was a shinigami uniform.

"Who the hell-?" she began, but was once more cut off as Toshiro suddenly pushed off the air and attempted to punch the man in his face.

But he was prepared for the attack, parried his strike with his kantana and sent his own punch toward Toshiro's cheek. Just as his blow was about to connect, the icy captain spun around it and finally landed on the ground beside him. They stood at a stand off for a split second as they both created a strategy before attacking. But once they attempted to proceed, they found themselves moving the exact same direction.

The two had both tried to turn swiftly toward each other and deliver a strong punch to one another's faces. But they merely ended up colliding their fists together and blasted one another away, which shocked Rangiku slightly. She had even been pushed backward a few feet after the percussion of their powers hit her. But she quickly recovered and saw that the raven haired man had used his own velocity to get away, using the smoke to screen his escape.

Just as she was about to order her squad members to clean up the area, she saw her captain flying toward his fleeing opponent. She quickly shunpoed toward him, but knew she wouldn't catch him in time so she called out to him; "Captain!"

She sounded very concerned in her voice, but there was also a bit of desperation in it. Which Toshiro had caught on to and turned back toward her as he stopped in midair. The moment she saw the look upon his face, it caused her to also halt herself in the air and for her eyes to widen. The look on his face was a mixture of desperation, sadness and disbelief; "C-Captain..." she whispered out.

But just as their eyes connected, he suddenly turned away and shunpoed too fast for anyone in any world to follow him. Rangiku could only stare toward his direction in shock and confusion; "Captain..." she whispered once more before closing her eyes in sadness.

-Present time-

Rangiku had closed her eyes once more, not even realizing that Soifon had continued with her report until she heard; "And according to the reports I've received, Captain Hitsugaya has deliberately and personally erased his own spirit energy from the scene."

"Hold on a second!" Rangiku called out, as her eyes narrowed angrily on all the occupants in the room and she stood up from the wooden floor.

"You can't be suggesting that Captain Hitsugaya abandoned his squad and went rogue!" the strawberry blond all but yelled as she narrowed her eyes in a similar fashion to her superior.

"I do not want to jump to conclusions either Lieutenant Matsumoto, but there isn't any other explanation for his actions." Soifon claimed calmly but forcibly when she addressed Rangiku by her title.

"But he-" Rangiku began, but was cut off as the Head Captain spoke up in a demanding tone.

"Enough! As of now, the entire Tenth Division is placed under arrest and confined to their barracks!" though his eyes were closed, it seemed as though he was looking directly at Rangiku.

"And depending on the outcome of this situation...the entire division might be abolished!" he continued, not a single shred of a bluff in his tone.

"Abolished? You can't be serious! The Tenth is tied with the Onmitsukido! You just can't do that!" Rangiku began, taking a step forward as her adrenaline began to flow, giving her more courage to all but yell at the Head Captain himself.

"Besides, our squad members never committed a single crime! As Lieutenant...I'll take full responsibility!" she finished, hoping that her words would somehow affect his decision.

"Bite your tongue Lieutenant Matsumoto." the Head Captain demanded, raising his voice slightly and opening his eyes.

The simple gesture caused the strawberry blond to do just as he commanded and then kneel back down as he began speaking again; "Do you really think that a Lieutenant's position is high enough to take blame for this? Know your place!"

Each of the captains, excluding Mayuri and Kenpachi gave Rangiku a quick but sympathetic look before turning their full attention to the Head Captain once again. Whom had closed his eyes once more and spoke in a more calm but demanding way; "Our top priorities are the search and retrieval of the Oin, the capture of the thief, dead or alive, and the arrest of Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya. Understood?"

A series of 'yes sirs' sounded through the hall and each of the occupants were dismissed. Only Rangiku was escorted back to the Tenth Division and ordered to called forth a meeting with all the members in every squad. But once they were all gathered, Chojiro Sasakibe came to the front of everyone, with his own entourage of division members behind him. He quickly scanned each of the squads present with a suspicious expression and spoke with an authoritative voice; "For the time being, the Tenth Division is under arrest and confined to their barracks."

Though his appearance didn't seem too intimidating, the tone of his voice was enough to keep everyone's objections to themselves. But once he spoke his next few words, no one cared for the tone of his voice anymore; "Further more, until Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya is captured or the incident is resolved, all of you must surrender your zanpakuto."

"Why?" some said, while others had different choice words for him.

"You're basically telling us to sit around and wait till you figure things out! That's bullshit! Give us a chance to prove our innocence!" but once that was said, the rest of the Tenth began calling out in agreement.

But after a few moments Rangiku silenced everyone by raising a hand up, which shocked many of the members from the First Division; "Don't worry...we don't need our zanpakutos to help our captain when he comes back." she said, sounding just as confident as she felt, which was as if she already knew what was going to happen.

Rangiku then reached behind her back, took a hold of her zanpakuto's sheath and offered it to the men and women from the First. One of them quickly walked over, took her kantana carefully, then went toward a cart and placed it inside. After this, she went over to the far wall and leaned against it and was quickly joined by Senna, whom just looked at her with a sympathetic look; "You okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah. Just a bit...confused." the strawberry blond claimed in a heavy sigh.

"I'm sure that Captain Hitsugaya will be back soon." Senna said, smiling lightly to her.

"It's not that I'm confused about him coming back...I'm confused about why he left in the first place." Rangiku said thoughtfully, placing her thumb and pointer finger to her chin.

The purple haired girl blinked at her, then looked to the side as she saw Renji walking over to them with a black cat right on his heals. At the sight of the cat Rangiku quickly looked away, knowing that she was going to get an earful of questions about how Toshiro had been acting that day and how his spirit energy had felt before he left. And just as she predicted, Yoruichi immediately blurted out both of questions almost at the exact same time, to which the other three sweat dropped.

-One hundred and twenty years ago-

Toshiro stirred on cool the wooden floor as _that_ dream began to rise into his mind. Only this time was different, it had only been a far off voice calling to him in a large icy wasteland that numbed every sense and froze the body in seconds. Yet it always felt welcoming and almost like home, but this time...an enormous dragon of ice landed it's serpent-like body just a few yards before him and stared down at him with it's blood red eyes. It's gigantic wings had also caused a huge whirlwind, which had kicked up so much snow and ice that when it spoke in it's thunder like voice, Toshiro couldn't hear.

"Ch..d...you...ink..ou...n...eld me?" as it spoke, the white haired boy shielded himself from the harsh wind as it felt as though it would blow him away or bury him alive.

"What? I can't hear you!" Toshiro called out desperately as the ice and snow cut through his arms painfully and made them feel heavy.

"My...ame is...ori...aru." but as it said these incoherent words, Toshiro was suddenly tossed across the landscape, but just as he landed on the ground...

He suddenly snapped awake, taking in a deep breath as he did and glancing to the side as he noticed that the whole room he was inside of was covered in a thick layer of frost. He closed his eyes and rubbed his heavy eye lids with his ice covered fingers; "Just like back then." he muttered to himself.

"Yeah...no kidding." a voice spoke off to the side, causing the icy captain to snap his attention toward the source.

But once he saw who it was, he blinked a few times in shock; "Surprised?...So am I." the person said, smirking slightly.

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That's the end for this one, stay tuned for the next chapter...coming next Tuesday afternoon...er...morning...er...night...er maybe not even on Tuesday. Well...it all depends on where you live. ;) It'll be the usual timing how about that. ;D

I also thought I'd share this with all of you...the stats to my story so you know just how successful all of you have made my story. Thank you again. ;)

Reviews: 504

Hits: 60,723

Favs: 106

Alerts: 93

(I'd put everyone's names up here but I think it might take up too much room...it would be a little over 200 after all. ;D)


	68. Chapter 68

A quick thanks to everyone that's been reviewing lately. With just two chapters...I've gotten 31 reviews within the last two chapters. So...thank you all. ;) And an extra one to Tuli-chan for giving me some extra help on this one. :D Now...on to the chapter! X3

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**Chapter 68:**

-Karakura town-

Toshiro stared at the person before him with wide and slightly amazed eyes. He then sat himself up and quickly noticed that he was inside the living room of a home. He also looked down and saw that he was laying on a grey-blue sofa that seemed much too comfortable to be a simple couch. Then as he returned to his normal icy expression, he looked back to the figure near of him; "So you are the one that found me by the river." he said in a knowing tone.

The figure just smirked and nodded lightly; "Obviously...who'd you expect?"

"Hmph. How have you been...Isshin?" Toshiro questioned back, looking around the room, not seeing anything particular that caught his eye until he saw a large poster of a orange-brown haired woman smiling widely.

As soon as he saw this, he raised a brow and sweat dropped heavily; 'I didn't take him for the obsessive type.' he thought, even within his own mind his voice sounded like he had seen something bizarre.

"Could be better. But pretty well at the moment." the raven haired man replied with a light smirk; "How about you my friend?"

Toshiro let out a breath and laid himself back down on the couch as if still tired; "Not too bad. I've been getting the hang of all the responsibility fairly well so far."

Isshin nodded to his words and sat himself down in a wooden chair nearby; "I've heard. Acting Head of the Shihoin and Kuchiki clans, Commander of the Onmitsukido and Captain of the Tenth Division? Count me out...I'll just keep with being a father."

"Although..." he continued, now looking up thoughtfully before groaning as if frightened about something; "Some days feel like I might as well be doing all that."

The white haired captain had smirked widely and nodded his head as he placed his ice covered hands behind his head; "I can only imagine Isshin." he said with a light but noticeable chuckle.

Though the raven haired man started chuckling with his friend, he suddenly became silent and pointed an accusing finger at him; "Hey! Wait a minute! Your laughing! What is that all about?"

Toshiro had only chuckled a bit louder, causing Isshin to start up once more as well; "It's just..." the icy captain began, still smirking lightly.

"It's been a while since I've been able to talk to you and hear some of your jokes." he said, to which Isshin blinked to him in confusion.

But the scruffy man smiled to his friend and nodded in agreement; "So true. Far too long for my taste."

"Just be sure not to laugh too hard...I spent a good half hour stitching up your wound." he continued, but gave Toshiro a look that told him that he had every intention to make him laugh really hard, regardless of the stitches.

"But I am wondering a few things..." Toshiro started, smirking a bit wider as if he was about to say something amusing; "...how is it that such a serious kid like Ichigo came from a strange guy like you? And how did you come to marry someone like her?"

Isshin looked at his friend shocked as he pointed toward the large poster of his late wife. But the raven haired man just turned his expression into a fake offended one and all but pouted; "The first is because I have such great genes! And the second...well...I'm just that charming."

Toshiro chuckled a bit harder then before, Isshin just laughed with him the whole time until all sound besides their breathing and a small cricket from outside had seized. As the silence consumed them, they merely enjoyed the quiet between them, sitting and laying there without a single care at all. And for a brief few moments, they felt like they were together with their friends over a hundred years ago, with all the time in the world.

After close to fifteen minutes of calmness, Toshiro turned his head toward Isshin, to which he looked back with a serious expression as if he knew what was to come. Though neither wished to break the silence, Toshiro knew he had to voice it out; "I know that you you've noticed him...and I want to let you know-"

But the white haired captain was cut off as his friend raised a hand and shook his head lightly; "I know you will Toshiro. You don't have to explain yourself to me or anything. Whatever you're going to do is the same thing I would." Isshin said, smirking to him.

Toshiro blinked his eyes briefly, but smirked back to him and nodded slightly; "Thank you...Isshin. I'll make sure that I'll see you again before the next hundred years."

The raven haired man nodded back to him and smirked lightly at his friend's joke; "I look forward to your visit. I can't wait till Karin and Yuzu get to meet you!"

Isshin had then looked up fondly to the ceiling, sighed heavily, yet dreamily. But then he snapped his attention to his icy friend once more, only now he had a suspicious expression toward him; "I just hope they don't fall in love with you like every other girl does."

Toshiro just raised his brow, sweat dropped and groaned in annoyance; "Yeah...I'm gonna go now. Thanks for helping me Isshin."

But just as said man was about to say something further, Toshiro quickly sat up, then suddenly disappeared. This caused Isshin to frown and cross his arms; "I better not find out about either of my daughters liking you..." he began to the walls around him, sounding just like a true father.

"...or I might be in trouble." he continued, now sounding as if he has given up on life.

He started to sob to himself, then ran over to the poster of his past wife and slammed his body against it; "Oh Masaki! What shall I do? Our daughters are going to grow up so fast!"

As the inside of the house filled with noise, Toshiro glanced back toward it and smirked from the nearby street; 'It was really nice seeing you again Isshin. I will try everything possible to come back soon.' he thought to himself before shunpoing away.

-Urahara shop-

"So he came and visited you at your school did he?" Kisuke halfway asked, halfway stated as a small smirk spread on his face.

"Yeah. He was there for a few minutes and just left." Ichigo claimed, glancing around to each of the people gathered around the small tea table.

Uryu had been busy writing on the same piece of paper since Toshiro had given him the note, and he still continued as Ichigo looked over at him. Orihime was looking down with a concerned expression on her face, not liking the fact that she didn't notice the icy captain's injuries before he left. Chad had his normal blank, yet strong face as if he was just waiting for someone to say something that he could agree upon. Rukia had a very fidgety look to her, like she was being forced to sit down instead of looking for Toshiro like she wanted.

Urahara was just nodding lightly, a thoughtful expression on his face as he glanced to the side and toward Rurichiyo. The small blond girl was sitting with Kenryuu and Enryuu with a rather expecting look, while the other two had very serious ones. But after a few seconds of silence and thought, Kisuke looked to Uryu and raised a brow to the paper he was writing on; "So what exactly did his note say?" he questioned.

"It said, 'First letters Uryu Ishida.' But it really makes no sense at all." Ichigo answered, to which Uryu cleared his throat as if offended.

"Only to you Kurosaki. I, for one happen to know what it meant." the glasses wearing teen claimed, not even bothering to look up from his work.

"And it's precisely the reason why he didn't give this to you to figure out." he continued, to which Ichigo glared at him and considered starting a fight.

But the orange haired teen just sighed heavily and crossed his arms; "So what did he mean by that?" he asked in a grumble, the recent events being the only thing to stop him from doing anything.

"He meant to take the first letters of each word he said. Even though it appears to be just a random group of letters and form many different words. It's my job to decipher what he's trying to tell us using these letters." Uryu explained, to which everyone nodded, finally understanding Toshiro's purpose of being at the school.

"But then he gives me a 'P.S' saying to listen to that Shinji guy in my training. That guy even told me to meet him at some abandoned warehouse when I'm ready to get started. And even though he said that he knew Toshiro from way back, I still don't trust him." Ichigo said, sounding rather annoyed about the fact.

"Hirako Shinji, eh?" Kisuke began, looking up with a light smirk.

But just before anyone could ask how he knew the other blond's name, he began speaking once more; "Well if he thinks you should train with him then you better get to it."

Ichigo blinked at the man in disbelief, then he closed his eyes in thought and eventually nodded; "Fine. I'll go and train with him. But if he tries anything funny I'm getting out of there."

Rurichiyo, Rukia, Kisuke, Chad and Orihime nodded to his words, while Uryu just ignored him and the other two remained quiet. A few seconds past before anyone decided to speak, but when they did, it was someone that no one expected; "But why is he running from Soul Society? If he truly didn't steal that Oin object...then why is he avoiding going back?" Chad asked, his monotone voice drawing everyone's attention.

But after his words, they all became silent, even Uryu had stopped writing and looked toward Chad; "Maybe it has something to do with the person that stole the Oin." the glasses wearing teen suggested.

His words had gotten the attention of Kisuke and caused him to narrow his eyes; "Who indeed." he muttered, placing his thumb and index finger to his chin.

Once again, a deafening silence came over the group, only this time it didn't last long as Rurichiyo sighed heavily and crossed her arms. Her actions gained everyone's attention just as she had intended and cleared her throat before she began speaking; "Whatever his reasons, Lord Hitsugaya is a well respected and highly revered man. I believe that whatever he is doing is the correct thing to do."

"Well said Rurichiyo." a voice claimed from off to the side of them, to which they all looked toward it's source.

Yoruichi was standing in the doorway with a light smirk on her face and her arms crossed under her chest; "Looks like you guys are already investigating." she said, leaning her upper body against the door frame.

"And? What did you discover?" Kisuke asked as if knowing that she came there for more reason then for a greeting.

"He's back Kisuke...Kusaka." the purple haired woman said, narrowing her eyes and sounding dead serious in her tone.

Kisuke's eyes narrowed heavily, but then he tilted his hat down so no one could see his eyes; "Interesting. I wonder how he survived." he whispered to himself.

"I have no idea. But it looks like he's out for revenge for what happened." Yoruichi said, narrowing her eyes on her blond friend as if to gauge his reaction.

Though Kisuke's eyes were shown as he nodded to her lightly, there was a glint in his eye that basically told everyone that 'revenge' wasn't the only thing going on; "Perhaps. But for now..." he began, looking to Ichigo.

"...you get to your training. You keep deciphering that message. And the rest of you can do as you like...just keep your eyes open and be ready for anything at all times." he continued, looking from the orange haired teen, to Uryu, then to the others.

"Hold on a second...who's this Kusaka guy?" Ichigo asked, raising a brow to Kisuke and Yoruichi, to which they looked back at him with a mirroring expression.

"Kusaka who?" they both asked in unison, causing all of the occupants of the room to blink their eyes at them and raise a questioning brow.

"Yoruichi-san just got done saying that 'Kusaka is back', how can you say you don't know so suddenly?" the orange haired teen claimed.

The two had merely looked to each other, then back to him and shrugged in unison; "We don't know who you're talking about. Are you sure you've got the right person?" they questioned him with earnest tones.

Ichigo looked between them, but just as he was about to say more, Uryu placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head as the teen looked back at him. After a brief second, Ichigo eventually nodded lightly as his realization hit him and stood himself up; "Alright...I'll go an start my training." he said walking out of the shop.

As everyone else got on their feet and started heading out as well, Kisuke sighed heavily as he could tell that the orange haired teen was far from intending to do as he said. Even Yoruichi could see this in him and let out a similar sigh to her friend; "Children...they never listen." she giggled out.

Once they were sure they were alone, Kisuke and Yoruichi walked into another room, where they were met by Tessai with his arms crossed. Each of them glanced from one to another and narrowed their eyes; "If Kusaka is really alive then there is only one thing we can do." the blond said.

Tessai looked down and clenched his fists in a rare anger; "Do we really have to just sit around and wait?" he asked in a growl.

"Of course not...we can always stand up and get something to eat." a voice claimed from behind Kisuke, to which they turned and saw Isshin with a wide smirk on his face.

"Ah...there you are. I was wondering how long it would take you." Kisuke claimed, smirking lightly and bringing his fan out of his left sleeve.

"You called me not five minutes after Toshiro left my house. How was I gonna get here any sooner?" Isshin said in a shrug.

"Hmm...I suppose. But..." the blond shop owner began, looking to Yoruichi once more; "...what else did you find out?"

The purple haired woman smirked lightly and nodded to him before beginning her explanation; "I know that Toshiro was very wary of the new captain of the Third Division, Shusuke Amagai. I have a feeling that he might be involved with what's been happening to Rurichiyo. But I can't prove anything just yet. Though I'm fairly certain that his main objective is the head Captain for obvious reasons."

"So they actually got another replacement for me? Wow...they sure do move fast." Isshin said with a chuckle.

Kisuke and even Tessai shared a laugh as well, then they became silent as they all began remembering their past together. But then each of them began to feel saddened by the fact that not all of them were there for their meeting; "I wonder if we all can be together again one day." Yoruichi muttered aloud.

Isshin placed a hand to her shoulder and smirked lightly with a nod; "You don't have to wonder...cause I know we will."

She simply nodded back to him and looked to Kisuke with a hard stare; "So what do you think Kusaka is really doing?" she asked, now raising her brow to him.

The blond merely shrugged lightly, but he had a small smirk on his face that he covered when he began fanning himself; "It could be many things...but revenge was never his style and I doubt he's changed that much."

-Later on that night, next door to the Kurosaki house-

Ichigo sat at a small tea table with Rukia, Kenryuu and Enryuu, each of them looking at the orange haired teen as if waiting to hear what he had to say. But even though he was silent for a while, he crossed his arms and sighed heavily before speaking; "So let me get this straight..."

"...you two are guardians of Rurichiyo, who is the princess of the Kasumioji clan, which is a powerful family in Soul Society. But you guys came here due to the fact that she has a group of assassins lead by some guy named Kumoi Gyokaku. Whom is coming after her so he can take over the clan. And you guys want me to be a guard for her?" he asked sounding more like a tired sigh then actual speech at the end.

Kenryuu and Enryuu immediately bowed before him in unison; "Please accept Kurosaki Ichigo! We would be eternally grateful!" the blue-black haired man exclaimed in a humble tone.

Ichigo merely sighed once more and looked to the side; "I guess I have no choice. Just don't act all high and mighty toward me all the time. I don't want to be called low-class like you did to Keigo in school."

"Thank you very much Kurosaki Ichigo!" Kenryuu claimed, but then he looked up to the teen once more; "And there's one last thing."

"Rurichiyo-sama doesn't know about any of this. Please keep this a secret from her. I don't want her to worry and just enjoy her time here." he continued, but just as Ichigo and Rukia nodded to him, a strange ripping sound was heard outside.

This phenomenon was followed by a sudden distortion in the space outside the house, causing a bright light to follow and for each of them to look to a nearby window. Then they all narrowed their eyes as a battle ready glint entered them; "Looks like they've already sent an assassin." Kenryuu said, just as a silent thud sounded from the roof.

-Thirteenth Division office-

"I have to go too?" Jushiro asked, blinking to his two third seats as they kneeled before his desk.

"Yes sir. Head Captain Yamamoto requested for you to lead the retrieval team and bring Captain Hitsugaya back to the Seireitei." Sentaro claimed with a nod to his superior.

"Hmm...alright. Inform him that I'll go with them. Also...make sure to send a hell butterfly to Captain Komamura, Lieutenant's Kira and Hisagi to let them know as well. We'll be leaving immediately. And...be sure to mention that they should bring as many squad members as they can spare." Jushiro ordered, finishing his words with a sweat-drop.

"Yes sir!" they both called out, but as the two went out of the room, they began arguing of who was going to inform who and how much better they'd do it then the other.

"I wonder who else has subordinates like this." the white haired man said to himself with a light but amused smile.

He then took in a deep breath and let it out in a loud huff; "Two captains, three lieutenants, two third seats and who knows how many other seated officers from each of our squads...yet I'm more worried about all of us then I am of Toshiro." he muttered.

"Boy...this is going to be interesting." Jushiro continued before standing up from his seat and heading to door.

He then spent the next fifteen minutes gathering dozens of his squad members, including both his third seats and headed directly toward the meeting area near one of the senkaimons. But on their way, the main thing on his mind was the success rate of their mission; 'Including the higher ranking officers, there were exactly forty shinigami here.' he thought, counting quickly before looking to Sajin with a worried expression.

"I hope this will be enough." Jushiro whispered to himself, looking up to the darkening sky.

"Hmm? Did you say something Captain?" Kiyone asked, glancing to him with a questioning expression.

Jushiro just looked back to her with a warm smile and waved his hand dismissively; "No...nothing at all."

Sentaro then began to argue with Kiyone in saying that she must be hearing things, while she kept saying that she just has better hearing. Jushiro merely walked with them, but not truly hearing either of their words; 'I know that he won't use his Shikai, Bankai or even kido. He knows that sending anything at me will just come right back to him. But then...he doesn't need any of that to beat most of us.' he thought, placing his thumb and finger to his chin.

'His plan will be to take out the lower ranks first, then work his way up. I'll probably end up being last cause he knows that if he lets Captain Komamura use Bankai...it'll just become more complicated.' he continued in his mind as the senkaimon doors opened and everyone started walking through.

"Boy...this is going to be really going to be interesting." he muttered aloud, starting up his third seat's argument all over again.

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That's it for this one. The next will feature some fights...just to let everyone know. I hope you all enjoyed and will press that most amazing button down below. ;) Till next week.


	69. Chapter 69

Okay, here is the next chapter. Another thanks to Tuli-chan for her help. She's awesome. ;) Anyway, on with the chapter.

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**Chapter 69:**

-World of the Living, within a small shinto shrine-

Toshiro leaned against one of the wooden walls within the shrine as he looked through the window-like holes in the double shoji doors. Though the only thing he could see was the dark forest outside, he knew that those trees would only hold so much sanctuary. He breathed out heavily in an almost exhausted way; "Reopening that wound after Isshin treating me is taking even more of an effect on me then I thought." he muttered in frustration.

But after a few moments of sitting there, dazing in and out of consciousness, he finally snapped fully awake as he felt familiar spirit energies heading straight for him. Toshiro narrowed his eyes and stood himself up on his icy feet; 'They found me sooner then I expected. Then...I have been feeling a bit delirious from lack of blood. It's been way too long since I've been injured for this long.'

As he heard the sound of rushing foot steps approach and surround the small building, he decided to slide open one of the doors and walk outside. Toshiro didn't bother to glance around as Jushiro, Sajin, Tetsuzaemon, Izuru and Shuhei were all he needed to see to know just how difficult this fight would be. But despite him being out numbered by more then some might think reasonable, he just stood there with a confident look on his face.

This seeming to aggravate the anthropomorphic wolf and even caused him to growl silently before speaking in a halfway bark; "Hitsugaya Toshiro! You are hereby placed in custody! If you do not come quietly, then we will have no choice but to use force!"

Jushiro glanced over to Sajin and raised a brow, as if wondering if he disliked the former icy captain personally or simply out of his betrayal. But as if Toshiro were wondering the same thing, he just raised a brow to the tall captain and smirked; "Hmph, why the sudden show of anger Komamura? Don't like me very much right now?"

"Tch...I never approved of any of your actions in the past. Regardless of orders, even you know what is right and what is wrong. And unless I'm mistaken...mass-murder is not right, no matter what you justify it with!" Sajin yelled out, still growling loudly.

Jushiro looked between the two, but fixed his eyes on Toshiro as he could tell that his fellow white haired captain was hiding the pain of his past actions from everyone. But before either of them could continue on, he took it upon himself to speak up; "Toshiro...you must turn yourself in to us or the Head Captain will decide that you're a threat to the safety of the Seireitei and order your execution."

The icy captain turned his attention to Jushiro, simply shook his head and closed his eyes; "Sorry Ukitake..." he began.

Toshiro then snapped his eyes open, showing them to be glowing a light blue and so cold that it sent a shiver up everyone's spines; "...but I have no intention of going back."

Just as Jushiro was about to unsheathe his kantana, Toshiro suddenly shunpoed right beside him, grabbed his wrist and use the taller man's body as a stand to flip up and over his head, much to his surprise. In doing so, Toshiro was able to catch a downward swipe from Sajin's zanpakuto with his ice covered foot and had even allowed him to send two powerful kido spells from both his hands. Both of which were enough to not only blast any and all nearby shinigami over thirty feet away and knock them all unconscious, but disintegrate all the trees in their path.

As he landed on the ground, the anthropomorphic wolf's kantana was caught in the earth, which allowed the white haired captain to send a powerful kick toward his muzzle. Though Sajin was able to block this blow with the back of his armor covered hand, Toshiro used his momentum to swing his whole body into the kick. This action allowed him to knock the larger captain a dozen feet away before he caught his balance. Sajin glared heavily at Toshiro as he stood up and let out a loud growl, which sounded strangely like Toshiro's name.

While this happened, Jushiro had unsheathed his zanpakuto and leapt toward Toshiro, but stopped as all three of the lieutenants and even his third seats had attacked the icy captain. But Toshiro had used his superior speed to knock each of them unconscious with a single but powerful strike to their necks. Each of them having wide and shocked eyes as they fell to the ground, but as they did, Toshiro had also used their falling bodies to avoid being attacked by both Sajin and Jushiro.

Both the taller captains, had either growled or sighed in annoyance as they didn't appreciate Toshiro using their own comrades against them. But the icy captain himself didn't seem to care one way or another, though he did seem to give each of them a spare glance as they fell, as if in an apology; "You'll pay for this Hitsugaya!" Sajin yelled out.

Once he had spoken, the last of the lieutenants dropped to the ground and fell a top of Sentaro and Kiyone. Both of which were completely unconscious from the blow to their necks, but though Jushiro pretended to ignored the fact that they were hurt, Toshiro noticed it immediately. But he didn't have much time to think further on it as the two captains began to swing their kantanas at him, both having perfect precision for his vital points. Though he had had nothing to block their attacks, he was able to time each and every one of his dodges so they missed every time.

But just as they swung their blades at both his head and waist, coming from opposite directions, he spun and flipped his body into the air. This made him completely parallel to the ground and allowed him to dodge both kantanas. He quickly realized that it also made him vulnerable and narrowed his eyes as to watch their movements carefully. Though he saw them shifting their weight, then switch their hands in a position that would allow them to thrust with more power, he could only bring his ice covered hands up to block the attack.

Just as their blades were inches away, Toshiro made the sudden decision to used his icy hands to send both of them to either side of him. He had also turned them slightly so the flat sides were facing him, but in doing so, he trapped himself between both kantanas. The two captains were able to stop their attacks before they pierced each other, to which made them look to Toshiro as they suspended him in the air between their zanpakutos. All three of them narrowed their eyes on one another, then Sajin and Jushiro twisted their kantanas so the edge was facing Toshiro and pulled away.

Though the icy captain was able to keep his icy hands on the blades as to stop them from slicing him in half, when they pulled away from him, he was sent spinning toward the ground. Toshiro ground his teeth as he spun in midair, but he was able to catch the smug smirk on Sajin's muzzle and even the focused expression on Jushiro's. He then used his momentum to spread his legs apart and send roundhouse kicks toward both his fellow captains. Despite dodging his kicks, the moment his icy feet touched the ground, he vanished and a brief second later he appeared a few yards away with his back to them.

But just as they were about to attack him once more, they noticed each of the conscious squad members just drop to the ground; "Hitsugaya!" Sajin growled out angrily, gripping his zanpakuto tighter as he jumped forward at an extreme speed.

Toshiro waited till the last second to dodge out of the way and send a punch toward Sajin's chest. But the larger captain was ready, caught his ice covered fist and threw him as hard as he could toward the shrine. The icy captain glared at him as he hurled toward the small building, but then smirked lightly as he came closer to it. He then flipped around, landed on it's wall with incredible grace and just before gravity could take it's hold, he leapt off the shrine.

As he came closer, he readied a fist to send at the anthropomorphic wolf, but before he could reach, Jushiro came up on his left side and sliced at him with his zanpakuto. The two white haired captains began to slice and lung at one another, but with both their dodging and parrying of one another's attacks, neither took a single hit. But after a few moments, Sajin came up behind Toshiro, attempting to impale him, but gave himself away as the wind around him whistled loudly from his large body.

Toshiro had quickly faked a punch toward Jushiro, swept his legs and caught Sajin's zanpakuto with his ice covered hand as he turned to face him. The larger captain growled angrily at the constant confident look that Toshiro seemed to have the entire fight; "Damn you Hitsugaya! Banka-!" but Sajin was cut off as Toshiro quickly dragged his kantana forward, spun his body around it and sent a palm into his lower jaw.

This blow snapped his muzzle shut before he could finish and had even knocked his head upward. Which had blocked his view of Jushiro standing up and having his attack blocked as Toshiro raised his icy hand to it. But the force of the other white haired captain's attack had knocked Toshiro back a few yards before he had both captain's coming toward him, kantanas at the ready. He quickly back flipped over their thrusts to his chest, then pushed off one of the trees, grabbed Sajin by his large neck and literally threw him over fifty feet away.

Jushiro attempted another thrust toward Toshiro immediately after he tossed their fellow captain, but he had twisted his body in midair and grabbed his wrist after the blade went under him. Toshiro then smirked lightly as he saw Jushiro's eyes widen, seeing that his fellow white haired captain knew what was going to happen. Though he attempted to free his arm, Toshiro's grip didn't budge, causing him to resort to blocking his extremely powerful kick toward his face.

Toshiro's blow had knocked him straight toward Sajin, just as the larger captain was standing himself up, to which knocked them both in to the small shrine. But no sooner had they collided and knocked it down, Toshiro suddenly appeared above both of them, letting out a battle cry, sounding as if two voices were calling it out together. As he did this, he also came down with a stomping kick, it's strength obvious by the pure white spirit energy surrounding his leg.

They both managed to roll out of the way quick enough to dodge the initial hit, but they were still hit by the huge shock wave the followed. Both of them letting out cries as they had no control over where they were going, which had echoed across the forest. Only to die down with the even louder shattering noise causing by Toshiro's attack. Toshiro's kick itself had literally demolished the ground within a hundred foot radius and made a crater over fifteen feet deep.

It had also blown all the unconscious and conscious bodies, trees and dirt away at least an extra twenty feet from the destroyed area. Toshiro stood up from his slightly kneeling position, looking around for the two captains he knew were still conscious. But then he cringed in pain as he glanced down and noticed that his wound had been opened even further; "Damn..." he muttered, sounding aggravated all over again.

He ground his teeth, taking in a slightly strained breath as he struggled to keep the pain out of his mind; 'I put too much effort into that attack...I should limit it to thirty percent. I can't use forty too recklessly.' he thought, being very calculative in his mind.

But he wasn't able to think much more as he could hear Jushiro releasing his Shikai; "All Waves, Rise now and Become my Shield, Lightning, Strike now and Become my Blade. Sogyo no Kotowari."

Though him releasing his Shikai allowed Toshiro to figure out his location, he was immediately distracted as he heard a much louder and angrier voice; "Bankai!"

A split second after this, an enormous samurai-like giant appeared, it's sheer size blocking out much of the night sky as it seemed to look down right at Toshiro; "Kokujo Tengen Myo'o!"

Toshiro glared at the giant, then at Sajin as he stepped forward, with the giant mimicking his every step; "You're finished! Hitsugaya!" he barked out angrily.

The icy captain just narrowed his eyes on him as his ice covered hands clenched tightly, him seeming to reach into more of his hidden strength then before. He then smirked lightly as he ducked suddenly, to which Jushiro went flying by him, his attack missing it's mark and going over top of the icy captain. Then, before the other white haired captain could turn around, Toshiro jumped straight for Sajin, the anthropomorphic wolf himself could only get as far as to raise his arm before Toshiro reached him.

He immediately sent a fist right into Sajin's stomach, causing him to lose all of his air and unable to breath. For the brief few seconds he was still standing, Sajin could only taking in quick, short and coarse breaths. But then he was sent right into the ground as Toshiro shunpoed behind him and sent an elbow to the back of his head. Once he hit the earth, his consciousness was lost and Jushiro was left alone to fight, which only made him sigh heavily.

"Looks like everything has happened the way I thought. Even though a few hiccups occurred...it all went as I figured it would." Jushiro said, almost sighing as he did.

Toshiro only raised a brow to his words and readied himself for the up coming fight; "Looks like you're going to be fighting seriously."

Jushiro only smirked lightly and nodded; "Looks like you have started to already. After all...I don't think you could have taken Komamura down without putting at least a little extra effort into your attacks."

Though both of them were prepared for battle, neither had the mind to attack the other first, despite having been fighting the whole time. But when a small piece of wood fell from the ruined shrine, both white haired captains jumped forward, Toshiro unsheathing his zanpakuto as he did. Once their blades connected, a rather large shock wave occurred and blew yet another, but small crater into the earth. They pressed their blades against each other, Jushiro's dual zanpakuto against Toshiro's Hyorinmaru, but the thing that slightly annoyed the older captain was the fact that Toshiro was still only using one hand.

"Let's see how many weaknesses you have." the icy captain whispered, to which Jushiro raised a brow.

But immediately following his words, Toshiro swept their kantanas to the side and attempted a side kick to Jushiro's ribs. Though he had dodged the attack by flipping up in the air, right as he was landing to the ground, Toshiro had kneeled down, pressed his ice covered hand to the ground and made a large ice spike rise in his path. Jushiro looked at it shocked, but instantly stopped himself, hovered in the air for a brief moment then pushed his feet off the spirit particles he gathered beneath them.

Both captains brought their zanpakutos up and swung them at their targets, creating another large shock wave and another crater in the ground. The two narrowed their eyes on each other, trying not to show too much emotion to one another as they both knew that emotions were a dead giveaway to the persons intentions. But they could tell what the other was thinking through eye contact. Though it was the exact same in both their eyes, they couldn't stop themselves from releasing a large amount of spirit energy at the same time.

Which normally would have allowed one of them to find an opening in the others defense and make an attack. But when they did it at the same time, it merely melted their spirit energy together and blasted them both over thirty feet apart. Though they both quickly recovered, Toshiro had been just a brief second ahead and sent a huge ice dragon toward Jushiro. Despite getting up slower, the other white haired captain was able to outstretch one of his blades and began absorbing the dragon as it touched.

But just as all the ice was about to be absorbed into Jushiro's zanpakuto, Toshiro suddenly appeared behind him and sent a powerful strike to the back of his head. The blow caused his eyes to become wide in shock as the last thing he heard was Toshiro's voice before falling unconscious; "Just one. If the attack is just long enough, the amount of time your zanpakuto takes to absorb it is longer. That gives just enough time to attack from behind."

Once Jushiro fell to the ground, Toshiro breathed out heavily and suddenly dropped to his knees. Though he caught himself with Hyorinmaru, he wasn't able to stay standing; "Shit. Even though I said I wouldn't use forty percent, I had to in order to get behind him quick enough." he said, looking to the wound in his ribs.

He noticed instantly that the amount of blood had increased by twice as much as before, but also that the wound itself had ripped to become even bigger. Toshiro growled silently in pain, but he stood back up regardless and reformed the sheath on his zanpakuto as he placed it on his back. He took in a deep breath and was about to start walking away, but was stopped as he felt a familiar spirit energy spike slightly; "Try not to over exert yourself Isshin." he said to himself with a smirk.

Then he simply sighed lightly, and turned in the opposite direction of yet another familiar spirit energy, only this one was heading straight for him. He made a last comment before vanishing in a quick shunpo, but he did so with a light smirk on his face; "I guess I was a bit flashy."

-Downtown of Karakura-

Isshin sheathed his zanpakuto and sighed lightly as he glanced over toward Kon, whom was inside Ichigo's body and the other mod souls within their respective human bodies. But he looked away from them as the enormous arrancar laying right beside him groaned in pain. It's entire upper body was completely sliced away from his lower part, with a huge amount of blood gushing from his wound; "You...bastard..." it gurgled out in a low voice.

The raven haired man just shrugged off the arrancar's insult and sighed heavily; "Well...it looks like you won't be hurting anyone anymore." he commented, just before it dissolved into the air, not leaving a single trace behind.

Kon and the other mod souls could only stare at him in shock as they had only ever seen Isshin as the goofy and strange father of Ichigo and his sisters. Never as the calm, collected and serious shinigami before them, whom was even wearing a haori over his left shoulder by a metal plate-like strap as if it were a sash. But before any of them could say anything to him, the sound of wood hitting the pavement interrupted them; "Looks like you got your revenge." a dark figure said as it came closer toward them.

It was revealed as Kisuke the moment he walked under one of the bright street lights, but his eyes were still hidden as hat provided enough of a shadow to do so. Isshin just turned to him with a shrug, while the mod souls could only blink at the two in surprise as they never had guessed they would actually know each other. Once Kisuke had come close enough, his raven haired friend let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders; "I suppose so. I just wish I could have been there that day to save her." Isshin said silently.

The blond shop owner adjusted his hat and smirked lightly; "Some things never really change do they?" he asked rhetorically.

"Hmph, I guess not. But I suppose it explains where Ichigo got it from." Isshin said, crossing his arms and looking to the side.

"Oh? So you're admitting that you and your son are alike?" Kisuke questioned, sounding slightly amused.

"Eh? I am not! He just happened to have a slight tendency like me!" the raven haired man claimed in a frown, but it was obvious even from the mod souls point of view that he was just covering for his previous statement.

Kon and the other three had begun to walk a bit closer to them, listening in to their conversation, but the two friends barely even seemed to remember about their presence. Though they did know and remember about them, they still spoke on as if they didn't; "I felt Toshiro's spirit energy not long ago. Looks like he had a fight with a pair of captains." Isshin said, looking in the direction of the forest, which was off to his left side.

"Yeah...that's where Yoruichi went after I finally got you out of the gigai. Boy, being in there for so many years...you kind of sank in there didn't ya?" Kisuke said, smirking lightly as if still amused.

His black haired friend let out a sigh and nodded lightly; "I know that Toshiro is strong and has even more power then he's willing to let any of us know about, but I still think he's pushing himself a bit too much."

Kisuke narrowed his eyes on him, then followed his gaze toward the forest on his right and nodded his head; "I agree. But I don't think any of us could stop him...no matter what we did."

After his words, the two stood in silence for a moment, the mod souls looking at them with slightly confused expressions on their faces as the silence stretch. But the blond shop owner had broken it with a rather cheerful tone that scared everyone but Isshin out of their wits; "But at least your son defeated that assassin that came here for Rurichiyo!"

Isshin raised a brow to his friend and shrugged lightly; "That's nothing surprising. A simple assassin would hardly be enough to beat my son. Besides...once his training begins, he'll probably be at a true captain's level in a few weeks. So he's far from any of my worries."

Kisuke smirked lightly, nodding his head at the confidence his friend had in his voice for his son's abilities; "What is your your main worry then?" he asked, sounding like he was truly interested in what he'd say.

The raven haired shinigami looked to his blond friend and raised a brow; "Isn't it obvious?" he questioned, to which Kisuke and each of the mod souls had leaned in slightly, all of them really wondering what his response would be.

"My wonderful daughters that I left at home! What if a robber breaks in? They'll be defenseless against them! Oh my poor lovely daughters!" Isshin had even begun sniffling as he spoke, making all the others sweat drop heavily.

"You seriously haven't changed...have you?" Kisuke asked, a bit amused.

Isshin simply looked to him and raised a brow; "Implying a need?"

Kisuke just smirked lightly, tilted his hat down and turned away; "Maybe." he said silently, to which his raven haired friend started following him, demanding to know what he just said.

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And there's chapter 69, Hisagi's tattoo! XD I hope you all enjoyed the fight...it was much better then the original in my own opinion, and I hope you think so as well. ;) Till next week everyone. :D


	70. Chapter 70

Wow...70 chapters. It's been quite a while huh? Oh great...now I feel nostalgic. Don't worry, I'll do this quickly. Thank you to all that have been with me since the beginning. ;) Tuliharja, XIce-and-SnowX, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, Kaz Iz Awesome, Hitsugaya80, Mr. Hourglass, Eva-Saiyanjin and Furionknight. I know there are more, but these guys have reviewed so many times, their names stick out. ;) Thank you to anyone and everyone that has reviewed even once. You guys are awesome! Now, on to the story that all of you have helped me make! :D

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**Chapter 70:**

-Outside Karakura Arcade-

Ichigo sighed heavily as Rurichiyo pulled on his white button down shirt; "Hey Ichigo...we're hungry. Take us someplace we can eat." she all but ordered, smiling lightly to him the whole time.

The orange haired teen glanced over to Rukia, whom only offered a nod, then over to Orihime and Chad, both of which had merely given him the same gesture as the raven haired girl. Ichigo groaned silently as he turned himself away, but was met by the faces of Kenryuu and Enryuu; "You will take Rurichiyo-sama to a place for her to eat." the icy blue eyed man said in a malevolent tone.

"She ate while she was at school and enough candy while she was playing all those games to fill a starving man. There's no way she could still be hungry." Ichigo stated, attempting to go around them.

But the teen was quickly stopped as Enryuu stepped in his path and gave him an angered sneer; "Alright fine...I'll take her to a stupid restaurant." Ichigo said in a light groan.

"And you will speak to her in a more respectful manner! Address her as Rurichiyo-sama!" Kenryuu demanded, sounding like he was talking down to him.

Ichigo ground his teeth in annoyance; "I'm getting really fed up with your damn high and mighty-!" the orange haired teen began, but was cut off as he felt a distortion in the sky to his right.

But he wasn't the only one, everyone around him became wide eyed and turned toward the contortion in the air. Their eyes became wide as a strange object suddenly fell from the sky, landing with a loud boom that all but deafened anyone close enough to hear it. Ichigo quickly looked to Kenryuu and Enryuu, nodding lightly to them, knowing they would know what to do; "Sorry Rurichiyo...your lunch will have to wait." he muttered to said blond.

Just as Rurichiyo was about to say something, Enryuu quickly took her by the waist and ran off with Kenryuu leading the way. Ichigo, Chad, Orihime and Rukia all shared a glance and quickly headed toward the fallen object's direction; "What do you think it is?" Ichigo questioned, looking over his shoulder to Rukia as they all ran.

"I'm not sure. It could be anything. It could just be a large hollow or something simple. But it's better to be too careful then to be caught off guard." the raven haired girl claimed, not realizing what was to come.

They quickly realized just from the location that 'it' had fallen inside the park, but they were slightly surprised to see Tatsuki there as she came running up beside them; "What's going on?" she asked them.

Orihime looked to her best friend and shook her head in a way that said that she didn't know either. But they each stopped as they saw a large crowd surrounding a fairly deep crater in the ground. As each of them examined it for a few moments, they all felt a strange presence within the hole, to which each of them, besides Tatsuki, prepared for a fight. Ichigo had taken his Shinigami Representative Badge out of his pocket and positioned it an inch over his chest.

Rukia took a mod soul dispenser from her own pocket, while Orihime and Chad shifted their bodies to the side. But none of them expected the sudden burst of spirit energy that came from the crater, nor the large figure that emerged from it immediately following the surge of power. Each of them narrowed their eyes on the large person as it seemed to suddenly take in a deep breath, which cause a strange feeling to wash over all of them. But while the others felt a mere tingling, Tatsuki felt as if her very soul was being sucked away and breaking in half at the same time.

Orihime quickly noticed this and held her friend in a desperate manner; "Tatsuki-chan!" she called out, afraid for her friend.

Ichigo quickly exited his body and readied his sword, Rukia following his lead a brief second afterward; "Inoue...watch over her." the orange haired teen said, not turning to his friend as he spoke.

Orihime merely nodded as Ichigo and Rukia jumped forward as they saw most of the people that were around the crater just drop to the ground. Chad followed them quickly, but once the three reached the large figure, they noticed that there was another person with it. The first was a very large and muscular man with somewhat tan skin, whom had no hair, save for a long black ponytail on the back of his head and his bushy side burns. He also had a ridge-lined cranium, orange eye brows, brown eyes, with red markings under them, a large hole in his chest and a jawbone mask fragment resting on his chin.

The second was a slender male with fairly short, messy black hair, pale white skin, a black upper lip, and green eyes with small slit-shaped pupils. Part of his bangs falls between his eyes, which slightly covered his distinctively thick eyebrows. He also had teal color lines that descend from his eyes, making it appear as if he is crying, but due to his completely emotionless expression, no one would have mistaken it. He had a small hole in his chest, just below his neck and a broken horned helmet that covered half of his head.

They both wore similar outfits that seemed quite similar to a shinigami's, only they where mostly white with black lining and had make-shift coats, with high collars, instead of a kosode. The first had a short coat that barely reached his waist, he had left it completely unzipped as if to intimidate his opponents with his large figure. The second had a long coat that had long coattails and an even higher collar then the first's. Though the second man was smaller, each of the teens got a chill up their spines the moment they looked directly at him.

Once the first man saw the three before him, his heavy breath stopped and he raised a brow, to which the surviving people ran away quickly in fright. He then looked from one to the other, but appearing like he were looking through a pile of garbage; "Eh? Who are you three?" he asked, looking very unimpressed by all of them.

"Hey! Ulquiorra! Is the guy we're looking for one of them?" the large man asked rather loudly, glancing over his shoulder to the other person with him.

Ulquiorra remained silent for a brief second before speaking in an emotionless voice that slightly reminded each of the three of Toshiro; "Yammy...if you don't know whom we are looking for, then you should not have come. Aizen-sama made his description of our target thorough. It is obvious that the one in the middle is the one we are looking for."

Yammy smirked widely; "Good! He saved us the trouble of looking for him!" he claimed, bringing back a large fist.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he realized right away that he was obviously the one in the middle and there for their target, but he was slightly confused on why Aizen would be looking for him. But he didn't think too far upon it as he ground his teeth and narrowed his eyes even further; "Bankai." he said calmly.

The release of his Bankai had not only kicked up much dirt and dust, which swirled around him for a few moments, but even made Yammy stop his attack. Though he didn't stop himself for much other reason than to see Ichigo's Bankai, he quickly frowned in disappointment; "That's it? I thought that with such the big talk Aizen gave about this guy...his Bankai would be more impressive."

Ichigo just smirked lightly and was about to attack, but he suddenly stopped as he heard a sudden voice in his mind; _"Why don't you let me take care of this? I'll finish it quickly."_

The orange haired teen choked on his breath and leaned forward, bringing his left hand to his head; "D-Damn..." he whispered in aggravation.

Rukia and Chad looked at him in shock and concern; "Ichigo, what's wrong?" they both asked in unison.

But Ichigo gave no response as his ability to speak was leaving him; 'How can this be happening?' he demanded of himself.

"_Tch! You really are an idiot. And that's why I'm not gonna sit around and wait for you to kill us!"_ the voice claimed, it sounding very hollow-like, yet a bit like him.

"Heh! He can't even move anymore!" Yammy called out, smirking widely as if he had already won the fight.

Just before Rukia or Chad could move, the large man suddenly back handed Ichigo across his face, sending him across the grass and into a tree twenty feet away. But right after this happened, Chad charged a large amount of spirit energy around his right arm, transforming it and blasting a blue blast of his own power toward Yammy. Yet even after the attack hit him, he was left unhurt and just had a rather bored expression on his face; "Is that all you've got? That was pathetic!" he announced, his wide smirk becoming even bigger as he smacked Chad fifteen feet away like he were a mere fly.

"Chad!" Ichigo and Rukia called out, the orange haired teen beginning to gain control, but too slowly to pick himself up from the ground.

"Sado-kun!" Orihime cried in shock, now realizing just how powerful these new enemies were as Chad was unmoving for a few moments after hitting the dirt.

Rukia narrowed her eyes and slashed at Yammy with her zanpakuto, but her blade just bounced off of his skin as if it were made of steel. Her eyes became wide as he slowly turned to her and swung his large hand toward her. Though she was able shunpo out of the way, charge a kido spell and even fire it right at the large man, her effort was futile as her kido did nothing but singe his jacket slightly; "Impossible...!" she claimed to herself in shock.

Yammy looked toward her, then he quickly moved right for her, his speed surprising her as he was right in front of her before she could even attempt to shunpo away. Rukia became wide eyed and tried to dodge out of the way, but Yammy slammed his shoulder into her, knocking her away thirty feet away. Her body slammed into the ground so hard that she was close to losing her consciousness instantly; "Heh! These guys are pathetic!" Yammy laughed out.

Then as he turned toward Orihime and Tatsuki, he raised a brow and glanced over to Ulquiorra; "Hey! Should I go ahead and kill these two as well?"

The pale man just stared blankly, then closed his eyes and spoke silently; "Of course. They're nothing but trash."

"Good. Cause I feel like frying someone." Yammy exclaimed, keeping his wide and confident smirk.

"Don't you dare!" Ichigo yelled out angrily, struggling to move his limbs as his inner hollow still continued to fight him for dominance.

"R-Run Inoue!" Rukia called to the girl as she attempted to stand up, but fell to the ground from her developing bruises.

"Get away from here Inoue!" Chad joined in, but said girl could only move so fast, while trying to keep Tatsuki standing.

Yammy merely smirked as he took one single step and made more progress then Orihime had since her friends were calling to her. Just then, the large man opened his mouth, which started filling with a powerful red energy; "Stop it! Leave them alone!" Ichigo screamed now, his desperation completely shown in his tone.

Once Yammy's attack was fully charged, it suddenly fired out in a huge beam of red; "NOOO!" each of the teens called out as they saw their friends completely engulfed in the blast.

"I love doin' that! It's so much fun disintegrating people with ceros!" the large man called out in a loud laugh.

But his and everyone's eyes became wide as they saw a set of large ice wings in the place of where Orihime and Tatsuki were; "What the...what the hell is that?" Yammy demanded, his humor completely gone.

The wings parted themselves and revealed Orihime and Tatsuki both unharmed, but the latter was the one with the ice upon her back. Everyone looked at this with wide eyes, but before anyone could react, the wings suddenly extended outward, showing their true length of fifteen feet per wing. They then grew sharp spikes on their surface and flew out directly at Yammy with incredible accuracy. Though the large man lifted his arms up to guard his face, the spikes imbedded themselves into his steel-like skin and caused him to bleed heavily from each wound.

"But...when did he...?" Ichigo questioned, staring at the ice wings that Toshiro had obviously given to her.

'It must have been when he patted her on the back. I knew it was strange. But then...I didn't know how he was able to do that in the first place.' the orange haired teen contemplated quickly.

"You bitch!" Yammy yelled out, grabbing and pulling each of the ice spikes from his body; "You're dead!"

Just as the words left his lips, an ice covered foot struck him right across the face and knocked him over thirty feet away. Toshiro landed on the ground as it was obvious that he had to jump into the air in order to reach Yammy's face; "I didn't expect to see you till later." the icy captain said in a halfway whisper.

At the sight of Toshiro, Ichigo blinked his eyes in shock, but then smirked lightly in relief as he stood up, his inner hollow seeming to go back into his subconscious after the white haired captain. Rukia looked at him with a slightly shocked that he suddenly arrived, but sighed heavily as she knew he would take care of their foes. Orihime just kept a thankful expression on her face, happy that he planned ahead to save her best friend and them right now.

Tatsuki had her eyes glued on Toshiro with an amazed look, as she had realized all that Ichigo did the moment she saw the ice circling on her neck. Chad struggled to his feet as he had a determined look on his face, him seeming to want to help Toshiro against their enemies. Despite of how useless he knew he'd be and the fact that Toshiro was supposed to be a criminal. But he only seemed to be even more determined as he saw the dried up blood stain and slight tears in Toshiro's shinigami robes.

"Rest Sado, you can leave this to me." Toshiro spoke up suddenly, to which the tan teen stopped walking as the icy captain looked to him and shook his head; "I'll finish this quickly."

Chad looked from him, to the ground, but ended up nodding his head and setting himself down on the grass. Toshiro turned his head toward Yammy once more, but had made a quickly glance toward Ulquiorra, to which the two seemed to share a short stare before the icy captain moved on. The large man stood up on his feet and all but growled at Toshiro; "You bastar-!" but he stopped his shout as he got a good look at the white haired captain.

"I-Impossible! Aizen never said that _he'd_ be here!" Yammy claimed, pointing at Toshiro, but looking at Ulquiorra.

"There must have been circumstances that he did not foresee. We must return immediately...Aizen-sama does not wish for us to start a large fight." the pale man said to his partner, but kept his gaze on Toshiro the whole time.

Just as Ulquiorra turned to open a garganta, he had to stop in order to block the icy palm coming straight for him. But once he stopped the blow with the back of one of his hands, his feet dug into the ground a few inches and blasted a percussion wave that had knocked Yammy two feet back. Toshiro's turquoise eyes met Ulquiorra's emerald green ones as they widened slightly from the formers strength, but neither of their emotionless expressions faltered. A split second after they retracted their hands, they unsheathed their zanpakutos and swung the blades at one another.

Though Ichigo and the others found it odd that Toshiro was fighting with his kantana, and even more so that he was there at all, they didn't question his motives as their zanpakutos collided. But the moment the blades made contact, they both seemed to go into a trance for such a brief second that no one noticed. As soon as this split second ended, Toshiro immediately pushed off with one of his ice covered feet and used the force to knock the pale man away. Ulquiorra flew back a dozen feet before regaining balance, then quickly opened a garganta and went through it before the fight could continue.

Yammy hurried over to the dark portal just as it began to close, though he made it through before it did, he could be heard as he yelled at his partner for trying to leave him behind. The garganta closed and sealed away all the noise, save for the gentle breeze that blew around them and blew the grass with it. The icy captain sheathed his kantana, lightly sighed, closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

Ichigo smirked widely to Toshiro's victory over the two, then he started making his way over toward Rukia as she started to wobble on her feet. He had quickly caught her just as she was about to fall to the ground, her injuries being a bit worse then she originally thought. The two halfway walked, halfway limped toward Orihime and Tatsuki as Chad walked toward Toshiro, regardless of his wounds; "Who were they?" he asked.

Toshiro looked toward Chad briefly before glancing toward where the garganta had disappeared a few moments ago. He then sighed lightly and snapped his fingers on one of his ice covered hands, to which the ice wings on Tatsuki's back shattered. The action making the teen to frown as she was actually enjoying having them; "I'll let him explain it. Just get Ichigo to his training." Toshiro said quickly before suddenly vanishing in a shunpo.

Chad blinked to this, along with each of the others, Tatsuki most of all as she was starting to truly trust the white haired captain. But just as Ichigo was about to suggest heading back to Rurichiyo's house, the words stopped in his throat as someone suddenly called out from behind them; "Get back here!" was all they heard before an orange, black and purple flash flew by them.

"Yoruichi-san!" Ichigo said, blinking his eyes in surprise, not expecting her to be there at all.

"My oh my...he's being quite troublesome, isn't he?" another voice claimed from behind him, making each of them turn to face the source.

"Urahara." Rukia whispered, narrowing her eyes on said shop owner and sitting herself down with the help of Ichigo; "What's going on Urahara? And no 'round about' answers this time. Give it to us straight...who is Kusaka? Who were those two guys that Captain Hitsugaya defeated? And are they connected in any way?"

Kisuke raised a brow to the raven haired shinigami, then he glanced to each of the others as they stared at him intently, even Tatsuki. He sighed heavily and adjusted his hat on his head; "Very troublesome indeed."

-One and a half miles away-

Toshiro and Yoruichi continued to shunpo at incredible speeds, the former being ahead of the ladder by a hundred feet; "Quit running already! I just wanna talk!" the purple haired woman called out.

But her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Toshiro didn't even slow his pace whatsoever; "You better not be ignoring me! Or I swear I'll-!" Yoruichi screamed over the loud whistling of the wind, but was cut off as Toshiro suddenly turned around.

She barely had enough time to stop herself before barreling right into her white haired friend; "About time." she commented, crossing her arms under her chest as they stood in midair.

"I didn't want to start a long conversation in front of all of them." Toshiro stated simply, causing Yoruichi to frown and place her hands on her hips.

"And why didn't you let me talk to you yesterday? You had to have known I was coming for you." she said in an almost pouting manner.

"I just got done fighting two captains, four lieutenants and about forty-four other seated officers, bleeding from my ribs the whole time. So of course I wasn't in any mood to talk right then." Toshiro answered honestly, sighing lightly, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.

"Hmph...at least you were truthful." Yoruichi claimed, smirking lightly to her old friend, but then she looked toward his ribs in an examining way.

Toshiro cracked an eye open, then sighed once more and tugged his uniform when he noticed that she was looking a little longer then needed; "I allowed my regeneration take care of it." he said simply.

"Finally? I heard from Isshin that you were controlling that ability to try and keep it open. But was still taking a small effect as your body was naturally healing." Yoruichi said, crossing her arms once more.

"He also told us that you must have stabbed yourself in order to keep it as open as it was..." she continued, but let her words hang in the air.

Toshiro simply remained quiet, crossed his arms and closed his eyes again, making it obvious that he didn't want to talk about the issue. But he opened his eyes to her as she placed her hand on his shoulder; "You can tell me Toshiro." she said silently, smiling to him.

The icy captain blinked to her, but then smirked lightly as he let out a small chuckle and briefly closed his eyes; "Yeah...I did that. Cause I want to face him again as a shinigami...not as...this." he claimed, placing an icy hand over his left eye.

Yoruichi looked at him with wide eyes, being shocked at his words, but she quickly hugged him tightly and spoke in a whisper; "He would accept you however you are. Kusaka was a great friend and would not judge you."

Toshiro smirked to her and hugged her back; "I know...that's why I let it heal." he whispered back to her.

Though the purple haired woman blinked in slight surprise and blushed lightly in embarrassment, her smirk reappeared and hugged him tighter; "I still love hugging you...even if there isn't a reason."

The white haired captain chuckled silently; "I'm sure." was all he said before they broke away from the hug.

"So have you gotten to see him again?" Yoruichi questioned, letting out a light breath and tilting her head to the side slightly.

Toshiro shook his head, but then he pointed his icy claw toward the eastern side of Karakura town; "But I do know where he is right now."

Yoruichi blinked to him, then to the direction he pointed in; "Why haven't you gone there already?"

"Hmph...I needed to remind Kurosaki to get to his training. Plus..." he began, crossing his arms once more.

The tan woman blinked to him and raised a brow, wondering what else he was going to say; "...there was someone I needed to confirm." he said.

"Huh? Confirm? Who was that?" Yoruichi asked, raising her brow a bit higher.

"Hmph. Another old friend." was all he said before curling his lips in a rare smile and shunpoing away.

"What old friend?" Toshiro's purple haired friend called out as she gave chase once again.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed, the next few chapters will be more about the DDR then anything else so I hope you'll enjoy it even more. ;) Remember to leave a review, they make me happy. And when I'm happy...most people wonder why I'm smiling for seemingly no reason, but who cares...I'm happy. ;D


	71. Chapter 71

I know that this chapter is shorter then the others I've been doing lately, so sorry if you were wanting more. I'll make it up to you with the next one. ;)

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**Chapter 71:**

-An abandoned warehouse-

Toshiro walked through the nearly complete darkness of the building all alone. Him using the few dim lights that happened to be left on after the facility was forsaken to navigate through the hallways. He eventually made his way toward an area of the warehouse that had a few holes in the roof, which allowed some of the sun light in. As he walked toward the nearest beam of light, he narrowed his eyes on a figure on the other side of the sun's rays. He quickly stopped himself just before exiting the darkness and into the bright light from the sun.

The figure moved toward him as it too stopped just before entering the light; "So...here we are at last." Sojiro said, giving Toshiro a smirk as he looked at him.

Toshiro nodded his head and folded his arms across his chest; "So what are you aiming for with stealing the Oin?"

Sojiro smirked a bit wider, it becoming slightly mocking as he let out a silent chuckle; "You don't know."

"That's why I'm asking." was all Toshiro said as he just gave his old friend an icy stare.

"Well...I don't plan on being subject to 'it' anymore." Sojiro claimed, to which Toshiro narrowed his eyes on him.

"You've seen it too...and yet you chose to leave everything as it is." he continued, raising a brow to the white haired captain.

"Hmph...nice try, but it's obvious that if your aim was about _that_ then you wouldn't have even bothered to lead me here." Toshiro said in a matter-a-fact tone.

Sojiro merely smirked lightly once more and shrugged his shoulders; "Who's to say... I only brought you here to confirm how much you knew."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes further on him, but then watched as Sojiro brought a small, golden object from his shinigami robes and held it out slightly. The object glowed brightly even as it was placed into the sun light; "But now that I know...it's about time for my plan to go into action." Sojiro said, smirking a bit wider now.

"Which would be what exactly?" Toshiro asked, sounding as if he were getting slightly impatient, even though his eyes showed the happiness of seeing his old friend alive.

Something that Sojiro had noticed the moment their eyes made contact; "Something that involves the past." was all he said before raising the Oin in the air, to which it glowed even brighter.

As this happened, both of them had to shield or shut their eyes in order to keep from being blinded. But once the light seized, Toshiro opened his eyes and looked around; "Sokyoku Hill." he muttered, realizing where they were immediately.

"Of course. Where else am I supposed to set up an invasion of Soul Society? Besides...it's rather iconic to purge everyone and everything from the very place where it's most famous for such things." Sojiro said, walking toward the right side of the hill.

Toshiro raised a brow, but then his eyes widened as his friend gave him a hard stare and spoke once more; "But you know more about 'purging' then I ever could...don't you?"

"How do you-?" but Toshiro was cut off as Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika suddenly arrived in shunpoes behind him.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" the red haired lieutenant called out as he noticed said person before Sojiro.

"See? I knew that huge light show had to be him." Ikkaku claimed, smirking lightly as he held his zanpakuto on his shoulders.

"You merely mentioned the obvious electricity up here and made an assumption about having a fight." Yumichika reported, to which his bald friend turned swiftly to him.

"Shut up! Besides...who cares what I said." Ikkaku began, now looking back to Toshiro and Sojiro with narrowed eyes; "We have a fight on our hands regardless."

"Are you both insane? Have you ever seen Captain Hitsugaya fight?" Renji asked, looking at the two shocked.

"We don't have a choice! We're ordered to place both him and the Oin thief under arrest!" Ikkaku fired back.

Toshiro and Sojiro just stared at them with similar blank expressions, neither of them bothering to speak or move as the other three disputed about fighting them or not. But after a few more moments, the white haired captain shifted his icy feet to turn his body into a fighting position. The gravel beneath him making enough noise to gain everyone's attention as he narrowed his eyes on the three. This caused Sojiro to smirk lightly, Renji to gulp down nervously, and Ikkaku to smirk lightly with Yumichika as they were interested in testing themselves against him.

Though the three shinigami had gotten into their own fighting stance, none of them saw as Toshiro suddenly shunpoed before each of them simultaneously and sent a powerful palm into each of their ribs. Each of the blows knocked all of them back no less then twenty feet, all of them having the air knocked out of their lungs in the process. Though Renji was able to regain balance faster than the other two, it was only due to him managing to unsheathe his katana as he was being hit and stab it into the ground.

But even as the red haired shinigami readied for another attack, his eyes couldn't keep up as Toshiro just appeared on his left side and elbowed his side. This hit hadn't sent him very far, but it blasted his icy spirit energy through his body that caused Renji's body to be temporary paralyzed. The red haired lieutenant dropped to the ground with a shocked expression that was seemingly stuck on his face. Just as he fell, Ikkaku came toward Toshiro with a wide smirk, his shikai released and the bladed end of his spear pointed right at him.

Toshiro swiftly spun his body around the attack, but as he did, he noticed Yumichika coming toward him with his own released zanpakuto. He quickly grabbed Ikkaku's spear with an ice covered hand, then used his own and the bald shinigami's momentum to send his blade toward Yumichika. The two looked toward one another with shock on their features, quickly halting their attacks before it was too late. Though they were able to stop themselves before impact, Toshiro had got himself behind Ikkaku and kick him straight into his friend.

As the two collided with a duel pain filled grunt, Renji suddenly took their place as he had gotten feeling back into his body and waved his hand over his zanpakuto, to which it released into it's shikai state. The white haired captain smirked very lightly as he caught the swinging blade with an icy hand as it came toward him. He then flung it to the side, making Renji's eye become wide as he refused to let go of the hilt, to which he followed directly after his zanpakuto.

But while the extending blade headed straight for Ikkaku and Yumichika as they hit the ground, the fact that they were on the ground was enough for the blade to pass over. As Renji himself passed over then, he looked down and yelled at them; "I warned you! You idio-!" but he was cut short as he hit the ground.

As all this happened Sojiro just stood by and watched, smirking widely as he saw his old friend completely making the three lieutenant level shinigami look like amateurs. But once they had all stood up and readied themselves for another assault, all of them were quickly stopped as Soifon and dozens of the Onmitsukido arrived on the scene; "No body move!" the petite woman called out.

They each looked to her and backed away from the white haired captain as he too turned his attention to Soifon; "Captain Hitsugaya..." she continued, giving said person a hard stare.

She then walked toward him, with Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika joining all of the Onmitsukido members in staying right where they were; "...are you truly betraying Soul Society?" she asked in a whisper so only Toshiro could hear, her tone sounding worried that he'd answer with a 'yes'.

Toshiro didn't give any response what so ever as he merely closed his eyes and crossed his arms, to which Soifon swallowed down hard, her breathing becoming irregular; "Then take me with you." she said without warning.

Her words made Toshiro's eyes snap open and just look at her in shock; "Please...I don't want to be left behind." Soifon said, not looking him in the eyes, obviously hiding her rarely shown emotions.

All the while Sojiro was just staring at this and actually smirked widely as if he were watching Toshiro and Yoruichi in the academy once more. Though he couldn't see it, Toshiro had a strange feeling that Sojiro was giving him that look, but he just simply ignored him and kept his eyes on Soifon. But just before he could say anything to her, the arrival of Retsu, Byakuya, Sajin, Shunsui, Mayuri, Jushiro, each of their lieutenants and many of their squad members took away his chance.

Soifon looked around at all of them, with a glare that seemed to say that she would fight all of them if they came toward Toshiro. She even glared at Sajin, Jushiro and their subordinates, each of them having gauze wrapped around various places on their bodies, appearing like they just stepped out of a hospital. The icy captain himself looked from each of the others with narrowed eyes, then to Soifon with an almost saddened expression; "Sorry Soifon." was all he said before lifting an ice covered hand and sent a quick but powerful palm into her back.

This had shocked everyone that saw, including Sojiro as it was the first time that he had actually watched him strike a woman. The blow had been strong enough to slide Soifon all the way to the front of the rest of the captains, but was also light enough to allow her to stay on her feet. She swiftly turned around, giving Toshiro slightly shocked look before calling out; "Captain Hitsugaya!"

But just as his name left her lips, Sajin stepped forward and unsheathed his zanpakuto; "Take him down!" he barked out, to which all of the shinigami, save for the captains to charge forward.

Sojiro looked to Toshiro as if wondering what he was going to do, but he didn't have to wait long as the icy captain suddenly clenched his claws. The very moment he did this, a heavy, dense and powerful, yet invisible wave of spirit energy blasted over everyone within a two mile radius of him. Though people outside this area could still feel his power, they only felt it as a slight discomfort in their breathing and walking. But anyone inside the area were either not breathing at all and down on the ground as if an entire ocean was pressing down on them, or they were immediately knocked unconscious by it.

While shinigami on the hill were falling to the ground, some of which included most of the lieutenants, save for Rangiku, whom appeared to have some kind of resistance to it as she came closer. But the two weakened captains, didn't have this luxury, to which they fell to one of their knees and became wide eyed. The rest of the captains and even Sojiro had only widened eyes as they all marveled at Toshiro's raw power. Then as Sajin managed to stand himself up once more and raise his blade into the air to attack, he was stopped by a sudden voice; "Enough!"

Toshiro had narrowed his eyes and seized his increased spirit energy, allowing everyone that hadn't fallen unconscious to turn toward the voice. It revealed to be the Head Captain with Rangiku and Chojiro walking on either side of him; "Captain!" she called out, smiling to him, immediately seeing the obviously old and dried up blood on his uniform.

Though she wanted to run to him and be at his side, she had keep herself still as she didn't want to get in the Head Captain's way, whom had began speaking once more; "So you're alive after all, Kusaka Sojiro."

Said person just smirked and shrugged his shoulders; "Mostly...but I'm sure you've figured out by now that it was the Oin itself that saved me. It gave me a new life...but in Hueco Mundo. So as you can imagine...I'm not exactly favorable with Soul Society."

"So you're here to destroy it." the Head Captain all but claimed, opening his eyes very slightly.

"Hmph. It's hard to see the full picture when you've been blinded for so long. I'm here to change things...no matter what." Sojiro claimed, raising the Oin into view.

"And this will give way to some of greatest of changes." he continued, smirking down at the Oin itself, only this smirk seemed very different the the others, it seemed almost...sad.

Once he had said this, Toshiro suddenly raised an icy hand and unsheathed his zanpakuto, to which almost everyone looked at him in slight shock before preparing to fight him. The Head Captain, Byakuya, Shunsui, Retsu and Rangiku merely stood there and just simply waited, Jushiro joined them as soon as he lifted himself from the ground. The rest narrowed their eyes on him, but also had waiting expressions on their faces as they were interested of what was going to happen. Sojiro had his narrowed eyes fixed on Toshiro as if expecting him to do something specific, but didn't make any moves as he just stood there patiently.

As soon as the sheath on Toshiro's back disappeared, the white haired captain slid his foot around as if getting ready to jump toward the opposing shinigami. Though each of them were already prepared for a fight, Toshiro swiftly turned around and jumped at Sojiro, shocking everyone, except Sojiro. The red eyed man had actually smirked lightly as he took his katana from it's sheath and parried Toshiro's blade. Their clash was so strong that it caused a large percussion, which knocked many of the lower seated officers away from the two.

"Captain!" both Rangiku and Soifon called out as both of them attempted to run toward him.

"Stay back you two!" Toshiro yelled, surprisingly loud as his and Sojiro's katanas collided once more in yet another blast of power; "This is my fight."

"Now there's the Toshiro I know..." Sojiro began, smirking even wider as he placed the Oin inside his robes and gripped his katana with both his hands; "...let's see what you've got."

The split second the words left his lips, Toshiro parried his blade, then side stepped around Sojiro and spun a roundhouse kick. The red eyed man was able to jump up and out of the way, but Toshiro pushed off the ground with his one foot and came up toward him. They once again clashed their similar zanpakutos together, hovered in the air for a moment before pushing off of each other and landing back on the ground a few steps away of each other.

Next to everyone that was watching were either slightly shocked at the turn of events, or just simply interested in watching the fight for the mere sake of it. But the other sets of eyes a dozen yards behind everyone held knowingness and expecting in them. These eyes belonged to Kisuke, Yoruichi and Isshin, each of them smirking lightly as they watched the two fight; "It's like they're sparing all over again." the raven haired man said.

Though they remained silent after his words, it was obvious that they were also fairly worried about both their white haired and red eyed friends; "How about we take it up a notch?" Sojiro suggested, shifting his feet to get more leverage.

"As you wish." Toshiro said, quickly leaping toward him once more, but just as Sojiro was about to block the strike, Toshiro suddenly vanished.

He immediately reappeared behind Sojiro and sent an elbow toward his spine, but just before he made contact, the raven haired man back flipped over him, smirking confidently as he did. Just when he believed himself to be out of the way as he was going through the air, he noticed Toshiro shifting his zanpakuto, till the tip pointed right at him. Sojiro's eyes widened, but he had quickly spun around so when Toshiro's thrust came, he could deflect it with his own katana.

But the thrust never came, this caused Sojiro's eyes to widen even further as he now noticed that Toshiro's other hand that was out of his line of sight till now was glowing a pure white; "Damn..." he muttered through gritted teeth.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and brought his icy hand forward, blasting a beam of overwhelming spirit energy toward Sojiro. But just as it was starting to get close to his chest, he suddenly vanished in a shunpo, to which the blast of spirit energy was sent straight into the air. Once it had reached the rather cloudy sky, the weather was immediately transformed into a storming blizzard that blew all around them. Sojiro appeared a few yards away of Toshiro, his chest having some ice on it from the close proximity the icy captain's attack came to him.

"Tenso Jurin." Toshiro claimed, turning to Sojiro with a light smirk; "One of Hyorinmaru's basic powers, as well as its strongest."

"So you want to leave that power out of our fight so we don't freeze everyone here?" Sojiro asked, but the smirk on his face already told his white haired friend that he knew his answer.

"Of course." Toshiro said, to which the blizzard-like weather suddenly vanished and he was immediately coming right for him with his zanpakuto at the ready.

Sojiro quickly blocked the attack, then smirked lightly as him as he glanced over and noticed that everyone was still just simply watching and waiting to see what would happen. But then he looked slightly shocked as he could see his other three friends standing a few yards behind the large crowd. He looked back to Toshiro and gave him a slightly hard stare; "So not only are you laying down the rules even as we go along...but you're bringing in the ultimate spectators."

The raven haired man smirked lightly, but then he narrowed his eyes in a serious manner and let out a sigh; "Let's get this going Toshiro...this fight can't stay light forever."

Toshiro's eyes mimicked his friends as he nodded his head; "Shall we start?" he asked, to which everyone noticed the sudden shift in the atmosphere around the two combatants.

"Yeah." was all Sojiro said before they gripped their own versions of Hyorinmaru and leapt at each other, clashing with ten times more might then ever before, blasting everyone but the Head Captain himself a few feet backward.

Kisuke let out a sad sigh as he tilted his hat down so no one could see his eyes; "Looks like their greetings are finished." he muttered, obviously much more worried then a few moments ago.

Yoruichi didn't even bother to look at him as she nodded her head; "It was nice while it lasted, but I guess it's inevitable that they'd have to fight each other again."

Isshin looked down at the ground, but looked over as he saw Tessai walking toward them; "Decided to come after all?"

The large tan man walked up next to his friends and lightly nodded; "How could I not? We all need to be together...at least one last time."

They all smiled lightly to him, but then their serious expressions returned as they turned back to Toshiro and Sojiro as they slashed at each other with their katanas. But as the two fought, not a single person present noticed a certain blue haired shinigami that was missing from the crowd. In fact, he was passed out in the Third Division barracks from too much sake; "No~...I can't drank no more..." Shusuke muttered, turning on is side with a drunken redness across his face.

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Alright, the DDR Is drawing to a close, and don't worry, Kusaka's change of personality is going to be explained. I hope you all enjoyed. Make sure to leave a review, I love those and I always read all of them. ;D Till next time.


	72. Chapter 72

I won't leave too much here except to apologize about not updating yesterday, I had a lot on my plate. But Tuli-chan helped me out a lot, so a big thank you to her and an even bigger hug. ;3 Now on to the chapter. :D

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**Chapter 72:**

-Sokyoku Hill-

Toshiro and Sojiro dashed at one another, slamming their blades against each other, seemingly as hard as they could. Which in turn, created an enormous percussion wave that hit everyone on the hill like a large sledge hammer to their chest, which knocked many of them down. Though the lieutenant and captain level shinigami stayed standing like nothing happened, the discomfort in their watchful eyes made it apparent that they truly felt the impact.

They then watched as Toshiro parried his and Sojiro's zanpakutos to the side, then came forward with his left fist in a punch, narrowing his eyes carefully as he did. Sojiro quickly ducked under it, crouched down slightly and attempted a sweeping kick to both of the white hair captain's legs. Though Toshiro anticipated this and had used his momentum of his punch to throw himself into a front flip. This had allowed him to dodge out of the way of Sojiro's kick, but not from the rising elbow that he was bringing up as he stood on his feet.

Sojiro's attack hit it's mark on Toshiro's back, him being sent into the air as the hit made him grind his teeth from slight pain. The raven haired man quickly leapt into the air, swinging his katana toward Toshiro as he had quickly spun around to face him. As their blades came closer, Sojiro's eyes widened when he noticed the way Toshiro was bringing his zanpakuto up to block. It was in the same position he had seen him use to disarm his opponent by circling his blade behind his enemies and swing it out of their hand.

Sojiro quickly shifted his katana into his left hand as he had only seen the maneuver work when his opponent was right handed; "I don't think so." he muttered.

But just as they were about to collide, Toshiro suddenly flipped Hyorinmaru into a reverse hand-grip style and managed to circle the blade around Sojiro's and pull his katana out of his hand. He was caught off guard for a moment, his eyes widening even more then before. But he was able to send a palm to Toshiro's wrist and caused him to drop his own weapon as well. As they hovered in mid air for a few more moments, Toshiro started swinging a few powerful and precise palms and fists toward Sojiro's head, chest and stomach.

Though only two of his strikes hit their mark, the blows to Sojiro's stomach and chest had made him slightly slower to respond to the sudden round house kick from Toshiro. Despite raising an arm to block, the power behind the kick caused his eyes to widen once more as he was knocked straight into the ground. Once he hit, his body created a large crater that dug ten feet down and twenty feet across, which had shocked all but the Head Captain, Kisuke, Isshin, Yoruichi, Tessai and Byakuya.

All six of which were staring with interest during the fight, but though Rangiku and Soifon had similar expressions, they also had a slight concern in their eyes. The strawberry blond herself had stepped forward slightly as if preparing to run to her captain at any moment. Soifon had done the same, but she took an extra step to reach the same distance as Rangiku; "Please be okay Captain Hitsugaya." they both whispered to themselves.

Toshiro had landed on the ground a few feet away of the crater, ignoring the looks of everyone watching him. But he suddenly vanished as Sojiro appeared behind him, throwing a knee toward his back. Toshiro had shunpoed behind Sojiro, sending a punch at the back of his head, but even his attack did not connect as his opponent ducked under it. The black haired man then back kicked one of Toshiro's legs, knocking him forward and toward the elbow Sojiro readied as he rose up.

The white haired captain narrowed his eyes, quickly using his other foot to spin his body around Sojiro's attack, then throw a kick toward him the second his ice covered feet hit the ground. Sojiro watched carefully as he examined every single aspect of Toshiro's position within a split second, then caught his foot and swept his other leg. Toshiro's eyes slightly widened, but they quickly narrowed once more as he calculated every attack his opponent would make in the blink of an eye.

Just as Sojiro slid forward, he brought up a powerful knee to Toshiro's falling body, but the icy captain had used the force of his attack to push himself into the air. The raven haired man smirked lightly as he saw Toshiro flipping around to prepare for another attack; "You've really improved. I guess I won't be able to beat you like this." he whispered to himself, but Toshiro could still hear his voice and narrowed his eyes in the process.

Once the words left his lips, Sojiro leapt into the air and sent dozens of strikes toward Toshiro's head, chest, stomach and even his neck. Though the white haired captain was able to block or dodge every attack, he was also able to switch their positions in the air so he was facing where their zanpakutos had landed. Sojiro noticed this, but knew all too well that Toshiro was doing this just as a distraction to get his own attention on getting his zanpakuto as well.

As they fell like stones back to the ground, Toshiro had started to counter each of Sojiro's strikes with his own, but both of them were able to block or dodge every time. They eventually locked themselves at a stand still, both had thrown and caught a punch from the other; "Looks like we're still pretty even." Sojiro commented as they pushed against one another, trying to overpower the other.

For someone on the outside, the sight of the two contenders was rather odd. A man that looked at the very least close to his twenties was having much difficulty against a boy that appeared no older then thirteen if he was lucky. This had actually caused Yoruichi to let out a silent giggle as she thought about it from that exact perspective, but she managed not to attract any of her friends' attention as she did. But the rest of the shinigami on the hill were watching this fight in seriousness, they didn't even see the perspective as they all feared for the destruction of Soul Society.

Just as Toshiro pushed Sojiro away with so much force that it cause the raven haired man's eyes to widen, he took in a deep breath as if readying for something. Once he had passed the fifteen foot mark, Toshiro jumped toward him, faked a knee to Sojiro's stomach, then sent a kick toward his head. Despite dodging out of the way, Sojiro narrowed his eyes as he noticed that after Toshiro's display of strength moments ago, his accuracy became hindered; "Hmm...interesting." Sojiro commented with a smirk.

Toshiro's eyes slightly widened as he saw Sojiro send a palm right into his back, but as the white haired captain was blown a dozen feet away he hid such a small smirk that it seemed invisible. Though it was small, Rangiku had noticed his facial expression and mimicked it; "Strategy time, eh?" she whispered to herself, no one hearing her as they were all entranced into the fight before them.

Sojiro came forward with an obvious intention to make Toshiro use his incredible strength, even making him back up ten steps as he sent close to fifty punches and palms in a brief few seconds. Toshiro blocked each of his attacks, knocking each of them away as if to attempt a counter. But he wasn't able to as Sojiro kept using the force of Toshiro's parrying to send another quick and powerful attack. The white haired captain quickly back flipped away from Sojiro, but his opponent quickly followed him and kept throwing fists and even kicks at him, not letting him reach the ground.

Toshiro caught on one of Sojiro's kicks and gripped his ankle tightly with both hands. Just before the raven haired man could react, Toshiro spun his body around and threw Sojiro with so much force he was blown almost a hundred feet away. He then jump forward at him with a punch readied for his stomach, but just as his blow was about to connect, Sojiro spun to the side and attempted an elbow to the back of his head. Toshiro quickly flipped himself over it and swung a back kick toward Sojiro's head; "Sorry...but I know better then to trust your false weaknesses." the raven haired man claimed as he caught Toshiro's icy foot.

But just as Sojiro was about to send a palm into the icy captain's leg, which he quickly realized was powerful enough to break it in half, he brought his other leg up for a kick. Sojiro ended up ducking out of the way, but in doing so, the power behind his palm and grip weakened and Toshiro was able to escape with the force of his kick. Toshiro's body had spun around, then landed gracefully on the ground, just as Sojiro came toward him with a fist. The white haired captain narrowed his eyes and smirked lightly; "I know." was all he said before vanishing, much to the surprise of everyone including Sojiro.

"Here." they heard from off to the side, Sojiro's Hyorinmaru flying toward him following immediately after, to which he caught it easily.

"I'm guessing you want to step up our fight?" Sojiro asked, holding Hyorinmaru in his right hand tightly.

"Obviously." Toshiro said silently, his voice nor his expression giving any show of emotion.

Sojiro just smirked and narrowed his eyes; "Don't take me lightly."

Toshiro just stared at him for a moment before smirking lightly as well and narrowing his eyes dangerously; "Hmph...noted." he said, to which a sudden chain shot out of the bottom of his zanpakuto's hilt.

Sojiro narrowed his eyes even further as he watched very carefully while the chain continued to grow. It was about four feet long when a crescent-moon shaped blade appeared at the end, this piece landing easily into Toshiro's free ice covered hand. The raven haired man ground his teeth together and sighed as his zanpakuto mimicked Toshiro's, only he held onto the chain itself instead of the moon shaped blade; "This is going to be one hell of a fight." he muttered before Toshiro suddenly tossed Hyorinmaru lightly into the air.

Toshiro then caught a part of the chain and started swinging the blade around up and off to the side of his body; "You have no idea." he said as he spun Hyorinmaru faster.

Though everyone was watching Toshiro carefully, Kisuke seemed more intent in his movements then the rest. But despite the blond knowing that the swinging blade of Hyorinmaru was for a long distance attack, he noticed that Toshiro held the crescent shaped blade in a way that suggested another throwing attack. This caused Kisuke to raise a brow at first, but then smirk lightly as he glanced around at everyone else and their interested expressions toward Toshiro; "Good luck...Sojiro." he said in a whisper.

Said raven haired man gripped at his katana and the chain tightly, narrowing his eyes hard on the white haired captain. But just then, Toshiro suddenly threw his spinning zanpakuto and leapt forward with the crescent shaped blade in his other hand at the ready. The raven haired man quickly hit the opposing katana with his own, knocking it high into the air and then he threw his chain toward his approaching opponent. The moon-like blade itself had swirled with an icy spirit energy that would freeze anything it came in contact with.

Just as the small blade came close enough to Toshiro, he ducked away, grabbed his zanpakuto's chain pulled it toward him, which drew his own Hyorinmaru nearer. He then flipped his body into the air, causing Sojiro's eyes to become wide, but they went even wider as Toshiro had caught his katana with an icy hand and threw the crescent shaped blade like a kunai. Sojiro pulled on his own zanpakuto's chain, which brought the small blade to him and then crash into the opposing one.

But as this happened, both their chains intertwined, to which they began a tug of war, Toshiro still being in mid air and Sojiro on the ground. Though they appeared evenly matched once more, Toshiro suddenly overpowered him with a powerful tug that brought him into the air. They both readied their zanpakutos and clashed in the most powerful one yet, which had blasted everyone on the hill no less the a foot back, including the Head Captain. The two ground their katanas against one another, but though neither was giving in, Toshiro once again overpowered Sojiro with a quick and strong push.

The raven haired man was knocked back, to which Toshiro followed quickly and started swinging and thrusting Hyorinmaru at him with such speed that he could do nothing but dodge or block. Just when it appeared that Toshiro would overwhelm Sojiro, he vanished in a shunpo, causing everyone to look around for him. But everyone was too late in finding him as a spinning katana came hurling at Sojiro with so much speed that he could only dodge using shunpo.

But the moment he reappeared in his shunpo, he realized the crescent shaped blade was coming for him on his right side, to which he jumped backward. He looked around quickly, but became extremely wide eyed as he saw Toshiro to the side as he caught both his katana and the moon shaped blade in either hand. Toshiro's arms were crossed in an 'X', but this only furthered Sojiro's shock as he tried to jump into the air. But he was too late as Toshiro uncrossed his arms, which caused the chain to wrap around his body and pin his hands to his waits; "Damn...!" Sojiro growled.

He watched Toshiro appear before him, toss the small blade into his face, obscuring his vision from attempting to dodge. Sojiro ground his teeth as he felt his legs being swept from under him, then saw as Toshiro sent a palm to his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs. Everyone watched this in shock and amazement as Sojiro was sent flying through the air, but then straight into the ground as Toshiro shunpoed above him and send a downward kick to his back.

Toshiro landed on the ground, then tugged on his zanpakuto's chain as to continue his attack, but Sojiro had gotten himself free and rolled away. The raven haired man stood up, breathing heavily and raggedly as he cringed from the shallow cuts and bruises from the fight thus far. The icy captain narrowed his eyes, grabbed the chain and gripped the moon shaped blade in his hand. Sojiro tightened his grip on his zanpakuto, glared his eyes at Toshiro and let out a silent breath as he calmed his nerves and focused.

The white haired captain jumped forward, his katana at the ready, to which Sojiro placed his other hand on his zanpakuto's handle. Just as their blades locked, the raven haired man pushed of hard and threw Toshiro into the air, surprising even him as he was tossed back. But just as Sojiro jumped up toward him, he had to spin to the side to avoid the moon shaped blade that came at him. Toshiro was about to pull on the chain to bring the blade back after it hit the ground, but Sojiro appeared before him and ended up using the chain itself to block.

Rangiku and Soifon flinched as they both were seconds away from running in and helping, but they kept themselves still as they knew that in Toshiro's fight, they'd only get in the way. But despite this, both them and even Yoruichi were just itching to get involved; "You sure are taking your time Toshiro." the purple haired woman muttered.

Said captain was immediately pushed toward the ground, but he wrapped the chain around Sojiro's blade, moved it to his left and threw him to the side. But due to the fact that he didn't have enough leverage, Sojiro only slid back a few feet before he came right back. However, this time Toshiro easily parried his blade, dodged his sweeping kick and back handed Sojiro across his face. The blow had knocked him back toward the ground, but he landed perfectly on his feet; "Looks like you're getting the better of me." the raven haired man commented, obviously getting aggravated.

Toshiro slowly dropped himself to the ground a few yards away, ran forward and quickly switched from holding Hyorinmaru to swing it around once more. He then threw the blade into a curve, as to give him the time he needed to shunpo before him and attack with a few distracting punches, palms and slashes with the small blade toward him. Sojiro ground his teeth, blocked each of the strikes, then ducked expertly under the spinning blade that finally reached him.

But as it passed over their heads, Toshiro grabbed the chain with his right hand, circled it up and around his head like a lasso, then twisted his arm so he brought it forward and up. As it came around and up the blade itself had sliced right through the ground with little to no resistance at all. All this time Sojiro's eyes became wide as he was about to dodge, not able to bring his own zanpakuto up quickly enough to block. But he found his feet frozen to the ground by a thick layer of ice from the moon shaped blade that he didn't notice Toshiro had dropped.

The blade had sliced Sojiro from the bottom of his stomach to the top of his chest, the wound gushed blood immediately. Making a long trail of red as the force of the attack knock his body free of the ice and sent him flying through the air. But as he went, Toshiro placed his katana in his right hand and pointed the tip toward a duvet on the ground that Sojiro was quickly coming to. A brightly glowing spot appeared in that area and caused Sojiro's eyes to widen as he realized all too late that it was the same spot that Toshiro's moon blade stabbed the ground after he dodged; "Shit...!"

Once he passed over the area, fifteen large pillars of ice shot up from the ground around him; "Sennen Hyoro." Toshiro muttered, narrowing his eyes as he turned his zanpakuto to the side.

The pillars immediately slammed into Sojiro's body with so much force, it wouldn't have been surprising if it had broken every bone in his body. But Toshiro knew better and readied for Sojiro to break free, which had happened much faster and in a different manner then he thought. The ice around Sojiro was instantly shattered as a gigantic blast of gold and extremely pure spirit energy erupted from Sojiro's position. Everyone watching either looked shocked at this, or narrowed their eyes as they realized what was coming next.

These knowing expressions only belonged to Toshiro, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Tessai, Isshin, the Head Captain, Jushiro, Retsu, Shunsui and Mayuri. The rest all shared shocked and amazed looks, but these had only increased even more as realized that Sojiro was completely unharmed as he walked forward; "It's time for this to come to an end." he said as he held out the Oin as it glowed extremely bright.

Immediately following this, Sojiro's form began to change, shifting from a humanoid one to a dragon-like shape. Toshiro narrowed his eyes, gripped at his zanpakuto and the moon shaped blade, while keeping his eyes on Sojiro even as he felt a hand on his shoulder; "Let us help Toshiro. He was our friend too." Yoruichi said.

Toshiro turned toward her, noticing that not only she had come up behind him, but Kisuke, Isshin, Tessai, Rangiku, Soifon and even Byakuya had as well. But as he looked from one to the other, it was the sixth division captain that spoke first; "We're all here to help."

The icy captain quickly looked at all of them once more before turning his attention to Sojiro as the bright and powerful spirit energy died down; "Get ready...he's coming." Toshiro said silently, to which the shinigami around him took on defensive positions.

The rest of the shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen watched the interaction that occurred between them, some even smirking in approval. But the others like Sajin and Mayuri were frowning at them like they were all traitors to Soul Society, the Head Captain speaking being the only thing holding them back from attacking once more; "We must stop Kusaka Sojiro's threat at all costs! Captain Hitsugaya, I trust you to lead the assault."

His words shocked many of the people around him, but they quickly realized that his words were meant to show that he was entrusting Toshiro with his position as captain once more. Toshiro had merely glanced back to the older man and nodded his head; "Thank you Head Captain." he said in a halfway whisper as he turned back toward Sojiro.

The raven haired man himself had become a large, purple colored ice dragon, with ruby red eyes that shifted from person to person. He quickly set his gaze on Toshiro and breathed out a cold breath that froze the ground as it drifted down; "Alright...play time is over! I'm going to end this world once and for all!" he yelled out in a deep and growling voice.

Toshiro nodded his head, narrowed his eyes, but just as he was about to attack, a large and glowing figure passed right by him and headed right for Sojiro; "Hmph...you really are impatient aren't you Kenpachi." he muttering, obviously rather annoyed.

Kenpachi himself was smirking widely as he charged at Sojiro with his katana at the ready and his large, golden, skull shaped spirit energy surrounding him. He even laughed manically as he sliced his zanpakuto across Sojiro's icy waist, whom didn't even move as it literally sliced him in half. But the newly formed Sojiro was able to keep his body hovering in the air as it was seen that he was completely made out of ice;"Tch. Is that all?" the eye patch wear captain muttered in disappointment.

Sojiro then grabbed Kenpachi's blade, just as he was retracting it; "Not a chance!" the ice dragon commented arrogantly, showing it's razor-sharp teeth in a smirk as the ice from his lower and upper parts extended to fill in the gap.

Kenpachi just smirked even wider, pulled his zanpakuto away from Sojiro's grip and attempted another slash; "Good! It would have been really boring if you were done with that!"

Toshiro sighed heavily as he and everyone else just stood back, knowing that Kenpachi would likely attack them on accident, or even on purpose if they got in his way. But they all quickly realized that Kenpachi was no match as his slash was caught all too easily; "You're too weak to hurt me!" Sojiro claimed as he suddenly threw the large captain high into the air.

Sojiro followed after him, using a speed that seemed to make Kenpachi appear as if he was standing still. He then proceeded to slice the spiky haired man fifty different ways in the blink of an eye, with an even greater speed then before. This had caused even Toshiro's and the Head Captain's eyes to widen slightly; 'The Oin's power is even more incredible then I originally believed.' the icy captain thought, quickly narrowing his eyes as Kenpachi's limp form dropped to the hill about ten yards away from everyone.

The large ice dragon hovered in the air as it too watched Kenpachi just lay in the small crater he formed with his large body hitting the ground. But he then looked to the side and flew over toward a tall spire that was a few hundred yards from the hill itself; "I will change Soul Society forever! Starting now!" Sojiro called out, the spire suddenly being covered in a thick layer of ice.

The ice had quickly expanded and even began to form an enormous tree-like shape, with its branches spreading all the way toward Sokyoku hill. But just as all of the conscious shinigami were about to charge toward him, they noticed two spacial distortions above Sojiro. The female arrancars that had attacked Toshiro came out of either of them and landed near of the large ice dragon; "Are you two ready for the finale?" Sojiro's voice echoed loudly.

Though no one could hear the two's response, it was obvious that they answered with a 'yes' as Sojiro extended both his hands out and shot out a blinding gold color light at both of them. Once the light died down, it revealed both arrancar to be transformed into enormous hollow-looking creatures with large arms that were as big as their bodies, which seemed to hover in midair. Toshiro could also see a black area on each of their stomachs that had either a large fire or multiple lightning bolts within them.

All of the shinigami on Sokyoku Hill began readying for the battle, but stopped as Toshiro stepped forward and spoke; "Yoruichi, Soifon...you two take care of those arrancar. Isshin, Kisuke...you two keep those hollows at bay."

Just after he said this, hundreds of hollows appeared around Sojiro and the newly transformed arrancar, all of them being at adjuchas level; "Tessai...I need to you to form a barrier in front of everyone. Byakuya, Rangiku...both of you help keep it in place. I can't risk accidentally breaking it and killing someone." Toshiro continued, to which each of them became wide eyed as they knew what was coming.

The Head Captain, Retsu, Shunsui and Jushiro had also widened their eyes, some more then others, but they all were obviously shocked in their own way. Only Mayuri seemed to have a different expression then anyone else, his was of fascination and interest; "So he's going to use it after all." the twelfth division captain muttered to himself.

But while the rest of the shinigami were simply confused, they weren't able to think long as Tessai, Byakuya and Rangiku kneeled down, placed their hands to the ground and concentrated their spirit energy into them. A sudden yellow colored barrier shot up and over them, stretched all the way across the hill till it covered everyone besides Toshiro, Yoruichi, Kisuke and Isshin. Tessai making sure to include Soifon, knowing that what was coming next would be too much for her to take.

Once the barrier was formed, Toshiro's voice brought a sudden silence over everyone as he uttered the one word that no one had hear him say in almost a hundred years; "Bankai."

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Alright, there it is...chapter 72, the starting fight between Toshiro and Sojiro. I hope you all enjoy as I do believe that the DDR shall be concluded next chapter...if I can fit it anyway. ;)


	73. Chapter 73

Here it is...the conclusion of DDR, I hope you all like it. ;)

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**Chapter 73:**

"Bankai." Toshiro muttered quietly, to which everyone's eyes widened slightly.

Complete and total silence followed his voice for a brief second, then it was broken as an enormous amount of wind and spirit energy swirled around Toshiro in a large tornado. It blew so strongly that it literally shook the ground beneath them, but the dragon-like shape that his pure white spirit energy took on was the thing that made everyone stare in awe. Just as it took it's full form, a loud roar thundered out as if Toshiro's spirit energy was alive.

The icy captain stood totally still as the ice on his hands and feet extended till it covered his arms and legs, reaching all the way to his elbows and knees. But due to the fact that his shinigami robes covered most of this, no one noticed the changes until the four-point star on his zanpakuto's hilt gained an extra four points. Just as they formed, the ice around his neck suddenly shifted and slightly flattened, creating a high collar that rose almost above his head.

As soon as this happened, a pair of giant ice wings bursted from his collar and back, each one being twenty feet in length and very dragon-like in appearance. Though they were large, they were also only a few inches thick, giving them a strong but slender look that wouldn't weigh him down. Lastly, a twenty five foot long tail extended from the lower end of his back as the ice from his wings spread down toward it. This ice had also circled around his waist and rose up in an 'X' formation across his chest, only to join with the high collar around his neck.

The ice that had gone across his chest had been spiked to either side as if to form an armor of sort, but most notable was the flower pedal symbol engraved in the ice. This emblem seemed to be perfectly place right in the center of his chest, but unlike the rest of the ice, it was colored purple instead of the normal blue. As all of these changes were happening, Toshiro's increasingly growing spirit energy had disintegrated every single hollow that had emerged. It had also begun to shake the ground even more then the wind had and had even caused the barrier to crack like it were glass.

This crack had started to increase the further along Toshiro's transformation went, it had even spread so much that it looked like the slightest touch would shatter it completely. Then as the extreme winds died down, everyone was able able to see that the sky had filled with very dark storm clouds. But once a bolt of lightning crashed down mere inches from Toshiro, the barrier suddenly shattered to pieces, the strain being too much of it to handle.

Once it fell, Toshiro's impossibly high spirit energy all but strangled everyone that was lieutenant level and below as if they were drowning at the bottom of an ocean. Even the captains themselves were knocked back a few feet, but for some of them, it also pushed them to their knees. Though this happening mostly to Soifon, as her small frame all but crumbled at Toshiro's power, it also happened to Sajin and Ukitake due to their weakened state. But just as they each fell to the ground, the barrier was put back into place as the Head Captain himself placed his staff down near of Tessai's hands.

Toshiro turned toward the older man, folding his massive wings behind his back like a bird, and smirked invisibly as Yamamoto simply nodded to him; " Let's go." the icy captain said, turning himself toward Sojiro once more.

Yoruichi, Isshin, Kisuke and Soifon each nodded their heads and vanished in shunpoes, heading for each of their designated targets. The two males made their way toward the regenerating hollows that were only able to stay alive thanks to the Oin's power. During of which, the two females quickly shunpoed to either of the transformed arrancars, that had been pushed to the ground by Toshiro's spirit energy.

Toshiro simply stood there for a few moments, just watching as he saw Yoruichi kick one of the arrancars so hard that it's head had been knocked clear off. He then turned his attention to Soifon as she released her Shikai, easily avoided all of the fire balls the arrancar sent her way and stabbed it twice in the same area, to which it's body immediately fell apart. The white haired captain shifted his gaze toward the seemingly never ending array of hollows that Isshin and Kisuke were slicing apart effortlessly.

But as he watched all this, he noticed how every time they defeated their enemy, the Oin's power would regenerated them almost instantly; "I better finish this before they get tired." Toshiro whispered to himself, narrowing his eyes.

The icy haired captain simply walked toward the edge of the hill, staring blankly at Sojiro the whole time as he simply returned the gesture. Then Toshiro took one step and pushed off hard so he was practically flying without even using his wings. The action making the earth beneath him uplift slightly and even blast a percussion wave that cracked the barrier once more, which shocked everyone inside, including the Head Captain.

Though Toshiro had gone past the half way point of reaching Sojiro, he began to loose altitude, so he merely gathered spiritual particles beneath one of his feet and pushed himself back into the air. He only had to do this once before he was standing before Sojiro, whom was just staring at him with narrowed red eyes. But the the large ice dragon stretched it's wings and flew slightly above Toshiro; "Why don't you use your wings to fly? Too big for such a small body?" Sojiro taunted, to which Toshiro's eye twitched in aggravation.

"Tch...see for yourself." Toshiro commented, opening his wings out to their full length before flapping them easily.

Despite not doing this with much force, it had still created such a large amount of wind that it blew Sojiro back almost forty more feet into the air, shocking him completely. The ice dragon growled silently, then lunged toward Toshiro, whom just stood there and waited. But the moment Sojiro pulled an icy fist back to punch, Toshiro's tail arched over his head and blocked the blow seeming with ease; "Impossible..." was all Sojiro said before Toshiro crossed his arms.

"Is that all?" the icy captain asked, him appearing to be rather smug now.

Sojiro saw through this and instantly backed away, firing hundreds of ice shards through his hand and toward Toshiro. The white haired captain simply moved one of his wings in the way, to which the shards bounced right off. But as he moved his wing away, Sojiro came toward him with a large amount of golden spirit energy in his right hand-like claw. Once the ice dragon come within a few feet, he brought his arm forward and blasted the spirit energy in a large beam.

"Ha! How do you like that!" Sojiro asked rhetorically as all he saw was Toshiro being engulfed in the blast.

But he became silent as his attack was disbursed into the air, revealing that Toshiro had blocked it with his wings, then swiftly opened them, making the beam break. Sojiro's red eyes widened even further as he noticed that Toshiro's arms were still crossed and he hadn't moved his body whatsoever; "I-Impossible." the dragon whispered in disbelief.

"Looks like you weren't able to control the Oin's power as much as I thought." the white haired captain commented, keeping the light smirk on his face.

Sojiro growled, flapped his wings forward to get farther away, then began gathering an enormous amount of the Oin's power into his mouth; "Let's see how you deal with this!" he called out as he blasted a golden beam that was ten times larger then his own body.

Toshiro merely watched it come toward him, then held out his zanpakuto, with the point directed at the blast and narrowed his eyes. The beam came within an inch of the tip of Toshiro's katana before it separated and went all around him, but never touching him at all. Though Sojiro's attack was quite loud in his ears, due to the enormous amount of power behind it, he still heard the dragon itself let out a roar. Once he heard this, the beam itself had increased double, causing Toshiro to narrow his eyes further and tighten his grip on Hyorinmaru.

But after a brief second, Toshiro suddenly stepped forward, drew his zanpakuto to the side and swung it with much force. A large amount of pure white spirit energy blasted from Toshiro's katana, which sliced the golden beam in half and cut right through the dragon's head. Everyone on the hill looked at this in shock as they could only stare in awe from Toshiro's display, even the Head Captain had both his eyes open and a bit wider then normal.

As Toshiro walked on the air toward what was left of the dragon, it suddenly shattered and revealed Sojiro's human form falling to the ground. Though the raven haired man landed on his feet, he stumbled forward and had to use his zanpakuto's blade to keep himself standing. Toshiro's icy feet touched the ground soundlessly, but the vast amount of power that radiated off of him made his entrance apparent.

The icy captain looked around at the mostly destroyed area they were in, noticing that it was due to his own power that it happened; "I guess...this is it." Sojiro muttered silently, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

Toshiro simply nodded his head and returned the raven haired man's stare; "It's time to finish our fight." Sojiro continued, standing straight on his feet and grasping his zanpakuto with both his hands.

The white haired captain narrowed his eyes even further as the ice that had been added during his Bankai's transformation shattered away, leaving his appearance the way it had been before; "It looks that way." he said, mimicking Sojiro's stance.

"But..." Toshiro suddenly began, to which the other man raised a brow; "...I'd like know why you did all this." he finished.

Sojiro merely smirked lightly to his question, then glanced over as Yoruichi, Soifon, Isshin and Kisuke appeared in shunpoes almost thirty feet away; "If you beat me..." he started, looking to Toshiro once more.

"...I'll tell you." but the way he said this, it sounded as if he intended to take his reasons to the grave, which had only made Toshiro narrow his eyes and grip his zanpakuto tighter.

"Fine then." the icy captain said, a split second before both he and Sojiro jumped forward, katanas at the ready.

As the two blades met, Sojiro's had suddenly broken, but as it did, all of his memories suddenly poured through it and into Toshiro's zanpakuto.

-Central 46, 119 years and six months ago (Kusaka Sojiro's POV)-

"You must fight! You have no other choice! There can be only one owner of Hyorinmaru!" the men and woman in the room called out over and over again.

Sojiro looked at all of them shocked, but his eyes became even wider when he heard Toshiro's voice; "Then I'll just abandon Hyorinmaru! I won't fight him!"

He looked to his white haired friend, inwardly smiling at him; 'Figures...he's always been the better of us. He he, he'll even give up his own zanpakuto for his friend. But-' he thought was was cut off as one of male members of the council spoke loudly.

"Denied! You are ordered by law to fight! The balance of Soul Society must be kept!" this man's words made Toshiro's eyes widen, but Sojiro's to narrow.

'I knew it. They'd never allow both of us to have it, nor one of us just to walk away. Damn.' he thought, looking around quickly as each and every one of the Central 46 members kept repeating 'Fight!' to them.

Sojiro could tell that Toshiro was trying to think of a solution, but he seemed completely stuck, yet the raven haired teen could only smile sadly as the answer came all too easily. He then turned toward him as their surroundings seemed to suddenly change to a foggy riverside; 'I'm sorry Toshiro.' he thought, drawing his zanpakuto.

"Hitsugaya!" he yelled out suddenly, gaining Toshiro's attention immediately; "Hyorinmaru is mine!" he continued, running toward his friend with a fake intention to kill.

'Forgive me Toshiro. But...you've always been stronger then me since the day we met. I know for a fact that you're the chosen one. So just be stronger then me this one last time, because...I would sooner kill myself then to kill my best friend.' Sojiro thought to himself as he watched Toshiro unsheathe his katana on instinct and block his strike.

As they pushed against one another, their spirit energies seemed to burst from their bodies, Toshiro's pure white quickly overwhelming Sojiro's purple. Though they were mostly focused on pushing against one another, they had heard the loud roar of Hyorinmaru as the ice dragon himself emerged between them for a brief second. But as they saw this, Sojiro's vision started to become cloudy, the entire front of his body being covered by ice; 'I knew it. He is the chosen one.' he thought in relief.

After Hyorinmaru vanished as if he had never been there, the ice on Sojiro shattered and he felt slightly out of breath like his energy had been drained; 'It didn't kill me...but, I need to die.' he continued, looking to Toshiro.

'But can I really do this? Can I make my best friend kill me because I can't do it to him?' Sojiro ground his teeth as he realized that his charade wouldn't work anymore.

Suddenly, almost a dozen members of the Onmitsukido arrived in shunpoes between them, all of which were facing Sojiro; "What are you doing?" Toshiro had demanded, him knowing what was going to happen, but not wanting to believe it.

"It's been decided by Central 46 that Hitsugaya Toshiro will be the wielder of Hyorinmaru." the closest one claimed as they all unsheathed their blades.

'So this is how it ends. I guess I'll just have to leave it to him.' Sojiro thought as he looked at Toshiro just as each of the Onmitsukido members all shunpoed around him and stabbed their zanpakutos through his body.

'I just wish I could hav-' was the last thing he thought as his after-life came to an end.

-Present (Toshiro's POV)-

Toshiro's eyes became wide as all of this flashed before his eyes in a brief second; "Now you know." he heard Sojiro whisper in a slight gasp.

The white haired captain looked, becoming wide eyed as he saw his own Hyorinmaru piercing right through his old friends chest. He turned his attention back to Sojiro as he smiled lightly and weakly to Toshiro; "A promise...is a promise." he began, dragging in a deep breath like it would be his last.

"I came back...because I had heard the things you've done. Mass murder, unauthorized assassinations...creation of weapons that could throw the balance of...Soul Society, the World of the Living and even Hueco Mundo out till total...destruction, making deals with hollows...and even going to Hell." Sojiro said, naming each thing off with a harder stare for each one.

Toshiro's eyes could only become wider and wider, unable to believe how much he knew about the things he's done over the last one hundred years. Sojiro's body jerked slightly out of reflex, trying to get the blade out of his chest, but his body was becoming too weak from his blood loss; "I had to put a stop to it no matter what. So...stealing the Oin was the best way to level the playing field...and get your attention right away." Sojiro continued, his breathing becoming harsher and slightly gurgled as blood streamed out of his mouth.

"Besides...I was hear to change Soul Society...and by changing you...I think I've changed everything." the raven haired man said as his legs gave out and was completely supported by the blade he was impaled on, causing him to tremble from the pain.

"Sojiro...I'm sorry. I never wanted this to happen." Toshiro said silently, sounding as if he would actually cry as he watched his friend gurgle slightly from the blood coming into his throat.

"Hmph...I know. So..." Sojiro began, to which Toshiro looked to him slightly confused as his friend placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in toward his ear.

"...you're my legacy now...so make it a good one and...live a life great enough for the both of us." he said with a smirk, his body turning blue and transparent as it began to fade away.

"I will Sojiro. I promise." Toshiro whispered, his hands trembling and his throat clenching in his sadness.

"I know...and make sure there's a place...for all of them in it too." were Sojiro's last words before he glanced over toward Yoruichi and the others, fading away completely with a smile on his face.

Toshiro stood up straight, but had his head tilted down, obscuring his eyes from sight; "It wouldn't be great without them." he said, smirking lightly as a small drop of water dripped down his cheek.

But soon after this, the dark clouds in the sky gave out a heavy rain that immediately made this drop invisible; "Toshiro...?" Yoruichi called out, walking up close to said captain.

"I'm alright Yoruichi." he said, lifting his gaze to her, with seemed to be almost determined; "I have no worries anymore."

Yoruichi blinked at him as she watched a small smile curl his lips, to which she immediately wrapped her arms around him; "Good." was all she said as she only had one thought in her mind.

'Thank you...Sojiro. You really were his best friend.'

Once they broke their hug, Toshiro looked to his other friends, each of them having an expression that told him that they were waiting for him. He just smirked lightly toward them, then glanced to the broken katana laying on the ground nearby. Toshiro sheathed his zanpakuto, walked over and picked the blade up into his left ice covered hand; 'Hyorinmaru...can I use both of these?' he questioned his own inner spirit.

'_Even I don't know that. But with the blade itself broken, it would be impossible right now.' _the ice dragon spoke within his mind, it echoing across the frozen land scape that made up Toshiro's inner world.

The icy captain just stared at the broken katana for a few moments before looking to the right side with a hard stare; "You know where I'll be." he said silently.

But before he could take a single step, he found a haori draped over his shoulders, but due to his zanpakuto on his back, it was only able to stay on from one of his shoulders. He looked back and saw Rangiku with a small smile on her face; "Yeah...we do. But we're coming with you." she said, winking to him.

Toshiro just blinked at her for a moment before smirking very lightly; "I figured you'd say that." he muttered quietly, removing his sheathes strap, putting his haori on and placing the strap back into place in a swift movement.

-A half hour later, at a cemetery-

Toshiro, Yoruichi, Isshin, Kisuke, Tessai, Rangiku and Soifon all stood around a single grave, the stone itself having Sojiro's name upon it. The white haired captain was at the head of their group and the closest to the grave, him holding the broken Hyorinmaru in his left hand the whole time. He then placed an ice covered hand on the stone head and let out a silent breath; "Farewell...my friend. See you again in the next life." he whispered, seemingly to himself.

He then turned around and looked at the others as they stared back at him; "We better help clean up my mess." Toshiro said and started walking back toward their starting point near Sokyoku Hill.

"We wouldn't have to if your Bankai wasn't so destructive." Isshin muttered under his breath, huffing in annoyance at the idea of cleaning.

"Hmph...maybe you'd like for me to use it on your house...while you're inside?" Toshiro suggested, allowing a small smirk as he looked to the raven haired man.

Isshin sweat dropped, gulped down hard and cleared his throat; "Who has a hammer and nails?" he asked, making it apparent that he didn't like the white haired captain's idea less then the cleaning one.

"He he...still too simple." Yoruichi commented, letting out a light chuckle.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Isshin demanded, growling at her and looking at her with a fake insulted expression.

"I think she means that you're too gullible." Kisuke offered, to which Yoruichi, Tessai, Rangiku, Soifon and even Toshiro nodded in agreement.

"I am not!" Isshin called out, but after a moment of silence and raised brows from those around him, he cleared his throat and spoke as silently as he could; "Usually."

Despite trying to be quiet, each of the others let out a silent chuckle or a giggle; "I think you have the percentage in reverse." Tessai claimed, smirking lightly.

Isshin started to laugh lightly, to which Yoruichi, Kisuke, Tessai and Toshiro joined in, though Rangiku giggled silently with them, she didn't want to interrupt the 'old gang' interacting. All the while, Soifon merely followed them quietly, her only reason being their was Toshiro and Yoruichi. The former suddenly stopping in his tracks, to which everyone turned their attention to him as he was simply staring up at the sky; "What's wrong?" Yoruichi asked.

But the only answer she received was a small smirk on his lips and a few silent words; "Just...thinking."

"About?" Rangiku questioned, blinking her eyes at him.

"The future."

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And that's the end of the DDR, I hope you all enjoyed. Now I will be continuing with the Amagai and Arrancar arcs. Hope to see many reviews. ;)


	74. Chapter 74

Alright, here is the next chapter. Sorry it's a day late and a bit late on timing of the day as well. But I hope you all enjoy this. ;)

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**Chapter 74:**

-Tenth Division office, two days later-

Toshiro and Rangiku sat at each of their respective desks, both being fairly close to one another as it was easier to place the paperwork to the correct place. They worked together in a half way silence, the main sound being the many foot steps that moved in and out of the office. All of which, belonged to the people that dropped off the papers on each of their desks, more so on Toshiro's then his lieutenant's. Though they didn't speak to each other during this time, Rangiku started a sudden conversation after receiving a small note with her newest stack of papers.

"Captain..." Rangiku began, turning to Toshiro as she gained his attention; "...she came back. Ichigo, Rukia and her body guards followed, but it doesn't look like they found her yet."

The icy captain nodded to her report as she tore the small piece of paper till it was impossible to guess what was written; "I'll continue with the paperwork for now. You investigate and find out where she went and why. Report back here in a half hour." he ordered, to which Rangiku nodded her head.

Immediately following her nod, she stood up from her desk and shunpoed out the door just as one of the unseated officers came walking in with a stack of papers; "Captain Soifon wishes to speak with you Captain Hitsugaya. She didn't say why or what about." he said, to which Toshiro raised a brow.

The white haired captain nodded his head and glanced out the window; "Alright. Nado..." Toshiro began, to which said raven haired shinigami straightened up and called out a 'Yes sir'.

"...I'm putting you in charge of the division for the time being. Make sure that when Fifth Seat Senna gets back from her delivery assignment, you send her directly to the Sixth Division and have her bring Abarai Renji back here for a mission." Toshiro continued his order, to which Nado blinked his eyes in shock, but nodded quickly.

"Y-Yes sir!" the raven haired man almost stuttered, him being completely shocked that his captain was leaving him in command.

Toshiro didn't even wait for his response before he started walking out of the office, to which Nado looked around slightly nervously, but smirked lightly after a moment; "Does this mean I'm getting promoted?" he questioned aloud, his tone sounding hopeful as he sat in the halfway silence.

-Second Division office-

"You just had to get me here...didn't you?" Toshiro said raising a brow to Yoruichi as she sat on Soifon's desk.

The raven haired captain herself was sitting behind the desk with a light blush on her face as she stared from the tan skinned woman to the white haired captain. Yoruichi had merely shrugged to his words; "Of course. Besides..." she began, leaning back to look at Soifon with a smirk.

"...she really wanted to tell you something. Personally~." Yoruichi finished, drawing out her late word to make it sound rather suggestive.

"Y-Yoruichi-sama." Soifon gasped, a deeper blush coming over her face, making it apparent that Yoruichi must have been teasing her periodically about the issue before he arrived.

"Well?" Yoruichi said, gesturing for her to start talking with her hand.

Soifon looked down for a moment, before looking back up to Toshiro and his slightly raised brow; "W-Well...I..." she began, seeming strangely far more embarrassed then usual.

'Yoruichi...you really have to stop saying things that makes her like this. It just makes it harder for her to talk, she almost turns into Isane when she's embarrassed. And if Soifon's blushing this much it must have been something inappropriate.' Toshiro thought, mentally sighing heavily.

"...I...I checked on the newest captain Amagai Shusuke and I discovered that your theory of him being in league with Kumoi Gyokaku was correct." she continued, obviously starting to become comfortable to speak once more.

"He also uses his Third Seat Kibune Makuto to deliver and send messages between the two. It is obvious that he too is knowingly doing this treasonous act." her tone became very cold, showing her hatred for traitors.

"But it appears that Amagai has been merely using Kumoi for the sake of using the Bakkoto they've created illegally." she finished, ending her sentence with a cold voice that almost chilled the air as much as Toshiro's would.

The icy captain himself nodded his head to her report, placing his hand to his chin in thought. But Yoruichi suddenly broke the brief silence between them by smirking widely and speaking in a suggestive manner; "But it also appears that Soifon 'must' have you here to tell you all this."

Toshiro sighed heavily as Soifon had blushed once more and looked at her tan idol with a shocked expression; "Y-Yorucihi-sama!"

"It's true isn't it? You could have just had one of the lower officers tell him, or even record it in a hell butterfly." Yoruichi claimed confidently.

"You said that it would be best to tell it to him personally as to avoid having any complications of getting the information to him, so I sent the message for you." she continued, winking to Toshiro as he raised his brow higher.

"B-But I said that I'd just go to him." Soifon declared as if trying to make Toshiro see her side of things, despite him already seeing it.

The white haired captain sighed lightly and waved an icy hand; "Aside from all that, I'm taking Rangiku, Abarai Renji and Senna with me to the World of the Living. Aizen might be sending an assault force within the next few days, or he will simply wait and see. But regardless of which ever one he chooses, it's best to get there now just in case."

Yoruichi and Soifon nodded to his words, both of them focusing on business now; "Plus Kumoi might send assassins to kill Rurichiyo when Ichigo and Rukia get her back to the World of the Living. It's much more convenient to do it outside Soul Society." the purple haired woman mentioned, to which they all shared another nod.

"But for now...while I'm in the World of the Living, you find more on Amagai so we can possibly use against him." Toshiro ordered, looking right at Soifon.

"Yes sir." was her response, before Yoruichi looked to her with a devious smirk on her face.

"You mean you're not going to tell him about you wanting to go with him when he leaves?" the tan woman asked, holding back a giggle.

"Yoruichi-sama!" Soifon exclaimed for seeming the hundredth time that day from the way she said it.

Toshiro raised a brow once more and looked from Yoruichi to Soifon as she blushed again; 'Yoruichi's enjoying this too much. But then it is nice to not have me as her victim all the time. But I do feel bad for her.' he thought, sweat dropping slightly.

"You're going back to the World of the Living with me Yoruichi...I need Soifon to help me on this and she can't do it efficiently with you...doing 'this' the whole time." Toshiro claimed, gesturing to Soifon's blush at the end, which had only become redder as she heard him say 'I need Soifon to help me'.

Yoruichi blinked to the two and shrugged; "Alright...I suppose heading back would be a good idea. The milk here in Soul Society always makes me a bit...devious." she said, giving a smirk at the end that fit her last word very well.

Toshiro simply rolled his eyes to her; "I wonder what my first impression was." he muttered sarcastically, starting to walk out of the office.

"Keep your eyes on Amagai and Kumoi. Make sure to have hourly reports and send them to me at the end of the day." Toshiro ordered as he reached the door, giving Soifon a quick glance.

The raven haired captain nodded to him with a determined look on her face, but then she blinked her eyes as Yoruichi jumped up from her desk and ran toward Toshiro. The tan woman had quickly reached where Toshiro had just been before he shunpoed away, but then she ran out of the office, calling his name in the process; "Aww...come back Toshiro~!"

Soifon sighed lightly as she looked to the small stack of papers on her desk, but after a moment she smiled lightly; "Yoruichi-sama is helping me become braver...and Captain Hitsugaya needs my help with his investigation. I finally get to spend time with them both."

-Tenth Division office-

"Why won't you tell us what the mission Captain Hitsugaya wanted us here for?" Senna asked Nado as she crossed arms and raised a brow.

"But I already told you-" he began, but was cut off by Renji.

"We know...he didn't tell you." the red haired shinigami then placed a hand to Senna's shoulder; "Can't you just believe him? I'm sure he has no reason to lie."

The purple haired girl shook off his hand and raised a skeptical brow to Nado; "I'm not buying it. Captain Hitsugaya wouldn't leave him in charge just for the sake of it...he must be getting promoted...which means he has to know something. My theory is flawless!" she declared, seeming very proud of herself.

Renji merely sweat dropped and sighed along with Ikkaku and Yumichika, whom were off to the side; "If you say so. I still think you're just over analyzing this." Renji muttered, mainly to himself.

Senna turned to him and raised a brow; "Did you say something?" she questioned, not appearing threatening, but Renji didn't take any chances as he shook his head.

"Not at all." was all he responded with.

"Just the leave the kid alone already...it's obvious that Captain Hitsugaya was just in a rush and had to appoint someone in charge." Ikkaku claimed in a huff.

"What are you two doing here?" Toshiro asked, interrupting before anyone else could say something.

Each of them turned quickly to him in the doorway, noticing Yoruichi right behind him right away; "Captain Hitsugaya!" Nado exclaimed, sighing in relief, him sounding like he'd been saved from a horrible hollow attack.

"Aha! I knew it! So you did tell him!" Senna declared, pointing a finger from Nado to Toshiro.

The white haired captain raised a brow to her and looked to the other occupants of the room, whom only offered a shrug. He sighed lightly and turned his gaze to Senna; "Actually no...I was just in a hurry and he was the only one around." he stated simply.

His words not only caused Senna to look at him shocked like she guessed wrong on the easiest question of all time and for Nado to look at the ground depressed; "I guess I'm not gonna get promoted." he muttered silently to himself.

Toshiro sighed once more and shook his head; "I have every intention to tell you why I called you here and I do intend to give you a promotion." he said, looking from Senna to Nado, the latter blinking at him in surprise.

"But before all that..." Toshiro started, glancing to Ikkaku and Yumichika; "...what are you two doing here?" he asked, raising a brow to them.

"Well...after Senna came and got me in the Sixth, we passed by the Seventh and saw Ikkaku. He came up to us and asked what we were doing. I just told him we were going on a mission, but he volunteered to come with us. I said that it probably wouldn't be anything great, but he still insisted on coming." Renji began explaining, to which Toshiro just raised a brow.

"He then told us if he was going then he'd have to bring Yumichika with him, otherwise he'd never hear the end of it for leaving him behind. I repeated my words of it not being anything but Yumichika seemed to just pop of nowhere and we all just came here." he finished, taking in a deep breath as he ran out of air trying to hurry his explanation.

The icy captain simply raised his brow higher as he looked at Ikkaku and Yumichika. But he eventually let out a sigh and shrugged; "Alright...well this 'team' will do." he said, looking from Senna to Renji, then to Ikkaku and Yumichika.

Toshiro then turned to Nado; "Report to Seventh Seat Takezoe for further instructions, Ninth Seat Nado."

The raven haired man looked at his captain in shock, but he quickly nodded and let out a 'Yes sir' before quickly going out of the office. The icy captain sighed heavily, then glanced to Yoruichi, whom only offered a light shrug; "It would be best to tell them everything that's going on. That way they'll know what they're up against." she said to him.

Toshiro nodded his head, but then sweat dropped as he watched the other four occupants start to carry on in their own conversations; "Well...while I'm handling this, you go on ahead and tell Kisuke that we're on our way. And make sure he has our gigai's ready when we get there." he said, to which his purple haired friend nodded to him in an understanding way.

"Good luck." was all she said before giving him a quick wink and shunpoing away.

Toshiro sighed lightly once more and turned back to the group in his office, Senna now starting to threaten Renji for something he said. Ikkaku was just leaning on a stack of paperwork that Toshiro had spent an hour organizing, and Yumichika was looking at himself through a small mirror that came from no where. The white haired captain cleared his throat loudly, to which he gained the attention of each of them; "Alright...I'm going to brief you on a few things, but you have to remember that this is top secret and you can't speak to anyone about this." he began, to which they all nodded in response.

'This is going to be a long few days.' he thought to himself as he explained his investigation of Amagai Shusuke and saw all of them eventually gain a somewhat bored expression.

'A _very_ long few days.' he continued in a sweat drop.

-World of the Living, later on that day-

Toshiro sat at a small table inside Kisuke's shop with the blond himself, Rangiku, Yoruichi and Tessai, the latter of them having just brought each of them a cup of green tea. The two women were on either side of Toshiro, while Kisuke sat on Yoruichi's the other side and Tessai was on the other of Rangiku. As the white haired captain sipped on his tea, all the others followed his lead and afterward, he looked to Kisuke with raised a brow;"Are the gigais ready yet?"

"Not just yet. But they should be done within the hour." Kisuke responded, taking another sip of tea after his words.

"Will you at least make them more comfortable then what they were before? I heard that it was next to impossible to get in and out of them when in a hurry." Toshiro commented, sounding like he was speaking from experience.

"True...but that just teaches patience, right?" the blond questioned rhetorically with a light smile.

Toshiro simply rolled his eyes and took another sip of tea; "Well...have you at least had any luck of waking them up?" he asked, seeming to become somewhat serious now.

Kisuke shook his head and also took another sip of his tea; "Unfortunately no. It's a miracle in itself that they're even alive right now...considering everything that happened to them." he informed, to which Toshiro nodded.

"True." was all he said, before a brief silence stretched between them, but Rangiku didn't allow it to last as she sighed heavily.

"I know this is mainly just a simple 'wait and see' mission...but does it have to be so boring? I mean come on...we came here in a four men and two women squad with nothing to do. We all need something to preoccupy our time with." she declared, quickly smirking widely as an idea came into her mind.

"Like shopping! We coul-" but she was cut off by her captain as he cleared his throat and gave her a look that basically said 'no' and there was no chance he'd changed his mind.

"Aww~! But why not?" Rangiku asked in a halfway whine; "Renji and Senna are hanging out with Ichigo and Rukia. Ikkaku and Yumichika are patrolling the area. But we're stuck here just sipping tea?"

Toshiro sighed and rolled his eyes to her, Kisuke smirked lightly, yet knowingly as he looked at his white haired friend. Yoruichi had an interested gaze, as if she were considering Rangiku's idea, all the while, Tessai simply hid behind his sunglasses and remained quiet, but an invisible and amused smirk teased at his lips. Rangiku on the other hand was just giving her captain a pouting expression that she was hoping would break his icy composure; "Pretty please? With a cherry on top?" she pleaded with a cutely high pitched voice.

The icy captain raised a brow to her, but before he could speak Yoruichi nudged him in his ribs and gave him a wink; "Come on Toshiro. Let your other girlfriend have some fun." she said, giggling slightly.

Toshiro and Rangiku blinked at her, then blushed lightly before the former growled; "YORUICHI!" he yelled out, starting to get up to leave.

Yoruichi merely laughed and immediately hugged Toshiro to keep him from getting away, causing him to sit back down; "Aww come on Toshiro. You make it too easy. Your reactions are so priceless." she laughed out, smiling widely to her friend.

Toshiro growled once more; "We're Captain and Lieutenant, it's highly inappropriate to say such things about her and I." he claimed, sounding very professional in his tone.

"But you didn't say you disliked the idea." Yoruichi pointed, poking his nose with one of her slender fingers, to which he blushed even further then before.

Rangiku had also blushed, but then she looked up thoughtfully as if in thought about something; "Girlfriend. Hmm..." she whispered to herself.

Toshiro sweat dropped to his subordinate and raised an annoyed brow; "You're really not helping here." he groaned out.

"Well regardless of any of that...we do need something to fill our time with and at least doing a little bit of shopping can't hurt." Yoruichi said loosening her hug and winking to Toshiro.

The white haired captain raised a brow to her, glanced to Rangiku, whom had snapped out of her trance, returned to her pleading expression and even hugged one of his arms into her chest, to which he just sighed heavily; "Fine. But only for an hour." he said, groaning once more.

Rangiku fist pumped the air and smiled widely; "Yes! Score!" she exclaimed happily.

Kisuke and Tessai just shared an amused glance as they watched all this silently; "Yoruichi and Rangiku: 10, Toshiro: 0." the blond informed, to which his sunglasses wearing friend nodded.

Toshiro looked to them with a raised and skeptical brow; "Did you say something?" he asked, giving the two a quick icy glare.

"No...nothing at all." Kisuke said, hiding half of his face behind his fan.

"Hmph...whatever." Toshiro muttered out, but was stopped from saying or doing anything further as Rangiku had pulled him away from Yoruichi and hugged him into her chest.

"Thank you so much Captain! You're the best!" she exclaimed happily, to which Toshiro growled in annoyance; "And so huggable!" she continued

After a while of this, Toshiro finally broke free from her hug and sent a glare her way, but was responded with a wide and happy smile. He simply sighed once more, his annoyance being completely obvious as he gave Yoruichi a look that fit perfectly with his expression; "Happy now?"

The purple haired woman just looked up as if she were actually thinking about it, then she looked back to him and smiled; "Of course." she claimed, causing Toshiro to roll his eyes.

The blond shop owner and his tan assistant once again shared an amused expression as they made hand signals to each other. These signals seemed oddly like they were saying that Toshiro still had '0', while Yoruichi and Rangiku had '20'. Though the icy captain noticed this, he just simply sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day and gained a fairly serious expression; "Anyway...before we go anywhere..." Toshiro began.

Upon seeing and hearing his seriousness, the others quickly became somber and just nodded to him as he spoke once more; "...I'm going to check on them."

Toshiro stood up silently on his ice covered feet, then made his way out of the room, down one of the darkening halls as the sun's rays were dimming within the store, and finally into one of the spare rooms. Inside this space, there were two figures laying on two separate futons in the center of the room, both of them being covered by a thick blanket. The white haired captain then kneeled at the head of the two figures, and let out a silent sigh; "I promised I'd look after you two...and plan to." he whispered, closing his eyes briefly.

When his eyes opened once more, he looked directly to the two arrancar women that had been his enemies only two days ago; 'I still can't believe that they dragged themselves to the graveyard just to tell me that they would be following and protecting me. Hmph...I wonder if Sojiro told them to follow me after his death...or if they just wanted to.' he thought to himself, narrowing his eyes to the two.

'But either way...I respect their decision, and I'll make sure to protect them from Soul Society.' he continued, letting out a silent breath.

"Although...I'm pretty sure that their attention will be on me when my own secret gets out then either of you." he whispered to himself with a small smirk.

Just outside the door, Yoruichi looked down at the floor boards, appearing slightly sad as she turned her head toward the door's opening; "I'll be there for you when the time comes...Toshiro." she said silently so no one could hear, but she didn't see the smirk that curled Toshiro's lips from her words.

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Well, that's how this chapter ends. I hope you all enjoyed and had a few good laughs. Till next time everyone. ;D


	75. Chapter 75

And here is the next installment of my story, I'm in a really good mood since I finally reached over 600 reviews. :D I'm so proud of myself, and so grateful to all of you. Thank you all so much for your support. And an extra one for Tuli-chan, you've helped me yet again make this story all the more enjoyable for all my fans. ;) Anyway...onto the chapter.

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**Chapter 75:**

-World of the Living, later on that night-

Toshiro, Rangiku, Senna, Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika all walked down the dark street, their pathway being lit by the street lights and the full moon. All of them were wearing their own respective gigais, which had on the brand new clothes that they got from the clothing shop they had just left. But only Renji and Ikkaku were carrying a pair of paper bags per arm, two of which contained an extra set of new clothes, while the others had the school uniforms Kisuke had equipped them with.

"Thanks for telling us that you were going shopping." Senna commented, looking to Rangiku with a grateful smile.

The strawberry blond smiled back and nodded to her; "Of course. No one wants to be stuck in the same outfit for more then one day at a time. And not just for hygiene sake...we all have to stay in fashion too." she exclaimed proudly, flipping her hair with her hand and smiling even wider.

All of the others, save for Senna and Yumichika, sweat dropped heavily and just stared at Rangiku as if she were insane. But once they reached a cross in the road Toshiro sighed lightly and kept walking forward while everyone else stopped in the center; "Hey~! Captain~! Wait for us~!" Rangiku called out, walking forward, but then turning around to face the others.

"Well...I'm heading back to Ichigo's house. Rukia helped me set up an arrangement to stay in Ichigo's sister's room and a way for us all to be in the high school. So we're all set to go." Senna said, smirking lightly to each of them.

"Anyway...I guess I'll be the one to hang on to the clothes. Just be sure to come by and get them before Monday." she continued, holding out her hands to Ikkaku and Renji.

The two had immediately handed her the bags containing their school and newer clothes, causing Senna to sweat drop slightly at how eager they seemed to be to get rid of the bags. But she just simply turned toward the right street and waved to everyone; "See you all later! And remember...Monday is only two days away!" she called out, starting to jog down the road.

"Later Senna!" Rangiku called back as she continued to walk backward and toward her captain, whom had just kept walking, but slowed slightly as if to allow his lieutenant enough time to catch up.

"I'm going to go to Urahara's. I'm just gonna deal with all his conditions for being a..." Renji started, clearing his throat as if embarrassed to say his last word; "...freeloader."

Once he finished his sentence, Renji quickly headed off in the opposite direction Senna had taken. Then Ikkaku and Yumichika just simply turned around and began walking the way they had just come, which had made Rangiku stop and raise a questioning brow; "And where are you two going?" she asked, her knowing that neither had any special place to stay.

"Wherever we feel like. If everyone else is splitting ways, it's only right to have someone this way too." was all Ikkaku responded with as he and his raven haired friend disappeared into the dark of the night.

"Hmph...well at least I won't have to deal with either of their rambling." Rangiku commented with a sigh of relief.

As she stood there with her hands being placed on her hips, she suddenly snapped to Toshiro behind her as she realized that he was still walking; "Ah~! Captain~! I asked you to wait~!" she whined out, quickly turning and running toward him.

But just before she took two steps, a fairly large spiritual pressure was felt, to which they both looked in the same direction of Ichigo's house. Rangiku caught up to her captain quickly as he had stopped walking; "Senna's on her way there. They should be enough to handle them. But..." Toshiro began, looking from the left, then to Rangiku and finally back to the left.

"...taking a look can't hurt." he finished, to which Rangiku smirked and nodded in a agreement as they both started running toward Ichigo's house.

Yet on their way, they could feel that two of the four distinct spirit energies had already split away in different directions, and a few moments later, the largest among them suddenly moved away, along with Ichigo's. Then, the moment they reached the house, they noticed Senna and Rukia standing on the front porch of the house next door, facing a strange man in the yard. This man had a hunched appearance, square teeth that were spaced far apart, almost perfectly pink skin and no hair on the top of his head.

However, he did have long blond hair that started near where his side burns would be and lead around to the back of his skull. He also had a black plating that lead from either end of his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose, the large scar on the left side of his face was perfectly seen. His green clothing appeared to be that of a prisoner's garments, and his weapon was a simple single edged scythe. But it also had a chain at the end, which lead to a strange pink, one eyed and multilimbed creature that was attached to his chest.

But the biggest thing about this man was the fact that his laugh was so high pitched and maniacal that it wasn't uncommon to question his sanity. Yet the two girls watched their opponent carefully, but becoming shocked as he suddenly bit into his own blade, literally eating the chunk he broke off. A large burst of red spirit energy blasted out of him, to which more of his laughter followed and large blades suddenly shoot out of his body. Rukia and Senna quickly blocked each of the blades and jumped toward him, which revealed Kenryuu and Enryuu, whom stood in a battle ready position in front of Rurichiyo, the former having his zanpakuto drawn.

Due to the darkness of the night and both their expert training, neither Toshiro or Rangiku were noticed as they came closer to watch the fight. Senna quickly flipped through the air with cat-like grace, then twirled her khakkhara around and knocked the blades away that suddenly flew out of her opponents back. She then crouched down, jumped straight into the air, spinning her body around as she did and used her staff to kick up an enormous amount of wind.

The man brought his arm up to keep the wind and debris from going into his face, but his body was being blown back too much for him to stay stationary. He was tossed away a few feet before he got back his balance, he then began using the wind as a way to evade the kido spells Rukia began shooting. Rukia herself having suddenly appeared in a shunpo behind him and called out the kido's name; "Way of Destruction No: 33, Sokatsui!"

Though he dodged these attacks easily, Rukia just kept firing kido after kido, not giving him any time to look anywhere else but to her. Toshiro and Rangiku watched this with an interested look, but the formers attention kept shifting to the purple haired girl. Whom of which was smirking widely as her staff continued to twirl around and keep the tornado shaped winds going. Just as Rukia's attack stopped and she vanished from sight, her opponents attention immediately shot toward the other girl.

Senna then generated a stream of electricity through the tornado she made and began directing it toward him, to which he quickly jumped away from it. She continued her attack, making the electric tornado change directions multiple times as the man kept dodging, him letting out his strange laugh as he did. The purple haired girl narrowed her eyes carefully as she finally landed on the ground, the winds dying down and her attack diminishing; "He he! Your attacks are pathetic! You couldn't catch me even if you wanted!" he laughed out loudly.

But his eyes suddenly became wide as he saw Senna smile and suddenly flip to the side, to which he snapped his gaze behind him. Rukia was standing a few yards away, crouching slightly with four streams of snow white energy coming up from the ground before her. Her zanpakuto was in it's Shikai state and carefully leveled parallel with the ground, Rukia herself had an expression of coldness and focus as she uttered her command; "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren."

A huge blast of pure white snow hurled at him, which quickly engulfed his body and covered him in a very thick layer of ice. After this happened, a red glow began emitting from the man's body, but Senna suddenly came forward together with Rukia, both of them being on either side of their opponent. As they came closer, Toshiro could see their confident smirks when they readied their respective weapons; 'They work really well together.' he thought to himself.

He then took a quick glance to his lieutenant, whom had an expression that made it obvious she was thinking the same as him. But he turned his attention back to the two, just as they both swung their weapons at their enemy from either side. This action had sliced his body in half at the waist, then as both parts fell to the ground, they shattered apart due to the ice. Toshiro smirked lightly and nodded his approval, to which Rangiku did the same; "Even though they're not in the same division, they fight awesomely together." she commented as the two in question smiled to each other and high-fived one another.

"Good job Rukia!" Senna exclaimed, smiling to her comrade.

"You too Senna!" the raven haired girl said back, both of them keeping wide smiles to one another.

"Well done Kuchiki-dono, Senna-san." Kenryuu called out as he, Enryuu and Rurichiyo came toward them.

"Thanks. But I felt two other spiritual pressures besides him and that other guy that wanted to fight Ichigo." Rukia claimed, turning serious once more.

Senna placed a hand on the raven haired girl's shoulder and smiled as she looked to her; "Its okay Rukia. Captain Hitsugaya brought Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika and Rangiku. Those other guys will be handled no problem."

Rukia blinked to her words, but smirked lightly and nodded slightly; "Yeah...you're right."

Toshiro smirked invisibly to this, then turned away and started walking away, to which Rangiku mimicked his actions and followed after him. Despite neither of them hearing, seeing or even sensing the two, Rukia and Senna looked in the direction of Toshiro and Rangiku with raised brows; "I wonder how Captain Hitsugaya plans so far ahead." the purple haired girl questioned silently, to which Rukia nodded and the other three just blinked to them.

Though the two commanders of the Tenth Division were too far away, they had already begun heading directly toward the next spike in spirit energy. But the remaining three opponents had all begun fighting almost at the same time, to which Toshiro stopped and looked around quickly. Rangiku halted as well, then turned toward the direction she could feel Ikkaku's and Yumichika's spiritual pressure rise; "It seems that they're helping Chad in his fight." she commented.

The icy captain glanced to her and nodded his head; "You go and help Ishida if he needs it. But only jump in if it appears that he is truly losing." he said.

Rangiku raised a brow to him, then smirked lightly and leaned toward his face with an interested look; "You seem to have quite a lot of faith in him." she claimed, keeping her smirk on her face as she spoke.

Toshiro looked to her and raised his own brow; "He's a master strategist. And is very dexterous in his own right. Plus he's the only one that I entrusted to figure out the test I set up for their group."

The strawberry blond blinked to him, then smiled lightly and nodded her head; "Well I'll leave Ichigo and the other guy to you." she said, winking and lazily saluting him before vanishing in a shunpo.

The white haired captain stood there for a moment with a raised brow, but then he turned himself in the correct direction, which was in the opposite one of Rangiku; "I hope that saving these kids doesn't become a frequent thing." he muttered to himself before disappearing.

-In the sky, near the Karakura bridge-

Ichigo was standing against whom he assumed was the leader of the assassins that arrived in the World of the Living, due to the fact that his spirit energy felt much higher the the others. This man had light purple hair, a scar across his face, which lead from the middle of his forehead, between his eyes and disappeared beneath a mask. The mask itself concealed his mouth and nose, but it still showed their shape and allowed an on looker to see his lips moving.

His other attire consisted of a bulky red and golden samurai-like outfit that also included a long black cape, while his weapon was that of a simple katana, only with a large mirror attached at the hilt. But while Ichigo had released his Bankai at the very beginning, his opponent's shock of it didn't last long enough for him to land a true strike. As he came forward through the swirling wind that made him invisible for a brief moment, he had only sliced through some of the samurai armor that the man wore.

"Ha! You think you can use stupid tricks like those to catch me off guard?" he exclaimed mockingly, swiftly swinging his own blade toward Ichigo.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and ducked under the attack; "No..." he started, vanishing from sight immediately afterward.

"...but this will!" he finished, appearing behind him with his katana swing downward at his opponent.

The man's eyes became wide for a moment, but he brought his blade up to block, taking on a confident smirk. But his eyes returned to being wide as Ichigo once again vanished from sight and he felt a sheering pain go down his back, which began gushing blood immediately. He growled out in pain as he stumbled forward, bringing his katana over to match Ichigo's attack coming on his right. The orange haired teen smirked lightly to him and pushed hard against the blade, quickly making him slide backward in the air; "What's wrong? I thought those tricks wouldn't work." he asked, sounding slightly smug.

The purple haired man ground his teeth together , pushed hard off Ichigo's blade and jumped backward quickly; "Tch! It won't be happening again!" he exclaimed angrily, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Ichigo returned his hard glare as he watched carefully, him not wanting to make any mistakes in this fight; "But I don't know why you came back with the same 'Bakkoto-thing' as last time. I already know it's power, so there's no use in trying to catch me with it." he called out, it being somewhat apparent that he was wondering if there was something he didn't actually know.

"Ha ha. We'll just see about that!" the man yelled out as he jumped forward, to which Ichigo did as well.

As they locked their blades together, the orange haired teen noticed a strange sudden flicker of fear in the man's eyes. Though he was confused about this, he took advantage of his opportunity and used the opening to parry the purple haired man's mirror-blade to the side and slice him across the chest. This wound was much shallower than the first one as his front held more armor, but he still began bleeding fairly heavily, which added to the red that was dying the water below.

"Damn it..." the man cursed, grinding his teeth in anger, frustration and pain.

"You just froze up there...what happened?" Ichigo asked, genuinely interested in what it was that gave him such a huge opening.

"Your little babysitter over there." he growled out, looking toward one of the pylons of the bridge.

Ichigo followed his gaze and saw Toshiro standing there with his arms crossed, eyes closed and his gigai laying behind him with a dead look; "Toshiro. What are you doing here?" the orange haired teen asked in bewilderment.

Toshiro merely sighed, opened his eyes and raised a brow to him; "Pay more attention to your opponent Kurosaki." he said in a halfway annoyed tone.

He quickly turned his attention back to the man just as he appeared in front of him with his blade swiping downward; "Now it's your turn to fall for a trick!" he exclaimed, making Ichigo's eyes widen.

Ichigo tried to get his zanpakuto into position to block, but was unable to move fast enough, yet as he braced himself for the impact, it never came. Instead, Ichigo noticed his opponent's blade hit something in mid-swing, to which he was knocked back and wasn't able to complete his attack. Though he was shocked, the orange haired teen used this new opening to get his zanpakuto into position to send a thrust toward the man's chest. But despite dodging this, the purple haired man was still shocked as he looked to his blade and noticed that it had a small chunk missing from the area that Toshiro's ice shuriken hit.

He immediately jumped backward a bit further, taking another look at the slightly broken blade and narrowed his eyes; "Damn it..." he muttered, turning his eyes to Toshiro.

The icy captain himself just stood there, his eyes close and his arms still crossed, only one of his ice covered hands was slightly out of position. The man glared even more as he realized that he had merely used the strength of his wrist to throw the ice shuriken; "You bastard." he growled between his grinding teeth.

"You don't have time to look away!" Ichigo called out, shunpoing behind him and swinging his zanpakuto toward the man.

The purple haired man's eyes widened, even though he managed to get his blade on his back to block the strike, he was still sent sliding forward through the air. He quickly turned around, shifting the mirror on the hilt towards the moon, to which Ichigo shunpoed multiple times in order to keep out of the reflected light. The orange haired teen then came right up toward him and swung his blade down on the mirror, completely shattering it. The purple haired man's eyes went from wide to narrowed as Ichigo smirked lightly and backed away.

"I won't let you use that technique on me again." he claimed, readying for another attack as the mirror shards free fell around them.

But Ichigo's eyes narrowed quickly as he saw his opponent smirk lightly, him seeing it through his eyes since his mouth wasn't completely seen; "Ha! Didn't I tell you? So long as the wielder has spirit energy to feed the Bakkoto...it can become infinitely powerful!" he called out as the mirror pieces began glowing.

Ichigo's eyes widened as the shards shot all around him, his mind suddenly going completely blank, and a large reflective sphere engulfing his body. Toshiro cracked one of his eyes open, raised a brow to all this, then opened his other eye and uncrossed his arms; "Interesting." was all he said before looking to the purple haired man.

"Now he's finished. Even if I die by your hand...I'll know that I killed that bastard Substitute Shinigami!" he called out, his eyes not flickering at all as he spoke the complete truth.

"Hmph...who's to say I won't kill you before you get the chance, Nukui Hanza?" Toshiro asked, as said man blinked his eyes in shock from him knowing his name.

"Tch...I heard the stories about you. You're considered more of a murderer then a 'savior'." Hanza claimed, speaking in a mocking tone, wearing a small smirk as he did.

Toshiro merely smirked back to him, but his being much darker then the purple haired man's; " That's the old me. I've turned over a new leaf."

To this, Hanza's eyes widened to the extreme, gasping from shock and fear as he began to tremble, Toshiro merely keeping his dark smirk; "So..." the icy captain started, stepping out into the air.

"...shall I make your death swift? Or painful?" he finished, to which Hanza began backing away, his armor rattling as his trembling increased.

Toshiro smirked a bit wider, this time it being in amusement; "Or...maybe I could just make it simple." he said, coming up to the large sphere that contained Ichigo.

Just before Hanza could say or do anything, Toshiro suddenly latched an ice covered hand into the sphere and shattered it into thousands of pieces. The purple haired man's eyes widened, but he didn't have long to react before the orange haired teen suddenly charged toward him. Toshiro smirked lightly once more and he watches the two lock blades; "I don't have time to waste effort on you. But you'll make for a good test for Ichigo in increasing his strength." he muttered silently, walking back to his spot on the pylon of the bridge.

'I'm going to keep my promise Sojiro. I won't let myself fall back into my past actions.' Toshiro thought, turning his head toward his right.

He extended his senses in that direction, closing his eyes as he did, to which he immediately felt Chad's and one of the assassins spirit energies spiked highly. Toshiro just stayed completely still as their presence was soon joined by Ikkaku's and Yumichika's, the assassin's quickly vanishing a few seconds later. He just simply smirked lightly to this and nodded his head; "It's just too easy." he whispered to himself.

But just as he turned his head toward the direction he could feel Uryu and his opponent, he hesitated as Orihime's presence came up near of Chad's, Ikkaku's and Yumichika's. Toshiro simply raised a brow and continued on with his scan of the fights; 'I guess I should try giving you a bit of training.' he thought as he heard clanging metal and battle cries from over his shoulder.

Toshiro merely ignored this and smirked lightly once more, him feeling the assassin's spirit energy die as Uryu's had simply weakened slightly; "Just like his father." he said to himself.

He then turned him's body around and looked at Ichigo as he locked blades with Hanza yet again; "And so their fight resumes." he commented, crossing his arms, closing his eyes and keeping the light smirk on his face.

As he stood there, he suddenly blinked his eyes open and raised a brow; "Wait a second..." he began, turning to the side.

"...where's Abarai?" he asked, not sensing the red head at all as said person snored loudly within Kisuke's shop.

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And there you have it, chapter 75...it's hard to believe that I've already gone this far and the story itself still has so much. I'm almost doubting I'll have any further stories after this one is finally over. =/ But as I said...almost. Oh...and just so you all know...I'm holding a poll of which story I should work on first. I might start publishing after this one or possibly during, I'm not sure yet. So after you've read this and left me a nice review...;)...please stop by at my profile and vote. I'd greatly appreciate it. It'll probably only last for a week or so, so make sure to come in and vote soon. :) And after that one...I think I'll have one more poll to see if you would all prefer for me to have the kido spells spoken in english or japanese. So basically it would be if you'd prefer it to be; 'Way of Destruction No: 33, Sokatsui' or 'Hado no sanju san, Sokatsui'. Thank you all, till next time.


	76. Chapter 76

Sorry this chapter was also late, I've been sick since before the previous one, but it just started becoming very prominent during the last week. =/ But anyway, on with the chapter. ;)

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**Chapter 76:**

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo called out as a large, black and red, highly condensed spiritual energy was released at the tip of his blade, which hurled directly toward Hanza.

The purple haired man's eyes widened as he watched it come toward him, but instead of shunpoing out of the way, he gathered a large amount of spirit energy and swung his blade right into the blast. But the moment their powers made contact, it caused an enormous explosion, which knocked them both back. Hanza had been hit farther due to the fact that he was right in the center of it, while Ichigo had been a few yards away in firing his attack.

Yet, as they both recovered their footing, the orange haired teen being faster thanks to his distance, the two leapt forward at each other, clashing their blades together. But when they pressed against one another as hard as they possibly could, only Hanza was being pushed back, his strength not enough to overpower the teen. Ichigo had eventually taken on a smirk as he took a step forward, him having managed to slid Hanza back enough for him to do so; "What's wrong? You seem to be getting weaker." the orange haired teen claimed.

Hanza simply glared daggers at him, then strained his muscles to their limit in order to push Ichigo a few inches and flip away from him; "Tch. This is nothing! I have far more power then you could dream of!" he yelled out, raising his blade into the air as his body was engulfed in light purple spirit energy.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes to this, but he took a quick glance toward Toshiro as he awaited his opponent's attack. The icy captain remained motionless as he kept his arms crossed and eyes close, to which Ichigo couldn't help but smirk; "You're like a frozen statue over there." he muttered to himself with a light chuckle.

As Hanza finished channeling his spirit energy into his blade, which had seemed to become bigger during this, the orange haired teen turned to face Hanza once more with narrowed eyes. At the same time, Toshiro allowed a small smirk to curl his lips, then cracked an eye to look at Ichigo, but closed it soon after both fighters had charged at one another. The moment their katanas connected once more, Ichigo was knocked back from the sheer force of Hanza's strike; "Damn...that Bakkoto really is powerful." the teen whispered to himself, narrowing his eyes further.

But when the purple haired man appeared behind him, swinging his blade toward his exposed back, Ichigo quickly shunpoed away. Yet no matter how many times he shunpoed away, Hanza had gotten behind him every time, to which Ichigo just barely dodged each attack. After the third repetition however, Ichigo moved his own blade behind his back, as to keep his opponents katana from slicing him. But the moment their blades connected, Ichigo was knocked forward with so much force that he was hurled straight toward the water, only stopping a mere foot from the surface.

Despite Ichigo turning himself around to face his opponent, he wasn't able to move out of the way quickly enough to dodge Hanza's follow up attack. The purple haired man slammed his blade against Ichigo's, which plunged them both into the water, but only the former had taken a deep breath before hand. The latter however had accidentally let out the air from his lungs after his body hit the bone chilling water. As the bubbles drifted away from the teen, Hanza smirked lightly as he knew that his victory was sealed.

As the teen composed himself after being in shock from the sudden cold, he attempted to push away from his opponent and resurface for air, but said man did not even budge. Hanza kept himself in front of Ichigo and knocked him further down, no matter how many times the teen tried to get away. Ichigo ground his teeth together as his lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen, them actually feeling like they were on fire. He then pushed the man away, jumped off the gathered spirit energy at his feet and made an 'all-or-nothing' attempt to get to the surface.

The purple haired man immediately came up in front of him, him swinging his blade down on Ichigo, which stopped his progress and even knocked him back, Ichigo quickly losing his altitude. Despite his muscles were being pushed to their very limit out of survival instinct, the orange haired teen could not muster enough to even swim toward the top of the water. His muscles lost all their strength and his body began to sink even further into the river, to which Hanza smirked widely and quickly resurfaced.

As this happened, Toshiro opened both his eyes slightly, them focused on where the two were in the water; "Come out already...I want to get this over with." he muttered to himself, sounding almost annoyed.

Ichigo reached out with his hand to try to swim, but he couldn't move anymore as his eyes began closing; _"Tch! You're pathetic!"_ a voice called out from inside his mind, causing his eyes to snap open.

A brief second later a gigantic blast of black and red spiritual pressure came out of the river, to which Hanza turned to this event with wide eyes; "What?" he exclaimed in shock.

Toshiro merely smirked lightly and nodded as if approving what was happening; "About time." he said to himself.

Ichigo had begun to rise out of the water, taking in a deep breath as the spirit energy whipped around his body. Then as he began grinning manically, a white mask began forming on his face; _"HA! You really suck at this Ichigo! I can't believe that you'd let yourself get beat by drowning! You're so damn pathetic it makes me wanna hurl!"_ 'Ichigo' called out in a strangely hollow-like voice, his sclera becoming black and his iris' becoming gold.

"How the hell are you still alive?" Hanza demanded, not seeming to think anything of Ichigo's sudden change of demeanor.

"_Tch. Like I'm at the same level as that pathetic idiot! I'm not about to roll over and die from something so stupid!"_ 'Ichigo' claimed, smirking wider as the mask continued to cover more of his face.

Hanza narrowed his eyes on the forming mask and ground his teeth together; "So you're really a hollow! It looks like you're even more interesting then I thought!" he called out generating his spirit energy into his blade.

But just as he did this, 'Ichigo' suddenly appeared behind him and stabbed him through his back, to which his blade protruded out of his chest. Hanza's eyes widened as he coughed out blood; "I...Imposs...ible." was all he could say before 'Ichigo' placed his other hand on the blade, just above the hilt.

"_Getsuga Tensho."_ he said lazily, to which an enormous blast of black and red spirit energy engulfed Hanza's body.

All that was heard over the roar of 'Ichigo's' attack was the sounds of the purple haired man dying screams of pain. As this finally seized, it revealed that both Hanza and the Bakkoto were disintegrated and 'Ichigo' to be standing in midair by himself. But as 'Ichigo' turned his attention to Toshiro, he smirked widely and shunpoed right in front of him; _"Your turn!"_ he yelled out, swinging his zanpakuto at a blinding speed.

Toshiro simply raised a brow and placed a single finger out, stopping to blade instantly, causing 'Ichigo's' eyes to widen; "I have a few things I'd like to talk to you about." the icy captain said, now narrowing his eyes on him.

'Ichigo' returned the gesture and pulled his katana away; _"And what would those be?"_ he asked, keeping his zanpakuto at the ready just in case.

The white haired captain smirked lightly as he raised his arm up to his own zanpakuto on his back, to which 'Ichigo' quickly charged at him. But Toshiro suddenly vanished from sight, then reappeared to the side of him, his katana already unsheathed and slowly coming toward 'Ichigo's' Zangetsu. The moment the blades made contact, 'Ichigo's' eyes glazed over along with Toshiro's and they both entered inside of Ichigo's mind-scape. This occurrence shocked 'Ichigo' as he found himself as the normal white version of Ichigo himself, whom of which was laying unconscious on the side of one of the buildings.

Toshiro walked over to the normal Ichigo as the other was grinding his teeth and glaring at the icy captain; "How the hell did you do that?" he demanded, clenching his fists tightly.

But his question was simple ignored as Toshiro knelt down and place a single ice covered claw to his forehead, awakening him instantly. Ichigo immediately began taking deep breaths as if he were still underwater, trying to air into his lungs; "Calm down...you're not drowning. You're inside your mind and are going to cooperate with me in some...negotiations." Toshiro said, sounding very serious and not seeming like he would take 'no' for an answer.

Ichigo simply blinked at him at first, but then repeated this as he realized his words; "How the hell did you get in here?" he asked, sounding almost just like his hollow counterpart.

"He did this through resonation. Using that...he is able to enter the inner mind of anyone he crosses blades with, so long as the opposing zanpakuto allows it." a tall and dark figure said from off to the side.

This figure was a tall forty to fifty year old man with unkempt facial hair and long ragged black hair. He was dressed in a tattered white undershirt, black pants and boots, narrow sunglasses, and a long flowing black overcoat with a red hue that flares out into ragged ends. But as each of them looked to this person, his eyes were completely focused on Toshiro himself; "You wish to help Ichigo overcome his hollow half." he claimed in a knowing tone.

Toshiro simply nodded his head to him, before turning to the Hollow-Ichigo and narrowing his eyes; "Is he willing to do so?" he asked, but though his question was directed toward the older looking man, it seemed that he was giving the hollow his own chance to answer for him.

"Ha! Yeah right! Like I'd ever be okay with following this idiot!" Hollow-Ichigo called out, pointing to Ichigo himself, whom narrowed his eyes on his white counterpart.

"I'm not gonna have a King that will get me killed!" he continued, to which Toshiro raised a brow and actually smirked lightly.

This small action caused both Ichigos to blink their eyes, but Toshiro just smirked a bit wider and crossed his arms; "Funny...someone once said the same to me." he said silently.

But each of the others present heard him and raised their brows to him; "What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

"He's speaking about this." a voice said from behind each of them, causing them all to turn quickly to the source.

What they saw was a tall man appearing in his twenties, with long, wild, teal green hair, with black streaks through it. He had an icy blue X across the center of his face, which was outlined in black, making his light grey eyes fit perfectly with his black sclera and the golden ring around the outside of his iris'. This man was dressed in loose samurai-like garments that consist of a light purple kimono, which had a dark purple strip around the middle of the sleeves.

There was a dark green and purple chest-plate beneath this, and a dull gold adornment across his chest. He also had a dark green obi wrapped around his waist, with a chain that ended in a familiar crescent moon shaped blade hanging out of it. While there was ice on his arms, legs, his neck and on the tip of his green prehensile tail, the ice itself was partly the normal blue and partly a jet black color; "He once had an inner hollow as well, but he and I have combined to become one. I am both my master's zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru...yet I am also his hollow side, whom we have yet to find a name for." the man said, to which Toshiro sighed lightly at his zanpakuto speaking almost leisurely about the subject.

Everyone but Toshiro's eyes became wide to this, but they all quickly looked back to the icy captain; "What the hell are you?" Ichigo demanded, completely confused yet amazed by this new information.

Toshiro once again took on a light smirk and looked to the orange haired teen in amusement; "I'm what you would call the ultimate hybrid. I was originally a shinigami, but then I was halfway transformed into a hollow by Aizen. Yet he didn't account for my power even back then and I managed to break the mask before the process was complete. So I basically I gained not only a full mask, but a fragment as well." he began, placing an icy hand to just above his left eye brow.

He then pulled it away as a small white piece of a mask formed in that spot, it having three black stripes, but the he put his hand to his chest; "But I'm still closer to that of an arrancar. Due to the fact..." he began, swiping his hand across his chest, the ice covering and filling his hollow hole shattering apart.

Ichigo's, Hollow-Ichigo's and even Zangetsu's eyes widened as they saw the hollow hole in the place that Toshiro's heart should be; "...I have one of these." the icy captain finished as he gestured to the hole in his chest.

"Oh my god..." Ichigo said in a gasp, him not being able to believe his eyes.

"That's...not possible." Hollow-Ichigo claimed, him being just as shocked and even more so in denial.

"Regardless of whether you believe my master or not...we came here so you three could come to a mutual agreement." Hyorinmaru spoke up, narrowing his eyes to each of them.

"And I know you'll all have questions, but they'll have to wait till later." Toshiro began, stepping forward and up to Ichigo.

"You'll need your hollow powers for what's coming." he continued, sounding dead serious in his tone.

Ichigo blinked his eyes and visibly gulped down; "What's coming this time?" he asked, him attempting to hide his nervousness, but failing miserably due to that fact that Toshiro's voice made it that much worse.

The white haired captain simply shook his head; "You'll find out after Ishida figures it out." was all he said before turning away from all of them.

"Huh? Till Ishida figures what out?" Ichigo asked, raising a brow to him, to which Toshiro just glanced back at him with a light smirk before looking away and continuing forward.

"Regardless of what it may be...you will be taking your next step toward your new training, Kurosaki." the icy captain said, stopping after a few more steps.

"Training? What kind?" Ichigo asked, blinking his eyes, not thinking about his own question moments ago.

"The kind that you'll receive from Shinji and his group." Toshiro began, looking at the orange haired teen from over his shoulder; "Whom you have yet to go to, despite me telling you to."

Ichigo just scratched the back of his neck and groaned silently; "Yeah well...it's kind hard when you have a noble pain in the ass to deal with." he said, making it obvious he was referring to Rurichiyo.

"Hmph..." Toshiro huffed out, turning his head away once more before letting out a sigh and circled his body around to face them; "Anyway, I'll be sending someone to take over for you. So concentrate fully on your training and meet up with Shinji first thing tomorrow."

The orange haired teen nodded his head; "Alright. But can you guarantee that Rurichiyo will be safe?" he asked, clearly concerned for the girl's safety, regardless of his previous comment.

Toshiro looked to him and nodded his head, his eyes showing the teen that he wouldn't have to worry, to which he nodded back and spoke once more; "Okay. I'll start tomorrow...but please don't tell me they'll make me do useless stuff that will have nothing to do with anything." he asked, sweat dropping slightly.

The white haired captain raised a brow to him, but then smirked invisibly as he shrugged his shoulders; "Well...considering the fact that they're all the same as they were a hundred years ago...I'd say, there's a possibility." he said, looking at Ichigo in amusement as he groaned his displeasure.

"Hey! I'm not just sit around here and wait for him to learn how to beat me!" Hollow-Ichigo exclaimed, narrowing his eyes on Toshiro and gripping the large zanpakuto on his back.

The icy captain simply looked to him and smirked a bit wider, but it was far different from his previous and amused one; "And what do you intend to do?" he asked, his voice sounding fairly dark in the bright landscape.

Hollow-Ichigo ground his teeth together and narrowed his eyes further on him; "I'll kill you!" he called out, bring his zanpakuto forward, the black wrapping flowing off the blade as he did.

Toshiro simply waited in his spot, even crossing his arms as Hollow-Ichigo came right up to him. Once the hollow swung his blade down toward him, he was suddenly stopped as Hyorinmaru appeared before him and blocked his attack with nothing but his ice covered hand. Hollow-Ichigo just let out a silent 'Tch' before jumping away and smirking lightly; "Alright...I'll cooperate. I'm not gonna get myself killed in this place." he said, placing his over sized zanpakuto on his shoulder.

Ichigo and even Zangetsu's eyes became wide as they heard his words, but before either could ask about Hollow-Ichigo's sudden change, he answered with a roll of his eyes; "I'm not stupid. I know I'm no match for either of these guys. And if I'm going to die, I'd prefer it be by some stupid reason from this idiot..." he began, pointing right to Ichigo himself, to which he narrowed his eyes in response, not trusting his hollow for even a second.

"...then in this place." he finished, gesturing to Ichigo's mind-scape by looking around at the tall buildings.

Toshiro nodded his head to this and uncrossed his arms; "Now that we have an understanding..." he began, looking to each of the four present.

"...let's get back to reality." was all he said before Ichigo's and Toshiro's eyes became focused and they realized that they were standing on top of the pylon on Karakura bridge.

"Whoa...that was freaky." Ichigo muttered, his mask just shattering apart and his eyes returned to normal.

"It should be. Only one second has passed on the outside." Toshiro claimed, turning away as the orange haired teen deactivated his Bankai and blinked his eyes in shock.

"Are you serious? Just one second?" Ichigo asked, looking and sounding like he couldn't believe his words.

Toshiro simply nodded his head as he started walking, then just leaped off the pylon and began flying through the air. Ichigo quickly did the same as he called out to the icy captain; "Wait a sec! You've gotta show me how you did that!"

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And there you have it. Chapter 76 and a rough explanation of everyone's question about what Toshiro is. ;) Btw, i came to the decision to write the kido spells like this; Hado no 33: Sokatsui. I'm sure everyone would prefer it this way too. On top of that, my upcoming story will be my Bleach and Naruto crossover I have planned. And the one somewhere along the lines during or after that will be the Doctor Who and Bleach crossover, that was a bit surprising, but it seems that we have a few Doctor Who fans, ne? ;) Anyway, till next time everyone, ja ne. :)


	77. Chapter 77

Here's the next chapter, again...a day late. But hey, one day isn't bad. At least I don't update once a month, skip one update and make you wait a whole other month for one chapter or something. =/ That would just suck. Anyway, on with the chapter.

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**Chapter 77:**

-First Division, the next morning-

Toshiro stood in line with all of the other captains, the even numbered division leaders on one side, while the odd were on the other. The Head Captain however sat in the lone chair at the very end of the room as he spoke first; "What is your purpose for requesting this captains' meeting?"

The older man's voice sounding only halfway interested, his eyes never opening to even look at the blue haired man that was standing before him. Shusuke cleared his throat and spoke in a tone that was as respectful as possible; "I know it's not my place to speak out since I am a newcomer here, but I have a proposal that I'd like for everyone to hear."

After his words, he bowed at his waist slightly, to which each of the other captains looked to him with their own various expressions. The Head Captain seemed neutral as his eyes barely opened toward him, Soifon had her eyes narrowed at him, showing her complete distrust for the man. Retsu simply had a gentle yet interested look on her face, while Byakuya was just wearing his normal emotionless expression, not allowing anyone to see what he was thinking toward Shusuke.

Sajin had a fur covered brow raised as his wolf-like face showed an interest in what the blue haired man would say, Shunsui however appeared like he wasn't listening at all. Toshiro had his eyes closed, arms crossed and his head tilted down, it not being at all obvious of what his view on the situation was. Kenpachi appeared to be bored, but he also looked like he might actually listen to what Shusuke will say. Mayuri wasn't even looking at anyone, he seemed to be pondering about something else that obviously had nothing to do with the meeting.

All the while, Jushiro just stood in his spot with a seemingly knowing expression on his features as if he already knew what as going to be said. But as Shusuke stayed in his bowing stance for a few more brief moments, the Head Captain nodded his head and spoke; "Very well. You may speak."

The blue haired captain immediately straightened himself up and nodded lightly; "Thank you." he began, turning toward each of the other captains around him.

"I know that almost all that Gotei Thirteen's squads act independently and that they each have there own specialty. But in the areas of inter-squad coordination, and compensation for each division's weaknesses with another's strengths, they are terribly lacking." he continued, to which each of the other captains placed their full attention to him.

Toshiro had even opened his eyes and raised a brow, his own interest obvious being sparked. Though Shusuke noticed this, he continued on without missing a beat; "Though the Tenth and Second are exceptions due to their duel commanders, I'd like to propose that all of the divisions could preform combined exercises at least once or twice a month. At the very least this would increase the Gotei Thirteen's performance of working together."

Most of the captains had either raised a brow or just stared blankly at him, but it was Kenpachi that spoke up first; "Are you kidding me? You expect everyone to hold hands, smile and fight together? Tch, not a chance." his tone was in a very blatant sarcasm, but it was also obvious that his words still held his true opinion.

"Not to that extent. But I think that these training sessions together will benefit everyone." Shusuke stated, him sounding hopeful that someone would see his view on the issue.

"There's no way tha-..." Kenpachi began, but was interrupted by Jushiro as he spoke up.

"Actually...he's correct. It was because of the gaps and differences between each of the squads that allowed Aizen, Ichimaru and Tosen to take advantage of us. If we had been a more unified...it would be more likely they would have been caught far before then." as the white haired captain said all this, he glanced around to everyone present, but stopped on Shusuke before continuing.

"For our squads to bond to such an extent, it would truly be very beneficial for the Gotei Thirteen. So I definitely agree with Amagai on this." immediately following his words, Jushiro turned his attention toward the Head Captain.

The elderly man himself had closed his eyes and just sat in his seat in silence, not moving an inch. As each of the captains glanced around to one another they shared looks of either approval of the blue haired man's idea, or severe disapproval. Retsu, Sajin, Shunsui and Jushiro being the ones that showed consent on their features, while Soifon, Byakuya, Kenpachi and Mayuri had an expression of opposition. But Toshiro seemed to be just as unreadable as the Head Captain, him having taken his previous stance of closing his eyes and crossing his arms.

"I will have to deny your proposal Amagai." the oldest man in Soul Society said, opening his red eyes and looked out at all the other captains.

But just as Shusuke was about to say something, the Head Captain spoke again, this time being in a very commanding tone; "That is my final decision. This meeting is over."

The Head Captain slammed his staff on the floor as if to further emphasize his words, to which many of the captains immediately started walking out without a single word. The blue haired captain looked down, seemingly saddened by the outcome, him even going as far as to let out a heavy and sad sounding sigh. But he too walked out of the meeting room as Jushiro and Shunsui placed hands on his shoulders and led him out. Leaving only Toshiro, Byakuya and Soifon in the meeting room, everyone else including the Head Captain already gone and out of ear shot.

The three accumulated near the large doors that led out of the hall, the two raven haired captains going up on either side of Toshiro. Soifon on his right, while Byakuya stood on his left, yet both of them were also slightly behind him, as if to show their respect toward the white haired captain. As the three stood there in silence, Soifon inched slightly closer to Toshiro and spoke to him in a hushed voice; "He's a very clever man. First he covers his tracks with the Kasumioji clan. And now he's making proposals that may actually help the Gotei Thirteen."

"I may have just been informed about his true dealings...but I feel that it would be best to find new ways to prove his traitorous deeds to everyone else instead of simply waiting and watching." Byakuya said, not looking at anyone as he spoke.

Toshiro glanced to him, then looked to Soifon as she had a light blush on her cheeks; "I-I told him about what we were doing...I thought you would wish for him to know." the petite woman said, turning her head away in embarrassment.

The white haired captain simply nodded and turned his gaze away from her; "You were correct. It will be far easier to operate with another person contributing." he said.

Byakuya looked to his oldest friend and nodded his head as if confirming that he would indeed be helping them. Toshiro took a glance to him, but turned his attention toward the open doors of the meeting hall; "And yes...I have been contemplating multiple ways to reveal his true intentions. But he has proven to be quite formidable in concealing his actions." he said, narrowing his eyes at where Shusuke had disappeared with Jushiro and Shunsui.

"What shall we do then?" Soifon asked, her looking at him with an expression that showed that she already had an idea of what his orders would be, but simply wished to hear him say it.

"For now...I'd like for you to continue your investigation." Toshiro began, him ignoring the look he immediately saw on Soifon's face.

"Yes sir." was Soifon's response as she nodded her head and even lightly bowed to him.

"And I would appreciate it if you could watch over my division for me." he continued, looking to Byakuya as he spoke.

The raven haired man simply nodded his head, but listened carefully as Toshiro spoke once more; "And I'd suggest for both of you to keep your divisions under strict control tonight."

The two black haired captains raised their brows to him, yet neither of them spoke a word until Toshiro continued; "I have a feeling someone is going to be quite busy." Toshiro finished, glancing over his shoulder to where the Head Captain had been sitting during the meeting.

They followed his gaze and kept their raised brows, but they simply nodded to Toshiro once more and said a simple; "Yes sir." to him.

Toshiro turned his attention to the door once more, him now beginning to walk through it with Soifon and Byakuya following close behind. But as they walked the white haired captain continued speaking; "I also have one more thing I would like both of you to do."

The two looked to him once more and simply waited for him to finish before raising their brows in question again; "Watch out for a green and yellow haired man named, Inaba Kageroza and make sure not to let him near your divisions."

But before either of them could question him, Toshiro suddenly shunpoed away and left the two just standing there with no clue of whom he was talking about. Soifon looked up in thought as if to recollect whether the white haired captain had spoke to her about this 'Inaba Kageroza' before now. Yet she could not remember a single incident, which she hypothesized that Toshiro himself must have just found out about this new threat as well.

Byakuya looked at his fellow raven haired captain, him being able to read Soifon's thoughts through her facial expressions; "Now the question is..." the serious noble began, to which Soifon looked to him.

"...what type of threat does this Inaba Kageroza pose. And why we mustn't allow him into our divisions." he finished, earning a light nod from the smaller captain.

-World of the Living, later on that night-

Toshiro's eye brow twitched as he stood at the doorway of Orihime's apartment, while the owner and his gigai wearing lieutenant were hugging each other tightly. Both females having wide smiles on their faces as they kept up their hug for at least another five minutes before breaking apart. The white haired captain sighed heavily and shook his head; 'I still don't understand why we had to come here.' he thought with a roll of his eyes.

He sighed lightly as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck; 'Damn it Kisuke...I told you to make these gigais better then before. This one feels really small.' he thought to himself, his own inner voice sounding annoyed in his head.

As he walked through the doorway, closing the door behind him and side stepping around the talking females, he was suddenly pulled backward by his collar. Toshiro's face was immediately met by the chest of Rangiku, as she had been the one to grab him; "Your not going anywhere Captain! Not until Orihime greets you properly!" her tone sounding cheerful.

Rangiku then turned Toshiro around to face the now blushing teen as she looked away with an avoiding gaze; "Um..." she began, before bowing slightly to him.

"Nice to see you again, Captain Hitsugaya!" Orihime finished, sounding very respectful toward Toshiro as she spoke, to which said captain raised a brow and ended up smirking.

"You don't have to be so formal Orihime. You can call me Hitsugaya-kun again if you like." he said, keeping his smirk on his face as if to make sure the burnt-orange haired girl would know that he truly didn't mind.

Orihime smiled widely to him, then quickly ran over and hugged him; "Thank you Hitsugaya-kun!" she exclaimed happily.

But she broke away from her hug almost immediately and blushed at Toshiro once more; "Sorry Hitsugaya-kun. I guess I got caught up in the moment."

Toshiro simply blinked at her, then raised a brow and shook his head; "It's fine. I get hugged by Rangiku and Yoruichi almost all the time." he said this with only a halfway annoyed tone.

"But I'm still sorry. I've never really hugged anyone just out of impulse before." Orihime said, still obviously embarrassed.

Before Toshiro could say anything, Rangiku stepped forward and instantly hugged Orihime once more, but releasing her soon after; "Don't worry Orihime...hugging on impulse is fun!" she claimed, giving her fellow woman a wink.

"Especially when your targe-I-I mean...'huggie'...is my wonderful and generous Captain." the strawberry blond said, quickly correcting herself, but not before Toshiro looked at her with a raised a brow.

Orihime had just blushed deeper, Rangiku's words having the complete opposite effect as she thought they would. But before any further embarrassment could occur, Toshiro cleared his throat and spoke; "Where exactly will we be staying?"

"Oh! Right! I have a spare bedroom over here. But I'm afraid you'll have to share the space. Sorry." Orihime said, now taking on a sheepish smile as she gestured them over toward an open door down a hall nearby.

"That's alright Orihime. We're used to being close to each other." Rangiku said in a slightly suggestive tone, adding a wink for good measure.

This had caused Orihime to blush deeply for what seemed the tenth time that day and for Toshiro to sigh in annoyance for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. But before the strawberry blond could say anything further, Toshiro quickly spoke up; "Don't worry about us. We're going to be spending most of our time scouting the area. It's we that are sorry to be using your home as a base." he said, sounding surprisingly very respectful.

His tone surprised Rangiku and Orihime, but had cause the latter to blush deeply yet again as she waved her hands out in front of her; "It's not a problem...really! I'm glad to be of help to you guys. You've saved us quite a few times and this is the least I can do." her voice seeming almost frantic, as if she were embarrassed about not doing more.

"We're still grateful though Orihime!" Rangiku exclaimed, recovering from her shock and hugging the burnt-orange haired teen tightly yet again.

Toshiro smirked lightly to this and started walking toward the room the young teen had been gesturing to; "I'm going to leave my gigai in the room. I'll take the first watch shift." he said, not even bothering to see if either of the women heard him.

He walked into the room and sighed heavily, ignoring the two females that had begun talking about what to eat for dinner; "Jeez. What did I get myself in to?" he muttered silently, exiting out of his gigai as it dropped to the floor.

"I guess it won't be all bad. But..." he continued, walking toward the only window in the room and opening it.

"...this is going to be a long few days." he muttered to himself with a roll of his eyes, taking in a breath of the cool fall air.

Just as he lifted himself on the windowsill, he paused for a moment and tilted his head down in thought; 'I am wondering why Kisuke insists on making his own garganta. He must know that I can do it, yet he still has to use up almost every room in his shop for all the supplies he needs. Even Yoruichi was kicked out...I wonder where she'll go for the time being.' he thought to himself.

But his thoughts were answered as he looked to the side and saw a black cat just looking right at him, to which he sighed heavily and jumped out of the window; 'I should have figured.' he continued with yet another roll of his eyes.

He gave the cat a slight wave before flying straight into the air, unbeknownst to him that the cat actually smiled lightly and trotted toward the front door of Orihime's apartment. But the moment he halted in the air, he swiftly turned around as he felt a sudden spirit energy from far away; "Tch. I didn't think it would be this fast." he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

As he did this, he stretched his senses toward the spiritual pressure and closed his eyes; "It feels like a high six...lower five." he whispered silently to himself.

"So that must be the infamous...Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow." Toshiro whispered to himself, his eye brows furrowing slightly.

"Even I'd have to use Bankai to defeat him. Especially with only twenty percent of my full power." he continued, opening his eyes and letting out a frustrated sounding sigh.

But he raised a brow as he continued to stand in the air and stare in the direction of Grimmjow; "He's not moving. Hmm, he must be waiting for reinforcements." he said to himself, nodding his head as if in acceptance.

'I guess he's smarter then I originally thought.' Toshiro thought with a small smirk developing on his face, this once appearing almost like he was sure about the answer to a difficult question.

"Perfect." he muttered silently, his tone sounding pleased about something.

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To answer the questions I know are coming, yes I'll explain how Toshiro knows Inaba's threat with the whole reigai thing. And yes...I'll explain how he knows who Grimmjow is as well. ;) Anyway, that's about it for this chapter...I actually forgot to take down my poll, so I'll be doing that now. Thank you to all that voted. ;) Till next time. Ja Ne.


	78. Chapter 78

Sorry this is late yet again, I think I might have to just start updating on Wednesdays. But I'm not sure yet. Anyway, here's the next chapter for all of you awesome fans out there. ;)

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**Chapter 78:**

Toshiro stayed hovering in the air for almost a full hour, his eyes closed and arms crossed the entire time. Once the sixty minutes passed he opened his eyes, turned his head to the side and just seemed to stare; "So they finally arrived." he said to himself as five fairly large spiritual energies suddenly appeared near of Grimmjow.

The icy captain shifted his body to face the direction of these six people, then slowly removed the spirit particles away from his feet. This action made him slowly begin to descend down and onto the roof of Orihime's apartment; 'They should be here any minute now.' he thought, glancing over his shoulder as he touched down on the roof's shingles.

"Captain!" Rangiku called out as she came up onto the roof with a flip, to which Toshiro simply nodded to her.

"I suspect at least two of them to come here. So just make sure not to let your guard down...no matter how weak they may be." he said to her, looking toward the approaching enemies as he did.

"I know...we only have twenty percent of our usual power so it's best not to underestimate our opponents." Rangiku said as if quoting someone else's words she heard many times before.

Toshiro glanced back at her briefly with a raised brow, but just let out a silent sigh before he narrowed his eyes on two figures that seemed to just appear in the air before them. The first was a tall, sophisticated-looking man with a long face and black, braided hair, which was hanging over his left shoulder. He had a mask fragment that had a portion dropping down to cover the upper-left half of his face, while the rest was a long spike that pointed to his right.

The second man was very large, but mainly in his stomach area, causing his to have a slightly hunched posture. His face was round and wide, in contrast to his very small eyes, and while his hair was dark brown with a bowl hairstyle, his mask fragment covered half of his face, which looked just like a real skull. They both wore a tight white jacket, white hakama pants, black tobi socks, with silver straw-sandals and a black obi, leading a zanpakuto in their waist.

"Good evening." the taller one spoke; "I am Kufang Shawlong. Arrancar No. 11. And this is Grindina Nakeem." he continued, gesturing from himself to his larger partner.

"Arrancar No.14...here to seal your impending doom." Nakeem claimed smirking widely to the two below him.

"Hmph, Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro." said person all but muttered as he just looked at the two with a seemingly bored expression.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku." the strawberry blond said, placing her hands on her hips, her too also appearing somewhat bored.

As soon as her words left her lips, Shawlong suddenly vanished and appeared on Toshiro's right side. The tall man had unsheathed his zanpakuto during his movement, allowing him to slash down at the white haired captain, whom had merely raised an ice covered finger, stopping his blade. Shawlong merely smirked lightly and jumped back as if to prepare for another attack; "You're every bit of what Aizen-sama spoke of." he claimed, causing one of Toshiro's brows to raise.

"Well I'm glad to see that he's taken the time to inform you about me." Toshiro began, lowering his hand once more to his side.

"But then you also must realize that you're no match for me...no matter how many of you there are." he continued, his tone sounding merely truthful instead of smug or even cold.

"Tch! We'll just see about that." Shawlong claimed, narrowing his eyes and glancing to his partner; "Shall we show these fools who they're dealing with?"

Nakeem smirked widely and nodded his head as they both turned to look at Toshiro and Rangiku once more. The two Tenth Division officers merely looked to each other, while the higher ranked on spoke up; "Which one would you like to kill?"

"Mmm." Rangiku hummed to herself, looking from Showlong to Nakeem as if she were shopping between two horrible looking products.

"I'll take busty the bitch." Nakeem muttered confidently, to which the strawberry blond's eye brow twitched angrily.

Toshiro glanced to her and just nodded his head; "I'll take the other one." he said calmly.

"Fine by me." Rangiku said silently, her tone sounding extremely mad.

"Ha! Bring it on you w-..." but before he could even finish, he was immediately punched in his stomach with so much force that his eyes all but bulged out of his skull and for him to cough out a large amount of blood.

As he was being hit, his whole body was blasted through the air and flew over sixty feet, to which Rangiku followed after him. This shocked Shawlong as his eyes became almost just as wide as his partner's had, but he quickly turned around as Toshiro suddenly appeared behind him; "Still liking your chances?" the white haired captain asked silently.

Shawlong sonidoed away as fast as he could but when he reappeared on the roof of a nearby building, Toshiro was already standing there a few yards in front of him. The tall arrancar glared at him fiercely, but he he smirked smugly as he held his zanpakuto out in front him, it being parallel with his body; "I'll show you the true power of an arrancar!" he called out as a yellow colored spirit energy engulfed him.

Toshiro just stood there as Shawlong placed his other hand on top of his zanpakuto's grip, both of which were open so his katana was held between both his hands from either side; "Tate! Tijereta!" the arrancar called out.

Shawlong's spirit energy expanded exponentially, even blinding Toshiro's sight for a moment as he just stood there with a cold expression on his face. As the light died down, the icy captain could see the newly transformed arrancar, which didn't seem to change his views at all; "How do you like the release form of an arrancar?" the man asked with a smirk on his face.

Shawlong had grew white armor that covered his arms and upper chest, while his hands had transformed into long claws. His mask now extended down to cover the entire left side of his face, and the section that extending out to his right, had become mounted on the back of his head. Also, his original mask fragment was now extending downward to form a sort of half-helmet that also had a fifteen foot claw-tipped tail.

But all Toshiro did was lazily raise an ice covered hand and point a single finger toward him; "Not impressed." he said silently before a long ice shard extended from the tip of his claw and pierced Shawlong through his chest.

Shawlong looked at this shocked, him taking in a coarse breath before he coughed out blood; "I-Im..poss..ible." was all he could say as blood poured out of his wound and dripped onto the roof they stood on.

"Sorry...but I don't want to waste any time on you. I need to make sure your leader doesn't kill one of my best friends' son." Toshiro claimed.

The tall man gasped his last breath as Toshiro pulled his hand away, to which the ice shattered and allowed Showlong to drop to the roof. But just as Toshiro turned around he heard the arrancar scream out a battle cry and charge at him; "I won't be killed so easily!" he yelled out, but was immediately stopped as he was impaled by a large ice spike that suddenly shot out of the roof.

Toshiro glanced over his shoulder at Showlong, whom had a shocked expression on his face; "It seems Aizen didn't tell you enough about me." the white haired captain began, narrowing his eyes on the arrancar.

"I never leave my back open when I fight alone." he finished, the ice from the spike spreading onto Shawlong's body.

The arrancar was only able to manage a short scream before the ice completely engulfed him and just shattered, reducing his whole body to nothing but frozen shards. As this happened, the white haired captain turned away and looked up just as he saw Rangiku give her own opponent another strong punch to his gut. Just like the first time, he had been thrown backward incredibly far, but this time, Rangiku shunpoed behind him and stuck her hand out, to which Nakeem was impaled upon her arm.

"I don't tolerate insults from anyone. Especially not pathetic creatures like you." she said to him before gripping her zanpakuto with her free hand.

"Unare , Haineko." she whispered as a large cloud of ash surrounded them.

All that was heard was the sound of Nakeem screaming in pain before the cloud disbursed and revealed only Rangiku as she sheathed her katana. She then proceeded to walk on the air and toward her superior; "So...you in the mood for a bowl of ice cream? Orihime and I were about to have some before those morons arrived." she asked, her now returning to her usual personality.

Toshiro merely raised a brow to her and shook his head; "I'll have to pass. I need to head toward Kurosaki. He's about to face the most powerful of this group." he said, to which Rangiku nodded her head.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" she asked, just before a large pillar of fire erupted off to the side, to which they both turned and looked at it.

"Well...I think Madarame and Abarai could use your help." the icy captain said, looking to her once more.

Rangiku nodded to him yet again and turned her head toward the direction she could feel Renji's spiritual pressure; "I guess I'll start with Renji. Ikkaku would probably refuse my help anyway." she said, shrugging her shoulders as if this situation wasn't a big deal.

Toshiro nodded back, then glanced toward where he could feel Ichigo's, Rukia's and Grimmjow's spiritual energies fluctuating; "Meet back here after everything is finished." he said.

Rangiku gave him a nodding wink before snapping her fingers; "Oh! I almost forgot!" she claimed, looking to him quickly, to which he looked at her with a raised brow.

"I sent your order for the communicator so you won't have to travel back and forth to receive information." she said, smirking widely as if she had accomplished something grand.

The white haired captain nodded his head to her with a light but thankful smirk on his face; "What's the expected time of delivery?" he asked.

"Probably tomorrow afternoon. We should be out of school by then." she claimed, to which Toshiro nodded one last time before starting to walk away.

"Let's get this over with." he said before both of them shunpoed away, heading in opposite directions.

-Across town-

Ichigo was slammed hard into the cement street, him coughing up blood as he created a large crater with the force of his body hitting the ground. The teen attempted to stand himself up, using his katana as a prop, but a tall blue haired man appeared before him. This man had light blue color eyes with green markings below them, his hair being spiked back, but with a few strands hooking out toward the front. His attire consisted of a white hakama pants, a black sash, a ragged white jacket with an upturned collar and rolled up sleeves.

The inner lining of his jacket and pants were black, the former being worn unzipped completely, leaving his muscular chest revealed. The remains of his hollow mask consist of the right jawbone, and his hollow hole was located in his abdomen, while his number six tattoo was on his back, just off the right side of his Hollow hole. This man smirked widely at the struggling teen, his smirk practically radiating killing intent; "Tch...this is all your Bankai can do? Pathetic!" he exclaimed, grabbing Ichigo by the front of his shihakusho and lifted him off the ground.

The blue haired man then used his other hand to punch Ichigo in his face, knocking blood out of his mouth and creating new cuts that began bleeding immediately in the process. But as soon as he attacked, he release his hold on Ichigo, then used both his hands to start punching Ichigo's face mercilessly before the teen could even touch the ground. As this happened, Ichigo's mind was going blank, his brain unable to process anything besides the immense pain from being hit.

"Ulquiorra should have just taken the risk and killed you! I wouldn't have cared if that Hitsugaya brat had been there! You finish what you start!" the man exclaimed as he continued to pummel the orange haired teen into oblivion.

As his attacks finally stopped, Ichigo was finally able to muster enough strength to take in a breath, despite it being harsh and gurgled from the blood. He then turned his head weakly toward the blue haired man as he took on a wide and maniac grin before uppercutting him straight into the air. Ichigo's vision began blurring, but just as it began clearing slightly while he soared high into the air, the blue haired man appear before him and threw a powerful roundhouse kick into his ribs.

The blow broke many of his bones and sent him crashing right back into the ground, making a large dust cloud in the process; "Tch! I guess if you're this weak...maybe there really isn't any real reason to kill you. You're incredibly pathetic, Shinigami. What a disappointment." the arrancar claimed, spitting in annoyance in the beginning.

But just before he said anything else he suddenly heard Ichigo down below call out; "Getsuga Tensho!" as the dust clear away.

Immediately following his words, an enormous black and red energy hurled toward the blue haired arrancar and hit directly on his body, despite shielding himself with his arms. The attack eventually disbursed, revealing the man with large burn marks on his chest and arms, but none of them seem to be very severe; "Am I still disappointing you, Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked, smirking slightly as he wobbled slightly on his feet.

"Ha! Bring it on! I guess you're worth killing after all!" Grimmjow called out with a wide grin on his face.

"Unfortunately for you..." a voice began from behind the blue haired arrancar, to which he quickly turned around with a shocked expression as he saw Toshiro just standing there.

"...you won't be killing him any time soon." Toshiro finished before narrowing his eyes and swinging an ice covered fist toward him.

Grimmjow dodged out of the way and sent his own punch toward the white haired captain, to which Toshiro blocked easily; "So you came out after all! I was worried I'd have to come find you!" Grimmjow declared with another large grin.

Toshiro knocked Grimmjow's fist away with enough force to even push his body ten feet back, but the arrancar merely kept his grin and turned himself in a battle ready stance; "Now I'll finally have a challenge!" he called out.

The icy captain narrowed his eyes as he too shifted his body to be in a fighting pose, but immediately following this, they both leapt forward and clashed their fists together. This collision sent a strong percussion wave around them, which had broke every window in every building within a hundred foot radius and knocked Ichigo on his back. But unbeknownst to anyone, the wave had also done the same to Tatsuki as it had to the orange haired teen, yet she had recovered slightly faster as she was farther away.

After standing, she quickly ran toward the area of the fight, but had hid behind a large building that she could only hope would keep her safe and out of sight; "Ichigo?" she whispered in shock as she looked at the teen as he was still in the crater.

But her eyes became wider as she noticed Toshiro and Grimmjow; "That's that Hitsugaya Toshiro...but...who's that other guy?" she asked, narrowing her eyes on the two high in the air.

As the two contenders pushed away from each other, the blue haired one immediately came forward with a roundhouse kick, to which Toshiro merely held up his arm to block it. Grimmjow smirked widely as this happened, while his opponent had a cold expression on his face. As the arrancar's leg made contact with the icy captain's forearm, yet another shock wave was blasted from the force. This one had cracked the cement of the closest buildings within twenty feet of them; "Ha! I knew you wouldn't disappoint!" Grimmjow called out, obviously pleased about their fight thus far.

Before Grimmjow could retract his leg, Toshiro brought his other arm up and grabbed it him by the ankle, to which the blue haired arrancar's eyes widened slightly. The icy captain immediately pivoted around and literally threw him through the air, Grimmjow flipping around many times from the force of the throw. Just as the arrancar regained his footing, he swiftly dodged a kick the came from behind him, to which Toshiro narrowed his eyes as his attack missed.

After dodging, Grimmjow spun around and made a sweeping kick toward Toshiro's only standing foot, but the icy captain merely jumped over it and landed easily on the spirit particles he gathered in the air. They both returned to fighting positions before the two suddenly vanished, reappearing almost forty feet away and slammed their fists together. The two had continued this process a dozen more times, using both their fists and legs for each clash, yet neither had out done the other in strength or speed whatsoever.

Once the twelfth time came, Toshiro and Grimmjow disappeared, but then they arrived through their respective movements and just stood a few yards apart. The white haired captain took in a few deep breaths as his opponent was taking in heavier ones, which showed that he had used a bit more energy; "This is the best fight ever! I've finally found someone I can actually have a great fight with!" the blue haired espada laughed out with a wide grin on his face.

Tatsuki had blinked to all this, her not even being able to see either of the fighters as they attacked one another, but she had tried her best to watch and stay hidden at the same time. She had eventually taken on a shocked expression as Toshiro and Grimmjow just stared each other down; "This is insane. How can anyone be this strong? It's obvious that they're not human...but how can it be possible?" she asked silently.

After a few more moments, Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock as a hand was placed to his shoulder, but it wasn't Toshiro's, whom had narrowed his eyes even further as his cold expression turned even colder. Nor was it Ichigo's, as the orange haired teen himself was just watching the whole fight with an interested and slightly amazed look, despite him being bruised heavily and much blood dripping off his face. Grimmjow turned his head toward the person behind him and muttered the person's name with shock and hatred; "Tosen."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed along with Tatsuki's, but only the former actually knew whom the new comer was; "Damn...this is getting complicated." the orange haired teen muttered as he clenched his zanpakuto, getting ready for a fight.

Toshiro clenched his ice covered hands, making his anger toward the blind man apparent, but he didn't have time to concentrate on him as a blade came directly toward him from the left. The white haired captain swiftly turned just in time to deflect the katana away from him, he then narrowed his eyes in anger as he saw the owner of the attacking blade; "Gin." he whispered silently.

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And there ya have it, chapter 78. ;) But just to let you all know, even though I ended it like this, there won't be much of a fight in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed. Till next time everybody. ;) Ja Ne.


	79. Chapter 79

Alright...here's Chapter 79. *sigh* God I need a new hobby. XD Anyway, on with the story and prepare to be...*cue dramatic music*...mind freaked~! Well...not really...but maybe a little. Lol.

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**Chapter 79:**

Toshiro glared toward the smiling man as he retracted his blade and held it out before him in a guarding position; "So Aizen sent both of you." the icy captain stated instead of questioned.

"O' course. He figured ya would be here afta Ulquiorra left so suddenly, so when lil' Grimmy here decided ta come...he sent both o' us ta brin' him back." Gin claimed, smiling widely with his eyes closed.

The white haired captain narrowed his eyes further on the man, completely ignoring Tosen as he opened a garganta and led a reluctant Grimmjow with him through it; "Five seconds Ichimaru." the blind man said over his shoulder before the garganta closed.

Toshiro looked from where Tosen and Grimmjow once were before turning back to Gin, whom had four fingers held up; "Four..." the smiling man said, keeping his zanpakuto out in front of him.

"Three..." he continued as Toshiro quickly unsheathed his katana and charged toward him, sending a thrusting blow toward Gin's chest.

"Two..." just as the word left his lips, he used his own blade to parry the blow to the side.

But Toshiro had shifted his momentum and swung his blade toward the man's head, yet Gin simply raised his zanpakuto up and blocked the blow. As their blades stayed connected, they just seemed stare at one another, but due to Gin's closed eyes, Toshiro could only glare at his eye lids. But a brief moment later, Gin shunpoed a few yards away from his opponent, pushing Toshiro back slightly with his zanpakuto as to make sure he wouldn't be able to follow.

As this happened a large yellow beam of light came down from above and surrounded Gin, to which he began slowly floating upward and into a large black crack in the sky; "One..."

Toshiro ground his teeth together as he looked from the crack in the sky to the silver haired man; "Damn." he muttered.

"Betta luck nex' time 'Gaya." Gin said with a wide smile, him briefly opening his eyes, revealing his piercing blue eyes before closing them once more.

Toshiro clenched his ice covered hand and just looked toward the orange haired teen as the crack closed and Gin disappeared inside. Ichigo himself was just staring at Toshiro with an amazed expression, to which he just hardened his gaze on the teen; 'He still seems so amazed by my power. He was struggling to fight Grimmjow and I just came out here and fought him on par with no problem.' he thought to himself as he walked through the air and down to the street.

'Of course...with twenty-five percent power, I'm not able to move as fast as I usually can. He could probably follow some of my movements this time. Instead of just being a blur.' he continued in his mind as Ichigo took on a questioning expression, as if wondering what Toshiro was thinking about.

"Kurosaki." Toshiro called out as his ice covered feet touched the pavement, to which said teen blinked his eyes and straightened himself on his feet.

"Yeah?" he asked, raising a brow in question as the white haired captain started walking toward him.

"Where is Rukia?" Toshiro asked back, to which Ichigo blinked his eyes and gulped down as he sweat dropped.

"She's...well...she's knocked out over by a lamp post over that way. It's pretty close to my house." Ichigo said, sounding rather sheepish as he pointed to his right.

"When Grimmjow arrived, she just barely dodged a punch to her stomach, but he got behind her and knocked her out with a palm to her neck." he continued, retracting his arm and looking down somewhat sadly.

Ichigo's expression was one that Toshiro had seen before on the teen's father's face, it being one of depression for not being able to protect his friends; "Her gigai is probably taking care of her. But..." he started but never finished.

"Alright then..." Toshiro began as he kept walking and came a few feet of him before continuing; "...then there isn't any need to wait."

As Toshiro reached the teen, whom simply blinked at him once more, he suddenly punched him straight in his stomach, causing him to gasp and cough out his breath. This action shocked both Ichigo and Tatsuki, the latter of which still hiding behind a building as her eyes widened; "Wha-What are you...?" the orange haired teen began, but didn't finish as his consciousness was lost almost immediately.

The icy captain allowed Ichigo to fall forward, but turned around and caught him by the collar before he hit the pavement; "You've procrastinated long enough. I'm taking you to train with Shinji now." he said to the unconscious teen.

Toshiro then began dragging Ichigo down the street, him passing Tatsuki on his way, to which he glanced over at the blinking teen; "You better head home." was all he said before continuing on.

Tatsuki blinked at him, but quickly ran out in front of him and narrowed her eyes; "I truly appreciate you saving my life, but I want answers...now." she claimed, crossing her arms.

The icy captain raised a brow to her, but he simply sighed lightly and nodded; "Very well. I'll tell you everything you want to know the next time I see you." he said, stepping around Tatsuki.

The raven haired teen narrowed her eyes further on him, but eventually nodded her head; "And when will that be?" she asked, her tone being questioning yet trusting toward him.

"Soon." was all Toshiro said before both he and the orange haired teen vanished before Tatsuki's eyes, to which she let out a silent breath, took a quick glance around her and started walking down the street.

-In an abandoned warehouse across town-

Toshiro dragged Ichigo across the floor and eventually dropped him on the cement covered ground; "I finally got your new student to come." he called out, seemingly to no one as his voice echoed in the large area.

"About time. Although..." a voice began as a tall blond haired man stepped out of the shadows on Toshiro's right; "...I would have preferred for him to be conscious."

The icy captain turned his gaze toward the person that spoke and saw Shinji with a smirk on his face; "At least he's here." Toshiro said with a light shrug.

"True. He's not really helpful to anyone if he never shows up." Shinji said, widening his smirk and walking up toward the white haired captain.

Toshiro simply nodded his head to the blonde's words, then shifted his gaze up toward the roof, the second level's floor being halfway finished. He narrowed his eyes and glanced back to Shinji; "Please don't tell me she's awake." he said, seemingly with a rather hopeful expression.

"I'm afraid she is...and in a very pissy mood." Shinji said, his tone sounding like he truly felt bad for his comrade.

Just as he finished his sentence a flash of red caused Toshiro to swiftly duck as a leg passed over his head; "You don't see us in almost a hundred years!" the source of the leg screamed out.

Toshiro twisted and turned his body around as the flash of red came right back toward him, to which he spun around so it would go right by him once more; "And when you come by...you don't even bother saying 'HI'!" the voice continued as the red flash kept coming toward the white haired captain.

But no matter how many times the blur of red came at him, Toshiro dodged out of the way every time, yet for each one, it seemed to come up with a new insult for him; "Moron!" "Jerk!" "Bastard!" Jack-ass!" "Pervert!" "Ass-hole!" "Son of a bitch!"

Shinji just stood there scratching his head, even picking at his ear, making the situation seem like it were something that happened everyday. He eventually looked to Toshiro with an expecting look, as if asking whether or not he should step in, but the white haired captain just shook his head and waved his ice covered hand. The blonde took the hint and just let out a heavy sigh as he watched the display before him; "Just like old times." he muttered to himself.

"Why don't you just stay still so I can hit you!" was the final words before the red flash came to a stop and revealed Hiyori in red sweat pants, a red jacket, a white T-shirt and a pair of brown sandals.

She was breathing fairly heavily, yet she still managed to growl at Toshiro in irritation as he simply sighed lightly toward her. He then stood up straight and crossed his arms; "Because I know better." he said as if it should have been obvious.

"Tch! I will get you one of these days!" Hiyori growled to him, to which he just rolled his eyes and looked to Shinji.

"I have to get a few things prepared. I'll talk to you tomorrow at some point." Toshiro said, turning toward the exit, but was stopped as Hiyori appeared in front of him.

"I don't think so. I used to be afraid of you because of your power and rank." the blonde girl began with a smirk, causing Toshiro to raise a brow to her.

"But once I discovered how much of a softy you were...my whole image of you changed." she continued, smirking a bit wider and crossing her arms as if proud of herself.

"And I'm so glad it did. 'Cause now I get to treat you like 'Baldy' over there." she finished, pointing a casual finger toward Shinji.

"I'm not BALD! You MORON!" Shinji yelled out, his casualness completely vanished.

"What was that 'Baldy'? I couldn't hear you cause of how stupid you are!" Hiyori shot, grinning widely.

"Why you little...!" the blonde man began, grinding his teeth in frustration, but didn't finish as he turned to Toshiro, whom had started sneaking away.

"Hey...Toshiro." he started again, to which Hiyori turned her attention to the icy captain as he turned around; "I actually agree with Hiyori on this one...why don't you stay here for a while. You'll get to breath better for one."

Toshiro raised a brow to Shinji, him knowing what the blonde meant by his words; "It's fine. I have to go anyway. I'm waiting on a few things and have to check on some others. But I'll be back soon." he said, giving them a light smirk, showing that he was telling the truth.

Both of the blondes nodded and crossed their arms in unison; "You better." they said together, causing Toshiro to smirk a bit wider before vanishing in a shunpo.

-Kisuke's underground training area-

Toshiro walked across the rocky terrain, a gust of artificial wind blowing some dirt around him as he continued on; "I guess he did do a decent job building this place. But it could still use a clock so you know what time it is." he muttered to himself.

"They do have watches in the World of the Living." Kisuke's voice echoed from the white haired captain's right side, to which he turned that way and kept walking.

"I don't know about you...but I'd prefer not to wear something like that while I'm training." Toshiro called back as he looked up to a tall, nearby rock formation, which had the blonde shop owner a top of it.

Kisuke looked down to his long time friend and smirked; "Come to help me with building this garganta huh? Well I appreciate the help, but I can handle this." he claimed, attempting to sound prideful of his own skills, but failing completely.

Toshiro raised a brow at him and smirked lightly; "You never were good at showing pride. You're just too humble." he said, keeping his small smirk.

The blonde smirked back and merely shrugged; "Well...I suppose I am. But isn't that a good thing?" Kisuke asked, his question sounding almost rhetorical with his tone.

"Mostly...so long as you're not being humble because you believe yourself to be great." Toshiro said with a confident smirk.

Kisuke blinked his eyes, then looked up thoughtfully and smiled; "I'll make sure to keep that one in mind." he said, keeping his gaze upward.

After a moment, the blonde shop owner looked down to his friend once more and let out a sigh; "Could you help me with this? I can't be in two places at once and I need both of these to be on the same frequency." he said, gesturing to the small machine before him and the other on the opposite rock's ledge nearby.

Toshiro smirked once more and nodded his head; "Sure. I can help you with that." he said, shunpoing to the other device.

The two shared a glance with each other, smiling lightly as they did and began generating their spirit energies into the machines, attempting to synchronize with one another. As soon as a blue beam of light shot through either of the devices and connected with each other, the two friends gave another small smile to their success; "It really has been a long time hasn't it?" Kisuke asked.

The white haired captain nodded his head once more; "Yeah. Let's find another project to work on together...like we did with the Hogyoku. But let's make sure to keep a restraint the next time."

Kisuke chuckled lightly and nodded back; "You got it."

"By the way..." Toshiro started, the blonde glancing over to him with a raised brow as he responded with a 'What?'.

"...I think you should know about two people I met the other day." he continued, to which Kisuke raised his brow even higher.

"Who might those be?" the shop owner asked as Toshiro gave him a hard stare.

"Inoue Sora...and Kurosaki Masaki." the white haired captain's words caused Kisuke's eyes to widen extremely wide.

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Sorry this chapter is so short, my work has started to increase it's hours so I didn't get a whole lot of time to work on this. =/ I'll try to make my next chapter longer though. Till next time everyone. ;) And Sorry for leaving you with so many more questions...but that's the beauty of the cliff hanger. XD Ja Ne.


	80. Chapter 80

Wow, the big eight zero. Been a long way my wonderful readers. But before I start getting too sentimental yet again...XD...I'll just thank everyone that has reviewed, favored and alerted this story right away. All of you are awesome. ;) Thank you all very much. Anyway, on to what you came here to read.

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**Chapter 80:**

-The next morning at Karakura High School-

Toshiro sat in a classroom with over a dozen other students, which included Rangiku, Senna, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, Rukia, Uryu, Chad and Orihime. All of them were dressed the school uniform, but the Third Seat of the Eleventh had a wooden sword for an extra accessory, which he had leaned against his chair. The white haired captain had his head resting in his hand as his arm was propped up on the desk before him, all the while, his attention was completely on the window on his left.

He was sitting near the back of the room, with only one seat separating him from the very last row, this seat being taken by Rangiku. Toshiro sighed lightly as he glanced over to Rukia, whom was two seats up from his own before looking to Orihime in the seat beside her; 'I should have Rukia train with her. It'll be a good opportunity for both of them. Orihime has some very interesting powers...they're quite similar to Hachigen's. It's best for her to learn and evolve them.' he thought.

He turned his attention to Senna, her sitting behind Orihime and seeming to preoccupy herself by drawing a doodle on a sheet of paper; 'I should have her go with them. She helped Renji before Rangiku could even get there, but three people training together is better then just two.' he continued in his mind.

The white haired captain shifted his gaze to Renji on the complete opposite side of the room of him, then to Ikkaku and Yumichika, whom were beside and behind him; 'I should probably have them-...' but his thoughts were cut off as he felt something poke his side.

Toshiro turned his head toward the source and saw Rangiku attempting to hand him a small folded up piece of paper. He simply sighed lightly before taking it from her, opening it's folds and read the note's content; _"Hey Captain, I'm noticing that you're spacing out a bit over there. What's on your mind?"_

The icy captain raised a brow, glanced up to the female teacher at the front of the classroom as she continued on about a math problem that he figured out after three seconds. He then took his pencil into his right hand and started writing on the paper; _"Nothing too important, I'll let you know after this class is finished. Just pretend to pay attention Rangiku. We still need to follow the school's rules if we're to remain enrolled. And don't call me 'Captain' while we're in school."_

After writing this, he refolded the paper and handed back to his lieutenant, to which he was immediately poked in his back once again by the note a mere minute later. Toshiro sighed heavily as he took the note yet again and repeated his actions of opening it; _"Alright. I guess~ I can wait that long. ;) But why can't we just pass notes? It's not really against the main rules. Come on Captain~ it's practically your name~."_

He rolled his eyes to this and shook his head, starting to write once more; _"I'm not accepting anymore notes Rangiku. You can merely speak with me after class if you have something important to tell me."_

Toshiro all but tossed the note back to the strawberry blonde after refolding it, to which Rangiku caught it quickly and began reading after opening it with a silent ruffle. The white haired 'student' sighed very heavily as he could hear Rangiku scribbling on the paper, it being obvious that she was intending to keep up their note passing. As soon as he heard the ruffle of her folding the paper, he placed his head in his hands and groaned from what he knew was coming.

Rangiku started to poke the note into his back, sides and neck relentlessly and constantly, as if believing that enough times would get her way. Toshiro just sat there like a stone and silently cursed himself for having such a pushy lieutenant. But after a while, he finally gave up, took the note and opened it up; 'I'd like to just tear it up to get her to stop, but she'll just rewrite it and repeat it no longer how many times it takes.' he thought to himself before reading the most recent addition to their note.

"_Awwwwwww, you're no fun Captain~! Just be discreet...we won't be caught. :D Besides...what's the worst that could happen?"_ but immediately after he read this, he suddenly heard the voice of the teacher.

"Excuse me, Hitsugaya Toshiro was it? Is my class interrupting something?" Masato asked, crossing her arms and giving Toshiro an annoyed look.

The white haired captain turned his attention to her and simply raised a brow; "Not at all." he said simply.

"Well then...would you mind telling me the answer to number thirty on page one hundred and twenty?" she more or less demanded, it being obvious she randomly chose a question and page number to make an example out his lack of paying attention.

Toshiro raised his brow higher before looking down to the book, flipping the pages to find the correct one till he saw the problem before him; _"Simplify the expression: __2(a -3) + 4b - 2(a -b -3) + 5."_

"6b + 5." was Toshiro's simple response after only a brief few seconds, to which all the normal humans in the classroom's eyes became wide and the rest merely smirked almost cockily to this.

Masato quickly looked through her own teacher's version of the book, eventually finding the problem's answer, to which she blinked in surprise as it read his exact answer; "H-How...how did you figure that out so quickly?" she asked.

Toshiro sighed heavily, clasped his hands together and leaned his chin on them; "First you multiply the factors, which comes out as, 2a - 6 + 4b -2a + 2b + 6 + 5. Then you simply group the terms, so...6b + 5." he explained, sounding as if it should have been obvious.

The brown haired woman blinked her eyes slightly shocked, then looked to her book; "Then...what's the answer to number...fifteen?" she asked, her appearing as if she wanted to fool him in some way.

The white haired captain looked to the problem and raised a brow as he read it; _'Find the slope of the line: _5x - 5y = 7._'_

"y = x – 7/5. You rewrite the equation in slope intercept form y = mx + b and identify the value of m the slope. -5y = -5x + 7, so it would be y = x – 7/5. The slope is given by the coefficient of x which is...1." he said, him sounding almost like some kind of computer in his explanation.

All of the students, excluding the gigai wearing shinigami had all taken on shocked looks as they fixed their eyes on Toshiro, including Orihime. Masato simply blinked her eyes before clearing her throat quickly, her appearing somewhat embarrassed about her actions; "Well...um...well done, Toshiro. You're quite a genius." she said before going back to her lecture about one of the other problems.

Uryu adjusted his glasses as he smirked lightly, him being the only one to be able to follow Toshiro's explanation. Chad just simply hid his eyes behind his hair as he merely stared at Toshiro silently. Rangiku, Senna, Rukia, Renji, Yumichika and Orihime were each smiling lightly or widely toward the white haired 'student'. Ikkaku on the other hand was just scratching his head in confusion, not understanding anything Toshiro said.

Once each of the students turned their attention back to their teacher, Toshiro had begun writing on the note and quickly gave it back to Rangiku, whom opened it and read the only two newer words on it; _"Exactly that."_

-An hour later on the roof of the school-

"You should have been there Rurichiyo. Captain made everyone look like an idiot when he started explaining his answer before anyone could even start to understand what he meant." Rangiku exclaimed to the short blonde as they both laughed lightly.

"Toshiro-dono, we wish we could have watched you." Rurichiyo claimed with a wide smirk, Kenryuu and Enryuu being on either side of her.

Toshiro merely glanced over to her, then turned back to the flip-open phone in his hand; "I only had to do it because my lieutenant insisted in passing notes in the middle of class." he said, pressing a few buttons on the keypad of the phone.

"Mere details Captain." Rangiku responded quickly as the short blonde looked at her with a questioning expression.

"But you know..." Senna began, looking up in thought as she leaned on the railing that Toshiro had his back to.

"...if you draw too much attention to yourself, you could make people suspicious of you and possibly figure out who and what you are. Normal genius' hide their smarts so they don't appear as smart as they really are." she continued.

Toshiro raised a brow to her, looking away from his phone once more; "Why would I do that?" he asked, not understanding the concept.

"Seriously?" Senna began again, blinking her eyes as if the answer should have been obvious, to which everyone's attention turned to her in question to what she'd say next.

"It's a main rule in any manga or even anime! The genius must hide his brains so he can survive from the evil bullies that threaten to use him to get their own homework done!" she exclaimed with a dramatic voice, making it all sound like it was something absolutely horrible.

This caused everyone to raised a brow to her and sweat drop heavily; "Plus it makes it seem like you're just showing off." Senna added with a wink and a light giggle.

Toshiro sighed heavily to her words, shook his head and returned his attention toward the phone in his hand. But each of the females laughed lightly to his reaction, Rangiku giving him a soft nudge as if to emphasize that Senna could be right about him. After a moment, Enryuu came up toward Toshiro; "If I may Hitsugaya-dono...what are you doing with that device?" he asked, attempting to look at the screen.

"Making my report about the arrancar to the Head Captain." was the white haired 'student's' response, him not actually looking at the icy blue eyed man.

"Yeah! He's telling him how we kicked their butts without barely lifting a finger!" Rangiku exclaimed in a proud and slightly giddy tone.

"Hmph. Basically." Toshiro muttered with a small smirk, which had quickly faded; 'Even though Grimmjow's power level is exactly as believed, will the rest be as well?' he thought as he kept pressing the correct buttons in making his report.

"We're here!" Orihime exclaimed with a smile as she, Chad, Uryu, Renji, Rukia, Ikkaku and Yumichika came walking toward them through the housed door.

Each of the other occupants on the roof turned their heads to the new comers, but focused on Rukia as she stepped forward and toward Toshiro; "Do you know where Ichigo is? I meant to ask you earlier, but I didn't get the chance." she said, to which the icy captain raised a brow to her.

Orihime's expression changed from cheerful, to a hopeful and wondering one as she too wished to know where her fellow orange haired friend was. Rangiku just stood there and let out a sigh, making it obvious that she already knew the teen's location. Kenryuu and Enryuu appeared not very interested on the topic, but it was obvious that they were also slightly worried about Ichigo's disappearance. Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Uryu, Rurichiyo and Chad each took on questioning looks as they all seemed to wait for Toshiro's response.

"Yeah." was all he said, causing everyone to blink at him and give him a look that urged him to continue.

"I sent him away for training. He's going to learn how to control his inner hollow, so he should become much more powerful then before." he continued just as they all wanted him to.

Everyone's, save for Toshiro and Rangiku's eyes became slightly or very wide to his words, but they eventually recovered as Rukia nodded her head and spoke; "Good. That Espada would have defeated him and he probably would have started blaming himself. Thank you, Captain Hitsugaya"

Toshiro raised a brow to her earnest and thankful tone, speaking in a tone that fit his next words; "It wasn't that much."

"Besides...I knocked him out before taking him where he needed to go. So I'm sure it makes us even." he continued, smirking invisibly as many of the others laughed, chuckled or giggled.

However, Orihime was just blinking innocently as she wore an expression that seemed to show that she felt bad for Ichigo. But she eventually took on a smile as she focused on the thought that her friend was where he needed to be to become stronger. After a few moments, Toshiro flipped his phone closed and looked to everyone around him; "I'm going to take a sweep around the town. I'll leave my gigai in your care, Rangiku." he said, taking out a small green orb from his pocket and placing it in his mouth.

"Yes sir." she responded as her captain swallowed the orb, which separated him from his faux body and revealed him in his normal form.

He gave a quick nod to each of the others as he started walking away; 'I'm seriously going to regret saying that.' he thought with a sweat drop.

But just as he was about to shunpo, he heard Uryu's voice suddenly speak up; "Hold on." to which everyone turned and looked to him.

As the Quincy stepped forward, Chad, Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika raised their brows, even though the tanner skinned teen's action wasn't completely seen. All the while, each of the others just blinked their eyes in wonder of what he had to say; "I figured out your message. But whom am I supposed to give it to?" Uryu asked as he looked at Toshiro with a hard stare.

The icy captain narrowed his eyes on Uryu, then nodded his head and smirked invisibly; "You discovered it just as quickly as I expected. And I'm sure you'll know exactly who to tell once it needs to be told." he said, not seeming to truly answer his question.

But despite his somewhat confusing words, Uryu simply nodded back to Toshiro, just before the captain had vanished in a shunpo; "I seriously have a bad feeling that it'll be for Kurosaki." the Quincy sighed out as he turned back to the others.

All of them kept their raised brows and wondering expressions, but Toshiro's gigai just grinned widely as he didn't pay attention to anything that just transpired; "I still can't believe I'm the mod soul for Captain Hitsugaya!" the mod soul claimed.

His actions made each of the others shift their gaze on him and some of them to raise their brows even higher to him. Not one of them ever seeing the real 'Toshiro' act in such a way, or one that was even close to it. But before anyone could even move, Rangiku smiled widely, stepped up to 'Toshiro' and spoke in an excited tone; "Say, 'Rangiku, you are the best and most amazing Lieutenant ever.'"

The mod soul raised a brow to her and blinked a few times before speaking with a rather innocent voice; "Why?"

"Just because." was all Rangiku offered before the gigai wearing mod soul did as she asked.

"Rangiku, you are the best and most amazing Lieutenant ever." immediately following his words, Rangiku squealed loudly.

"This is going to be awesome!" the strawberry blonde declared, a devious glint in her eye, to which everyone, including Orihime, Senna and even Rurichiyo to sweat drop.

-Across town at the warehouse-

Ichigo was powering his way on a stepping treadmill, his expression made it completely obvious he was annoyed beyond his limit. As he continued on the workout machine, the other Visoreds were lounging about off to the side of him, which had only annoyed the teen further; "I'll get them back for this." he muttered angrily to himself.

Shinji was laying on a lone, dirty, white couch, him having a very bored expression on his face as he read the magazine before him. Hiyori was near the head of the couch, her having her arm resting on a few cinder blocks as she sat on the ground with a both annoyed and bored look on her face.

At the other end of the couch was Otoribashi Rojuro, the long haired blond wearing a black, thigh length jacket and a black pair of pants. He also had on a white frilled shirt with frilled cuffs and high collar, which he seemed to keep untucked. The long blonde haired man was sitting on a wooden box, while adjusting the strings on a small guitar with a small smile on his face.

While behind the couch Aikawa Love, whom wore a sports a green jogging suit and wears mirrored sunglasses, was sitting on a stack of boards. All the while, he read a manga book with tears of both sadness and joy streamed down his face, him laughing and crying every so often due to something within the manga.

Off to his right was Muguruma Kensei, he was wearing a dark purple sleeveless shirt with a white trim, green cargo pants, black combat boots, and a pair of orange fingerless gloves. He also had a series of piercings, with one on his left eyebrow and three on his left ear. He was merely wrapping his hands and forearms with boxing tape, his focused expression not changing at all as he sat on a box.

Finally, to Kensei's right was Yadomaru Lisa, her having a long sleeved sailor fuku, with a teal greenish-blue collar, a matching pleated miniskirt that ended at her stomach and a pink neckerchief. She sat on a short wooden table, with her face mere inches away from a swimsuit magazine, which was filled with nothing but women.

After a while of nothing but Ichigo's breathing, Shinji suddenly spoke up, but didn't make a single syllable before the orange haired teen suddenly threw the workout machine right at him. It hit him right away, knocked him right off the couch and nearly hit Hiyori in the process; "How long are you guys gonna have me run of this thing!" Ichigo yelled out in annoyance.

But as the blonde man hit the floor with a grunt, Hiyori suddenly stood up and came face to face with Ichigo; "You moron! You almost hit me!" she called out in equal annoyance as the teen.

"You do that again and your dead!" she continued with a shaking, clenched fist pointing toward Ichigo.

"Th-That's my line." Shinji muttered to Hiyori as he covered his bleeding nose with a hand.

"Shut up! I'm gonna kill both of you if you don't start training me seriously!" Ichigo yelled out.

"After I came to, you guys told me that you'd help me take control of my inner hollow! But all you've had me do is run on that piece of shit treadmill thing all day!" he continued loudly, pointing an accusing finger toward the still intact workout machine.

"Your the stupid one! That's my 'Super Hiyori walker!' If you don't get what it's supposed to do then you're nothing but an idiot! Moron!" Hiyori yelled as they both ground their foreheads against one another.

"Maybe I am! I'm actually listening to you guys and your retarded way of training!" the orange haired teen declared, growling in annoyance.

"Well, you definitely got you being an idiot right!" the blonde girl claimed, smirking at him as if she'd just got his to admit something humiliating.

"Why you little fanged bitch!" Ichigo growled out as he pushed his forehead harder against hers, to which she returned the action and merely gave them both bruises.

"What was that? My fangs are part of my charm! Not that a perverted dickhead would understand that!" Hiyori countered.

"Like you could possibly have charm, Fang-girl!" Ichigo yelled, a fist raised toward the blonde girl's face, but not coming close enough to hit her.

"Shut up dickhead!" Hiyori called back.

"Stop calling me that!" the orange haired teen screamed.

"I don't listen to dickheaded morons!" the blonde girl shouted.

"Will you quit it Fang-girl!" Ichigo bellowed.

As they argued, Kuna Mashiro and Ushoda Hachigen came walking into the room with a few plastic bags in their hands. The former wearing a white bodysuit with orange gloves, boots and scarf, along with a set of goggles atop her lime green hair. While the latter had on an olive green tuxedo with a yellow bow tie and a white button down shirt; "We're back with the food!" the green haired girl called out, simply blinking her eyes to the scene before her.

"Ah. Good." Love began, smiling lightly to the two as he felt his stomach growling in hunger; "I guess I'll take a few of those pre-made meals."

After Mashiro handed Love his food, she turned her head back to Ichigo and Hiyori fighting; "So what's going on here?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Looks like he's in a rush to get things done and over with." the raven haired man commented as Lisa and Kensei nodded in agreement.

"Hey! I can hear you over there!" Ichigo called out, swiftly turning his head toward them, causing Hiyori to fall flat on her face.

"Why you little..." the blonde girl began somewhat quietly as she stood back on her feet; "I'll get you back for that you ASSHOLE!" she roared as she took off her sandal.

Hiyori immediately started smacking Ichigo hard in the face with it, to which he made failing attempts to dodge. Then she kicked him in his stomach, knocking him off the second floor, through the hole in the first floor and into the cement covered ground. But just as he was standing up, Hiyori grabbed the workout machine and ran toward the edge; "Now get back on and work till you drop!" she called out as she threw it right at his head, knocking him right back to the ground.

"You bitch!" Ichigo exclaimed, stand back to his feet and clutching the spot he'd been hit on his head.

All this merely made everyone sigh and sweat drop, but once Shinji stood up, he cleared his throat in a very serious manner. His action made Hiyori eventually calm down and turned away from a very agitated Ichigo; "I suppose it would only be fitting for you to force your way into this training. You've done it with everything else...so maybe it will be the same for this one." Shinji spoke, wiping that last bit of blood away from his nose.

Ichigo blinked his eyes as he began to calm down and realize the weight of Shinji's words; "Wait...you know about all that? Did Toshiro tell you?" he asked, sounding slightly amazed at how much the blonde knew about him and his progression.

"Not exactly...but we have gotten most of our information from him." Shinji commented, looking to the side with a somewhat mysterious smile.

But the blonde immediately turned his gaze back to Ichigo and raised a brow; "So...are you ready? Or not?" he asked, suddenly appearing in front of the teen in an instant.

Ichigo was shocked at Shinji's speed but he eventually nodded his head and spoke confidently; "Yeah...I'm ready."

As soon as the words left his lips, Ichigo's eyes rolled in the back of his head, his eye lids closed and his body fell limply toward the floor. But he was caught by Shinji as he stepped forward a bit more and placed the teen over his shoulder; "Looks like you gave in." a voice said from off to the side.

Everyone, save for Ichigo, turned their heads toward the source of the voice and found Toshiro leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. But they all immediately noticed that he wasn't alone, squinting their eyes, they saw a strange figure dressed in white; "By the way everyone...this is an old...acquaintance of mine. Cifer Ulquiorra." the icy captain explained, pointing to the emotionless Espada behind him.

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FYI, the next two or so chapters will be cutting away for a little back tracking. I'll just get the explanation out of the way so all of you will know when I'm going to explain the ending for this. XD Till next time. Ja ne.


	81. Chapter 81

Alright, here we go with the next chapter. A quick but big thanks to Tuli-chan, whom helped me make this ending after getting writers block. XD Hope you enjoy. ;)

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**Chapter 81:**

-Hueco Mundo, 47 years ago-

Toshiro walked through a garganta and onto the sandy desert, to which he looked around with narrowed and focused eyes as the dark portal closed behind him. The landscape was completely barren, nothing but white sand and a few dead looking trees, a true desert. The sky was dark with a few small clouds, while the crescent moon illuminated the entire area, only it was in the opposite lunar phase of that in the Human World or Soul Society.

The white haired captain let out a light sigh before placing his right ice covered hand to his chest; 'Time to train.' he thought to himself, swiftly moving his hand away, to which the ice covering his hollow hole shattered.

As soon as the ice seemed to disappear in the white sands of Hueco Mundo, a mask fragment began to form on the upper part of his head, just above his eye. This fragment held a long, sweptback horn and a bluish-green four point star design on it's surface. As it appeared, Toshiro's turquoise eyes suddenly turned blood red, while his sclera turned black and his round pupils flattened into slits.

He then grabbed his zanpakuto's handle and unsheathed his katana; "Seventy two hours of nonstop hollows, starts now." he whispered to himself, suddenly flaring his spiritual pressure to alert any and all hollows nearby of his presence.

Toshiro stood there for only thirty seconds before the first dozen hollows came charging at him over the dunes of the desert, yet each of them met their end within a split second. Which was all the icy captain needed as he appeared on the other side of them, to which a large amount of blood gushed from each of their mask covered faces. They all eventually vanished into the air as they fell toward the ground. Toshiro merely let out a light sigh to this as he looked down at his hollow hole; "If they're all going to be this weak...then this won't be training at all." he whispered.

'Although...I feel much stronger now that I've allowed my hollow powers to come forth. I wonder if my powers have actually doubled.' he thought to himself before looking to his left and seeing almost fifty Menos Grande coming toward him.

"I guess there's only one way to find out." he said silently as he felt the large tremors each of Menos made with their giant feet.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes, then leapt toward the skyscraper size hollows, to which they all let out horrible sounding roars and charged ceros at him. But before any of them could even shoot their attacks toward the icy captain, he suddenly vanished and seemed to appear behind them. Just like last time, blood spurted from the wounds that seemed to suddenly appear in each of their masks and fall toward the ground. Yet they all disintegrated into the air before they even hit the sand; 'I should attract the attention of a Vasto Lorde soon.' Toshiro thought, looking around in all directions as to make sure he won't be blind sided.

But only a few dozen smaller hollows came running at him and nothing more; "Hmph. I'm not one to gloat about my strength, but this is just too easy. I won't even have any challenge with these types of hollows." he muttered to himself.

He then proceeded to kill all of these hollows, plus hundreds upon thousands more, yet he didn't appear tired or have even broken a sweat. After four hours of nearly nonstop killing, Toshiro swiftly turned toward yet another platoon of Menos Grande and pushed off the white sand beneath his feet. He literally flew across the desert and came to meet the hollows head on; 'Perhaps what they lack in power...they'll make up in quantity.' he thought, as he touched down on the ground and shifted his ice covered feet in a fighting position.

He quickly kicked the first one hard in it's mask covered face, making it slide backward over thirty feet to the side and fall to the desert sand. But just as Toshiro was about to finish it off, he immediately felt a strong spiritual pressure the moment he reached the Menos. The hollow itself was unable to even move as the spirit energy was too much for it to handle, which had even caused disintegrated it. Upon seeing this, the remaining Menos turned around and began walking away, but Toshiro merely stood there with narrowed eyes.

'Vasto Lorde.' he thought, clenching his zanpakuto a bit tighter.

'But it's strange that I didn't feel it till now. It must be keeping it's power contained into a forty to fifty foot radius around itself to keep other hollows from attacking.' he continued in his mind, shunpoing quickly toward the large spirit energy.

He arrived forty feet away from two humanoid, hooded figures sitting atop a lone rock among the sand dunes of the desert. Yet it was the fact that the two held the same type of spirit energy that caught his attention more then anything; 'How is that possible? They're both...the same.' he thought as he just seemed to stand still.

After being there for a moment, just staring at the two figures with grey hoods, his grip loosened and he simply sheathed his katana before walking toward them. As he came closer, he noticed one was considerably bigger then the other, which was obviously male, while the smaller one was female.

The male had blue-gray eyes, wavy, shoulder-length dark brown hair, which seemed unkempt and parted down the middle from what Toshiro could see from under the hood. The remains of his Hollow mask consisted of a fanged bottom jaw that was position along his neck as if it were a necklace.

The female was very young in appearance, seemingly even younger then Toshiro looked. She had chin length light green hair, which fell in a basic arrangement. The remainder of her hollow mask was in the form of a helmet with two horns on the top of her head. The left horn appeared to be gone as the hood didn't bag out like it did on the other side, and the left half of the mask covered her left eye, but her right and only visible eye was light pink.

'No...they're not Vasto Lorde. They're natural arrancar.' Toshiro thought to himself as he took in their appearances as he walked.

Once he came within a few feet of the two, they both looked directly at him and become slightly wide eyed to his appearance; "Is he an arrancar too, Starrk?" the female spoke up with a hushed tone, as if neither of them were very used to actually talking to other people besides one another.

"I'd say so, Lilynette. Even though he has a shinigami's uniform, he has a hollow hole and even a mask fragment." Starrk said in an almost equally silent tone as the small girl.

"Mmm, nice to see someone that can actually come this close to us." Lilynette said, neither her nor Starrk showing any sign of fear toward the white haired captain.

Toshiro just listened to the two speak, then looked toward a small area on the rock that was left vacant; "May I sit with you?" he asked in a tone just as quiet as theirs.

They just looked at him, then shrugged their shoulders; "If you like." Starrk said, only halfway looking at Toshiro as he proceeded to sit down next to the two.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." he said, introducing himself to the arrancar, to which they looked at him with a slightly surprised expression that he was really speaking to them.

"Starrk Coyote." Coyote said, looking from Toshiro to the small female with him.

"Gingerbuck Lilynette." she complied, keeping her main focus on Toshiro as if slightly suspicious.

"I know it's not my place to ask since I've only just met you, but...why are you two just sitting out here?" Toshiro asked silently, not wanting to break the whispering between them.

Coyote looked to Lilynette as if seeing if she would mind for him to tell Toshiro, to which she shook her head in an uncaring way; "We just go anywhere and everywhere. Since our spirit energy is so powerful to destroy hollows just by getting too close, the only comrades we can have are each other." the brown haired man explained, his tone still within a whisper, yet loud enough for Toshiro to hear.

"I see. Well..." Toshiro began as he seemed to look away and down after Coyote's words.

As he had spoke the two hooded arrancar turned to him and just waited for him to finish; "...I would be willing to become one of your comrades...if you'll allow me." Toshiro finished, looking toward the two once more with a small and rather rare smile.

Lilynette blinked to his words, then turned her head toward Coyote as he began speaking; "Why would you want to?"

Toshiro looked down and away once more before letting out a silent breath; "I know how it feels to be alone. I was always in solitude for so many years of my life. And I know that the best thing for that is to gain comrades and friends." he said, making Coyote's and Lilynette's eyes widen slightly in shock.

"A...friend?" the small girl asked, blinking her hope filled eye.

The white haired captain nodded his head with another small smile, then looked to Coyote as if asking if he would accept his offer. The brown haired man turned away for a moment as if thinking, but he quickly turned back to Toshiro and nodded; "We'd be glad to have you as a comrade and friend." he said, to which all three of them shared a small smirk with one another, as if they had just formed the beginning of something incredibly large and grand.

"But..." Coyote began suddenly, him looking directly at Toshiro, whom raised a questioning brow; "...I would like to know what you're doing here in the first place."

Toshiro looked down and simply nodded his head lightly once more; "Training. I've been Captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei Thirteen and the Dual Commander of the Onmitsukido for sixty nine years. Yet I've been an arrancar for fifty three of those years. But I have yet to develop my hollow powers. So I came here where they would be understood and wouldn't cause any damage to Soul Society." he explained.

Coyote leaned his head on his hand as he listened to the white haired captain, then let out a silent sigh after he finished; "Well...I've never heard anything about Soul Society since we've always been alone, but hollow powers aren't actually that difficult to use." he started, making Toshiro raise his brow to him.

"You're right in thinking that they're different from Shinigami power. But you're also wrong." after Coyote's lazy sounding words, Toshiro's raised brow went even higher, obviously interested in his words.

"Think of them as one in the same. They're both your power after all. Use one and regardless of what you think, the other will arise to a certain degree in response." the brown haired arrancar continued, to which the white haired captain nodded his head and looked down at his ice covered hands.

"So how do I bring out my hollow power in itself? If what you say is true, then I have been using them all along but such a small amount that it's hardly noticeable, but I want to know how to use them as a primary source of power." Toshiro said, clenching his fists lightly and turning toward Coyote as both he and Lilynette shared a look.

"We can teach you if you like." the small girl said with a small smile on her face, looking like she'd forgotten her previous suspicion of him.

Toshiro nodded his head toward her; "I would appreciate that." was all he said before they each stood up in unison and shared another smile that still seemed oddly important to all of them.

-An hour later-

Toshiro stood alone on a sand dune, while Coyote and Lilynette were behind him with small smirks on their faces; "Try again. This time...charge your cero without using your hand." the taller arrancar said.

The icy captain nodded his head as he just closed his eyes briefly, but as he opened them a cero began charging right in front of his left eye. The cero itself was a bright white color, but was outlined in black; "I'm still surprised that his cero is white...we've never seen one that color before." Lilynette commented as Coyote nodded his head in agreement.

As the cero charged, it reached the size of a beach ball before Toshiro finally fired it, but as he did, the sand around him kicked up violently and made a large sandstorm in the process. The cero soared through the desert and eventually hit a tall sand dune close to a mile away, yet the explosion that followed, the percussion wave hit each of them like a sledge hammer to the chest. Though they all managed to stay standing, had they been any weaker, they would have fallen and possibly knocked back a dozen feet.

The explosion made an enormous mushroom cloud with the sand it blew apart, yet it had also illuminated much of the dark desert. Toshiro let out a heavy breath, showing that the attack had taken much power and concentration, to which Coyote and Lilynette nodded their heads in acceptance. The two then walked up to the white haired captain and placed a hand to either of his shoulders; "You're a serious prodigy. It usually takes a very long time to generate as much power as you did...without moving at that." the brown haired man commented.

Toshiro looked to him and smirked lightly with a slight nod of his head; "Thanks. But I'm guessing that making and shooting a cero isn't the only thing we can do."

Coyote smirked back lazily to him; "Yeah. But I think we'll stick with one thing at a time. You'll have better results if you master one thing at a time."

The white haired captain let out a silent breath as he smirked a bit wider to him; "Good idea." he began, tilting his head to the side in question.

"How old are you anyway?" he finished, which had actually made Coyote smile in amusement.

"I'm not sure exactly how many years I've lived but I'd probably say around five to six hundred." Coyote said simply, not acting like it was a big deal whatsoever.

Toshiro blinked his eyes at him briefly, but then nodded his head and turned to Lilynette; "But I'm guessing that's from the point that you split yourself apart?" he asked, now making the two blink at him this time.

"Sorry...I'm incredibly perceptive and I just sort of figured it out." Toshiro said to them, to which they merely shrugged to him as Coyote waved off his apology.

"It's fine. I-" but he was quickly cut off as Lilynette spoke; "Why exactly haven't you tried using your hollow powers before?"

Both Toshiro and Coyote raised a brow to her, to which she merely kept going; "I mean, you've had those powers for that many years but you haven't done anything with them yet?"

"Have you just been sitting around for fifty three years?" she finished with a raised brow, her having an innocent tone the whole time.

The white haired captain let out a sigh as he responded; "Well...being a captain and commander takes up a lot more time then you'd thin-." but he was quickly cut off by a sudden presence off to the side.

They all swiftly turned their heads toward a white figure walking toward them, narrowing their eyes as they did. This figure was average human size, but it had white mask covering it's entire face with two teal color tear lines leading down it's mask, which began at the eye openings. The mask also had a protrusion line running up the middle of it, which diverged into three near the top of it's head. It's hollow hole was located directly under the base of it's neck, though it was fairly small, it showed his status as a Vasto Lorde.

There were also two long horns sprouting out at ear level, that had swept out and back. The figure's body was completely white, save for the large, black, bat-like wings mounted on it's lower back. Lastly was it's eyes, they were a piercing green, with slit shaped pupils that almost appeared to be looking through everything instead of directly at it.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on this figure, but as it came closer, he seemed to calm down, the figure not showing any sort of violent actions; "You must be a Vasto Lorde." he said silently, to which the hollow stopped directly in front of him.

The hollow merely stared at Toshiro for a long while, it not speaking at all, or it possibly had no voice in the first place. But as they stared at one another, for what seemed like an eternity, the two almost seemed to have a conversation of their souls as Toshiro eventually seemed to gain a small smile. This made Coyote and Lilynette raise a brow as they just looked from the Vasto Lorde to Toshiro, neither making a single noise. But then the white haired captain suddenly spoke in a hushed tone, to which the two listened carefully.

"You may not hear my words, but I truly recognize your soul. You seek answers...and don't believe beyond what you see." he began as the hollow didn't show any sort of reaction.

"But you also seek a purpose, which is something I can help you find. We can't speak to each other...but we also understand one another perfectly through our souls." Toshiro continued, raising an ice covered hand toward the Vasto Lorde.

"Allow us to help one another and find the answers together." he finished, his small smile becoming slightly wider.

The hollow looked down at his hand for a long while, but as if knowing what Toshiro said through eye contact, it eventually grasped their hands together and shook it. Coyote and Lilynette seemed to smile a bit as they knew that they no longer would ever be alone. And for the briefest second, all of them felt something deep inside that made the moment between them stretch on forever, which could only be described in one word...happiness.

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And that's how it goes. :) I felt that I should explain how Toshiro knows Ulquiorra before continuing on. I was thinking about making the next chapter as a continuation of this part in the story, but I think I've explained enough for now. ;) How about you guys choose? Write a quick answer in your wonderful reviews to let me know what you'd like for me to do. Continue this for one more chapter...or, go back to the present timeline? :D Till next time. Ja Ne.


	82. Chapter 82

Here it is, the next chapter. I decided to go half and half with the past and present, that way...everyone gets what they want. ;)

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**Chapter 82:**

-One month later-

_'I made it a daily routine to go to Hueco Mundo to train and converse with my newly made comrades. Starrk and I have become very good friends; he's taught me so many techniques that only a hollow can do and given me far more strength then I ever thought possible. I've also befriended Lilynette to a similar degree, though she decided to take it upon herself to treat me like a 'little' brother and makes a point of her being older then me quite often. The Vasto Lorde however has been very easy to deal with, due to him being unable to speak, hear or even feel anything, he and I spend a lot of time together. We've also found a true way to speak with one another through soul resonance.'_

Toshiro and the Vasto Lorde stood a few yards apart on an icy plain, large spikes of ice gouging out of the ground and enormous white caped mountains out in the distance. As snow whipped around the two, they stared at one another for a moment before they both just sat down, indian style, on the frozen ground. The white haired captain let out a cold sigh, his breath drifting down as he spoke up; "Have you decided yet?" his voice somehow being heard by the hollow, despite to howling of the wind.

"_I have."_ the emotionless voice of the Vasto Lorde echoed within Toshiro's mind, him being able to speak through his thoughts while inside Toshiro's inner world.

"And?" Toshiro asked, as if gesturing for him to continue.

"_Cifer Ulquiorra."_ the Vasto Lorde thought, to which the icy captain raised a brow and merely shrugged.

"It's a decent name. How did you come up with it?" Toshiro questioned, leaning in slightly, his attention and interest obviously caught.

"_E__l-Que-Llora means __'One who weeps'. And since you have told me that the markings upon my mask resemble tears, I decided it would be fitting to use 'Ulquiorra'. 'Cifer' had merely come to me as I pondered a last name, I have no true meaning behind it."_ Ulquiorra thought, him just sitting motionless on the ice as if he were a mere statue.

Toshiro smirked lightly to the newly named Vasto Lorde; "Well...it's good to make your acquaintance...Cifer Ulquiorra." he said, giving him a nodding greeting.

"_So what did you wish to speak with me about?"_ Ulquiorra asked, just staring at Toshiro with his green eyes.

The icy captain looked up at the cloud filled sky as snow continued to fall and whip around them; "I'd like your help in eliminating someone named Aizen Sosuke." he said, his tone sounding completely void of emotions.

"_Who is this Aizen Sosuke?"_ the Vasto Lorde questioned as Toshiro's expression seemed to become dark.

"He's responsible for turning me into an arrancar, ruining the lives of a few of my friends and betraying Soul Society." Toshiro said, his breath being seen drifting down and onto the already frozen ground.

"_Very well. What is your plan?"_ Ulquiorra said with a brief nod.

Toshiro folded his hands together, propped his elbows up on his knees and placed his chin on his ice covered hands; "I'm not entirely sure yet. But for now...I just needed to know if you would help me or not."

Ulquiorra nodded his head once more, then turned to the side as if looking at something specific in the icy plain; _"We are considered comrades. Which from what you've told me, entitles for either party to offer the other assistance whenever needed."_ the Vasto Lorde spoke through his mind.

The white haired captain smirked lightly and nodded his head; "It works for me." was all he said before the landscape before them began to fade from their vision.

"See you on the outside." Toshiro's voice echoed as the two opened their eyes to the white desert of Hueco Mundo.

"So what did he say?" Coyote asked as he and Lilynette stood up from the same rock that they first met Toshiro on.

Toshiro himself looked toward him and nodded lightly; "Ulquiorra agreed to help." he said as they both turned their attention to the completely silent Vasto Lorde.

Coyote and Lilynette blinked their eyes to him, but the former spoke up first; "Ulquiorra?"

The white haired captain nodded his head to him and shifted his gaze to the Vasto Lorde; "He came up with his name, Cifer Ulquiorra." he said, smirking invisibly.

"'Cifer Ulquiorra', huh?" Lilynette started, raising a brow in question, but she eventually shrugged and sighed lightly; "Whatever...it's his name."

Toshiro and Coyote smirked at her in amusement, then turned their attention to Ulquiorra, whom merely stared back at them, shifting his gaze from Toshiro, to Coyote and finally to Lilynette. They all just stood there for a few moments in complete silence until the brown haired arrancar spoke up after a brief sigh; "By the way...Lilynette and I couldn't come up with any ideas of how to deal with that 'Aizen' guy."

"Hmph! Speak for yourself. I think I had a pretty good idea." the female arrancar said in a huff.

"Well...I'm still unsure of how to beat Aizen too. So any idea would be good. I can gather all the comrades I want but it won't matter until I can prove something." he said, placing his ice covered finger and thumb to his chin.

"And you've already said that he's covered his tracks far too well." Coyote said, him obviously wanting to help his friend.

Lilynette huffed at them and placed her hands on her hips; "Go with my idea of forcing him into a situation that would cause him to reveal his true intentions." she suggested, to which Toshiro shook his head.

"No. He's too clever for that. Plus he's a professional liar and can lie his way through any situation." the icy captain said, narrowing his eyes on the white sand in front of him.

"Hmm, he certainly is a slippery one. I really have no idea of how to catch him." Coyote said, sounding almost tired in his tone, but had a hint of annoyance as well.

"Nor me. Pressuring the guy was my best idea. But if that won't work...then I guess I'm all out." Lilynette claimed, throwing her hands up slightly as if giving up on the issue.

"Hmph. Well...we still have time, he probably won't be making any sort of move for a while." Toshiro commented, to which the two arrancar nodded their heads to him.

Ulquiorra just stood there staring at the three of them, though he could not hear any of them, he saw the expression they made and almost seemed to know what they were speaking about through these gestures. After a moment of brief silence, Toshiro let out a silent breath and spoke up once more; "I'm afraid I must return to Soul Society for now. My time here for today is up."

"But it seems like you just got here." Lilynette almost complained; "You better be back tomorrow at an earlier time. Or I'll call you 'shortie' the whole day again." she continued, making her words sound like a frightening threat.

Toshiro rolled his eyes to her, but smirked invisibly and nodded his head; "I'll try." he said, turning his attention toward Coyote, then to Ulquiorra.

"See you all tomorrow." he said, giving a small wave as he opened a garganta and vanished within it.

_'I truly had no idea that today would be the last time I'd see any of them for nearly fifty years. I wish I could have gone back to visit even once, but there is no undoing the past...including my and Ukitake Jushiro's mistake that caused more pain then either of us predicted. Ginjo Kugo.'_

-Present day, Karakura town warehouse-

"Who the hell is that?" Hiyori demanded in shock, pointing an accusing finger at Ulquiorra.

Toshiro merely sighed lightly and shook his head; "Like I said before. He's an old acquaintance of mine." he said.

"I know that now! But I wanna know how you met him in the first place!" the blonde girl continued, sounding more annoyed then shocked.

"During my trip to Hueco Mundo to train." Toshiro responded easily, him making the issue sound like something done every day.

"What? You went to Hueco Mundo? When the hell did you do that?" Hiyori yelled out, now shifting her accusing finger toward Toshiro.

The icy captain merely raised a brow and shifted his gaze to Shinji, whom just scratched the back of his neck and spoke sheepishly; "Sorry...I haven't gotten around in telling everyone after our chat."

Hiyori immediately turned to her fellow blonde and started yelling at him with her fist raised toward him; "You moron! How could you forget to tell us those kinds of details!"

Toshiro sighed lightly and turned toward Ulquiorra, neither paying attention when a loud smacking noise came from the blondes' direction; "Come on. We'll get what we came for and go." he said as the two started walking away.

"What was is exactly that you two came for?" Kensei asked as he and the other Visorads, save for Hiyori and Shinji, walked out in front of them.

Each of the former shinigami giving Ulquiorra a distrustful look as they stood in Toshiro and his path; "Just something that I left with Shinji a previous time I was here." the white haired captain said.

"And what would that be?" Rojuro asked, him seeming like he still trusted Toshiro, but unsure about the arrancar beside him.

Though he remained silent for a few moments, Toshiro eventually gained a small smirk as he looked to each of them; "Don't worry. It's nothing dangerous...well, to Aizen it will be anyway." he said, his smirk becoming slightly wider as he watched each of the Visorads gain one of their own.

"Will it really hurt Aizen that much?" Lisa asked, her tone having as much hatred for the traitorous shinigami as everyone was feeling.

"Yeah." was Toshiro's simple response before all of them nodded.

"That's good enough for me. So long as it'll hurt him...I could care less what it is." Love said, his smirk widening into a somewhat dark smile.

"I would still like to know...but I definitely agree." Hachigen commented, his normally gentle disposition seeming to have been replaced by a vengeful one.

"Hmm...I know we all hate Aizen, but do we all have to be so mean looking?" Mashiro said, pouting slightly at each of the others rather angry expressions.

Each of the others looked to her, but before any of them could say anything, they suddenly heard Hiyori smacking Shinji hard in the face with her sandal; "And that's for being such a prick!" she screamed out, them realizing that they missed quite a lot.

But as the other Visorad stood and watched the two blondes yell and fight one another, they all seemed to forget about the orange haired teen laying on the floor unconscious. They also neglected to notice Toshiro and Ulquiorra as they made their way to a large stairway and began going down it; "It's as you said, 'noisy'." the pale arrancar said.

"Hmph, well they have been living together for a hundred years. It's unavoidable that they argue." Toshiro said with an amused look on his face.

"So you want me to hold on to this invention you've made till the correct time?" Ulquiorra asked, returning back to the task at hand as they seemed to enter a large rocky area that seemed much like Kisuke's underground training area.

"Yes. Just keep it on your person at all times. And when the time does come...I'll let you know when to use it." Toshiro answered, to which Ulquiorra simply nodded his head.

As they walked, they came up to a large rock formation that seemed ordinary among the rest, but when Toshiro placed an ice covered hand to the surface, the rock itself seemed to split and open like a set of double doors. As this happened a miniature platform lifted out of the rock and simply revealed a small white orb, looking like a discolored modified soul. Toshiro took the small ball and handed it to Ulquiorra, whom placed it inside his coat pocket; "Just keep it safe for now." the white haired captain said.

The pale arrancar nodded his head; "I will." he said, his voice void of any emotion.

Toshiro nodded back, then let out a silent breath; "So all three of you joined his army." he stated, giving Ulquiorra a look that didn't seem to express any feelings.

"Yes. Though he came to us separately, we all had the same plan when he made his offer." Ulquiorra said as the two just seemed to exchange stares, just as they used to nearly forty years ago.

"And what was your plan?" Toshiro asked, but already seemed to know the answer as he inwardly smirked.

"To deceive Aizen Sosuke and to kill him at the appropriate time." was the emotionless response, to which Toshiro's inward smirk came forth onto his face.

"And that whole thing of calling him 'Aizen-sama'?" the white haired captain asked, sounding somewhat amused about the title.

"It is merely part of my disguise. He seems to react better the higher suffix used with his name. He trusts me above all the rest because of this." Ulquiorra said, and though his tone was still emotionless, it still seemed as though he was speaking bitterly of Sosuke.

Toshiro merely smirked a bit wider to this and nodded his head; "Clever." he commented.

Ulquiorra merely turned toward the stairway as he could hear multiple voices coming nearer of them. He then turned toward Toshiro and took a slight bow; "Till the next time we meet, Hitsugaya." he said.

"Yeah. I just hope it won't be as long as last time." Toshiro said with a slight bow as well as Ulquiorra suddenly disappeared; 'Although...I did just see you a few days ago, so it's not really that bad since last time.' he continued in his mind as his small smirk grew a bit more.

But as he stood there for a moment, he finally heard foot steps coming toward him, to which he pressed a small red button on the side of the miniature platform and the rock returned to it's normal look. He then turned to look at each of the Visorad as they gave him a mixture of looks, Shinji looked merely bored as if he didn't care much. Hiyori merely appeared pissed, but not as much as before, Kensei had an expression that seemed to want to know Toshiro's intentions.

Rojuro was simply standing there with a raised brow, as if he was simply going to trust Toshiro on his decision. Love had a similar expression, only his sunglasses didn't allow anyone to see his eyes. Lisa just had a stone face, not really showing much of any emotion, but it was obvious she just wanted to cover for her confusion on the subject. Mashiro however just had an innocent and confused look on her features, and Hachigen just had an expression that made it obvious that he just didn't even want to get involved.

But the large pink hared man also had Ichigo laying limply in his arms, whom of which he laid down on the ground; "Should we start now?" he asked, taking everyone's attention off of Toshiro.

"Yeah...we might as well." Shinji said with a light sigh, but just as he was about to take a step, Hiyori suddenly spoke up loudly.

"Hold on a second! Where did 'tear-face' go?" she demanded, looking around to try and find said arrancar.

"Back to Hueco Mundo. He passed right by all of you when he left." Toshiro said easily as he walked toward Ichigo; "You should definitely begin. You've already spent too much time 'fooling around'."

"Hey! It's his fault!" Hiyori yelled, pointing a finger to Shinji, whom rolled his eyes.

"Even if I did tell you, you would have ignored me and demanded for me to get you some more juice like always." the blonde commented to himself.

But immediately following his words, he was suddenly hit in his nose, which started to bleed; "Shut up! It's not my fault we never have anything to drink!" she declared, crossing her arms in a huff.

"Tch...it's _because_ you drink all the juice every day that we run out all the time." Shinji said in a low voice, pinching his nose to stop the bleeding.

Yet his action was futile as Hiyori backhanded him in the nose, which caused it to break and bleed even heavier then before. This caused the other Visorads and even Toshiro to sweat drop and sigh heavily; "Anyway..." the white haired captain began, gesturing to Ichigo.

"...let's focus on one thing at a time here." he finished, sighing heavily as he did; 'I feel like I've aged fifty more years just being around them.' he thought with a shake of his head.

While each of the Visorad nodded in agreement to his suggestion, Hiyori still shot glares toward Shinji as if telling him that their 'conversation' wasn't finished; "Alright...let's get freak show on the road." she said with an annoyed look on her face.

She then smirked confidently toward Ichigo and leaned toward his unconscious body; "You hear that moron? We're gonna help you and you better appreciate it or I'll just hafta kick your as-" but she was cut off immediately as a very large black and red spirit energy blasted off of Ichigo's body, to which everyone including Toshiro's eyes widened slightly.

Both the white haired captain and Hachigen placed their hands together and formed two very powerful kido barriers around the unconscious teen. Toshiro narrowed his eyes and clenched his icy hands into fists as he placed them back to his side; 'I didn't expect your inner hollow to cooperate very long, but he seriously wants to be in control. It all depends on you now...Kurosaki.' he thought as a white mask began forming on Ichigo's face.

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And there you have it, Ulquiorra's name origin...well...my version anyway. I have no idea how, where or when he did in the actual canon story. =/ Btw, I know that soul resonance is from Soul Eater, but it's nothing like how it is in that so I'm not really using things from other animes. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and stay tuned for the next one. :D Ja Ne.


	83. Chapter 83

And here we go, the next chapter of my story. *sigh* Such a long way...I can't believe that I've been going for over a year and updating weekly, every week, save for my month long break I took. But no rest for the wicked huh? Anyway, here's the next part of my fic. ;D

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**Chapter 83:**

Toshiro and the Visored stood and stared with narrowed eyes as they watched Ichigo stand to his feet; "Looks like he's already fighting his inner hollow." Shinji commented.

The orange haired teen let out a hissing growl as the white mask finished forming on his face, it having few red stripes on the left side. His normal skin had also been covered in a white skin that formed claws at the end of his fingers and toes, giving him a very animalistic look. Even his eyes had changed from their usual brown to a golden yellow, with black sclera.

As they watched, Ichigo's newly transformed eyes looked to them and narrowed immediately. He then let out a hollow-like howl and leapt at them, but his body slammed against the yellow color barrier Hachigen created and bounced off, him not even reaching Toshiro's of the same color. 'Ichigo' landed on his feet and stared at them once more, him seeming to glared more toward Toshiro then anyone else.

"I'll take care of him. Just keep the barrier up." the icy captain said as he walked toward the barriers as part of them slid open like a door.

He walked through the opening, took a mere three steps and was immediately attacked by the transformed 'Ichigo'. Toshiro just stared at him as the barriers' openings slid closed behind him, sealing the two of them off from the rest of the area; 'This is going to be interesting.' was all he thought as 'Ichigo' slashed at him with a claw-like hand.

Toshiro merely grabbed his hand easily and pushed him away effortlessly; "It looks like without your zanpakuto...you're not very powerful." he commented, to which 'Ichigo' growled silently and shifted his gaze as if looking for something.

'Hmph...it looks like he can understand what I'm saying.' Toshiro thought to himself; 'Even though I'm just supposed to keep him busy...I would like to test his strength while he's like this. That way I can plan ahead for another incident.'

As 'Ichigo' came charging at him once more, Toshiro glanced over toward Shinji and the others on the other side of the barrier; "Bring his zanpakuto in here." he said as he swiftly spun his body to the right, which allowed him to dodge away from 'Ichigo's' slashing attack.

Shinji nodded to his words and started walking up the steps to do as Toshiro asked, whom had back flipped over a sweeping kick from 'Ichigo'. As he landed on the ground he lifted his hands up in a fighting pose, which in turn made it possible for him to knock the many slashes that were aimed for his head. While 'Ichigo' seemed to be just relentlessly attacking, Toshiro was expertly dodging and parrying each of his attacks. But once the white haired captain dodged one of his claws, a sudden mass of grey flesh erupted from 'Ichigo's' hand.

"What?" the white haired captain exclaimed in shock as his eyes widened.

Toshiro quickly ducked away from the mass, which suddenly grew a large mouth with teeth appeared and attempted to eat him. After he dodged, he came up with an ice covered hand, stabbed the grey flesh, which froze on contact and shattered to pieces. Then Toshiro swiftly spun around and delivered a hard roundhouse kick to 'Ichigo's' stomach, which sent him directly into the other side of the first barrier forty feet away.

As 'Ichigo' started coming back toward him after quickly recovering, Toshiro narrowed his eyes on him intently; 'What in the hell was that? I've never seen any Hollow, Arrancar or Visored do anything like that.' he thought.

'That inner hollow of his has some very interesting...but strange techniques.' he continued as he brought up his leg, which connected with 'Ichigo's' slashing attack with his claw-like hand.

Once they made contact, Toshiro immediately brought his leg down, which dragged 'Ichigo' down as his momentum was still moving forward and his hand was what was directing him. As Toshiro made his ice covered foot and 'Ichigo's' hand hit the ground, he brought up his other leg and deliver a roundhouse kick to his face. This blow broke much of 'Ichigo's' mask, his jaw and his neck, and had also blown him into the other wall of the first barrier.

As 'Ichigo' hit the wall, his body crumpled into it and fell to the ground in a heap; "Maybe I should hold back a bit more." Toshiro muttered to himself.

But after his words left his lips, 'Ichigo' stood up, cracked his neck, snapped his jaw back into place and just seemed to smile as the mask began reforming. This made Toshiro smirk lightly and shake his head; "His high speed regeneration is nearly as fast as mine." he muttered.

"Nearly." Toshiro continued before suddenly shunpoing behind 'Ichigo', but as he did, his mind began working in overdrive, which seemed to make everything happening around him incredibly slow.

'First point of attack, sweep legs, eliminate possibility of escape. Second, uppercut into ribs, causing shortness of breath and puncture of lungs. Third, roundhouse kick into shoulder, reducing likelihood of recovering after hitting the ground. Last, side kick into ribs, causing fracture and blurring of vision from distortion. Fifteen percent power for each hit will guarantee life, with sixty percent regeneration speed. Percentage of recovering after twenty feet, one hundred.' he thought all in the brief moment it took to blink.

Toshiro then, immediately swept both 'Ichigo's' legs from under him, sent a strong uppercut into his side, which made his body fly ten feet into the air and snapped a few of his ribs. But as he reached the peak in the air, Toshiro suddenly appeared above him and threw a kick directly into 'Ichigo's' shoulder, breaking it in half. As 'Ichigo's' body hit the ground, Toshiro had once again shunpoed and sent a spinning back kick into his ribs, breaking them entirely.

This knocked 'Ichigo' back almost right into the opposite wall, but he had stopped himself before reaching it and started panting as his regeneration power reversed his wounds. But before he was completely healed, he immediately came running right back at Toshiro with a loud howl. The white haired captain just slowly walked forward, then held out his ice covered hand, to which Ichigo's Zangetsu suddenly came right into his hand. All the while off to the side, Shinji stood at the reopened 'door' of the barrier as he retracted his arm after being the one to throw the black zanpakuto.

"Thanks Shinji." Toshiro muttered as he tossed the large blade toward 'Ichigo', whom caught it easily as he came closer to the icy captain.

'Reach has lengthened by five feet and three inches, safe distance away is seven feet one inch. Style of fighting, more wild and berserk. Point of attack, any given opening.' Toshiro thought as 'Ichigo' stepped within five feet of him.

The icy captain immediately had to dodge away from multiple slashes from 'Ichigo', the white wrappings around the transforming teen's zanpakuto unraveling and revealing the blade itself. After a half dozen swipes, Toshiro caught the large black blade and sent a palm toward 'Ichigo's' ribs. But he had dodged away from his attack and sent another one of his own toward his head. Toshiro narrowed his eyes, bent his back backward to dodge this attack, spun himself around and side stepped to the right.

As he did this, he brought up one of his hands, placed his middle finger and thumb together, then made a simple flicking motion toward 'Ichigo'. This action sent a large percussion blast directly into the teen's body and knocked him back directly into the first barrier once more. Only this time, when he hit it, it was with so much force that the barrier shattered apart, to which allowed 'Ichigo' to slam into Toshiro's barrier. But the moment he hit, his body crumpled like an aluminum can against a brick wall, which made 'Ichigo's' high speed regeneration come into effect once more.

"I wonder how long it'll take him to over come his inner hollow." Toshiro said to himself as 'Ichigo' was suddenly engulfed in a thick black and red spirit energy as he stood to his feet yet again.

Toshiro raised a brow to this, but it lowered once more as he narrowed his eyes to the newer sight before him. 'Ichigo's' outfit had changed to that of his Bankai, while the white skin covering his body had sprouted red markings across it and a large hollow hole formed in the middle of his chest. As the icy captain looked at this, he merely smirked and shifted his feet to the side in a fighting pose; "Hmph...this is gonna be fun." he whispered silently as 'Ichigo' leapt toward him.

For the next hour and ten minutes, Toshiro kept 'Ichigo' occupied within the yellow barrier, him becoming more and more like a hollow. His outfit had been torn to where only his hakama pants remained, which revealed his pure white skin and the long thick tail that protruded from his lower back. 'Ichigo' himself was growling and hissing just like a hollow, but Toshiro still looked calm and collected as he still had yet to break a sweat.

"Hmph. You sure are taking a while." Toshiro said silently to himself as he knocked 'Ichigo' away for seemingly the hundredth time.

'Although...Ishida took even longer to retrieve his powers. I'm just glad I told him to go to his father when I did.' he thought, narrowing his eyes as the transformed teen let out a very loud hollow screech.

Before the icy captain could even wonder what he was doing, the question was answered as 'Ichigo' brought up his claw-like hand, extended his pointer, middle finger and his thumb. He pointed them toward Toshiro and began charging a blood red color cero, it obviously holding much power as the sound of the gathering energy was much louder then an ordinary cero. The white haired captain had merely smirked to this and brought up an ice covered hand to block, but the cero was never fired.

A large crack in 'Ichigo's' white skin suddenly formed on his shoulder, to which a large amount of blood gushed from it. This caused each of the Visoreds' eyes to widen in interest, but Toshiro merely smirked lightly as he watched; "About time."

A few more cracks appeared across 'Ichigo's' body, all of which spurted a large amount of blood onto the ground, then as the cracks reached his mask, 'Ichigo' suddenly let out a loud and horrifying screech. But this was short lived as the white skin covering his body shattered apart, which caused a large amount of his spirit energy to implode on itself. This created an extremely large explosion to blast off of 'Ichigo's' body, it expanding to the very seems of the barrier and making the whole area shake around them.

Each of the Visored gained shocked expressions as they watched this, all of their eyes widening in shock and a few of their mouths had gaped open from the event before them. Despite the explosion kicking up much dirt and debris, making it impossible to see inside the barrier even as the large blast seized, their expressions stayed the same. But as the dirt cloud began to settle, the barrier was eventually taken down by Toshiro with a simple snap of his ice covered fingers, allowing the dirt to escape and reveal himself and the teen inside.

Toshiro was merely standing there without a single scratch on him, with a small smirk on his face and crossed arms; 'One hour and seventeen minutes. A bit longer then I expected, but he's done it and that's all that matters.' he thought as he briefly closed his eyes.

Ichigo was standing a few yards away from the white haired captain, with his own usual looking body back once more. Though his clothes were mostly back to normal, his shihakusho from his Bankai was somewhat torn, but his hakama pants were whole once more. He also had a thin white mask covering his face, which held a few blood red stripes on the left side.

Toshiro let out a silent breath as both he and Shinji began walking toward the orange haired teen, whom had suddenly fell to his knees and landed face first into the ground, the mask falling off in the process. As they came closer, Shinji spoke up with a somewhat serious tone; "How ya feelin'?"

Ichigo turned his head slightly and lifted it up to look at the two; "Not bad." he said, gaining a victorious smirk on his face.

Both Toshiro and Shinji gained smirks of their own as they kept their gazes on the teen; "Good to hear." the blonde said as his smirk turned to a smile.

Toshiro briefly closed his eyes as he let out a very silent chuckle; "I have a call waiting from the Head Captain..." he started, turning to Shinji as he looked back to him.

"...I'll leave the rest up to you." he finished, to which the blonde nodded his head and kept his smile.

"You got it." Shinji responded as Toshiro returned the gesture before starting to walk away.

"I'll try to make my next visit a bit longer." Toshiro said as he glanced to Hiyori before she could speak.

Upon hearing him, Hiyori gained a light blush, but she quickly turned away in an uncaring way and huffed; "Like I care." she muttered to herself.

Toshiro merely smirked once more as he gave a light wave to the rest of the Visored, whom waved back to him, save for Hiyori; "See ya." he called out before vanishing in a shunpo.

-Orihime's apartment-

The white haired captain arrived inside the small room that he and Rangiku were staying in through the small window, him going directly in with an expert side flip. But this didn't go unnoticed as Rangiku and even Yoruichi were sitting inside the room waiting for him; "Always have to make such fancy entrances...don't you?" the purple haired woman asked with an amused smile.

Toshiro raised a brow to her, but then looked to Rangiku as she was standing nearby giggling to herself; "Have we received the transmission yet?" he asked, turning his attention to the large black screen on the far wall of the room.

This screen took up much of the wall, but around the edge of the screen was a strange purple lining that looked almost like some sort of bizarre creature. There were also fairly large pipes that seemed to go from the side of the screen, into the wall, but they seemed to disappear inside as there was no evidence of them going further then a few inches.

"Not yet. But it is supposed to be fairly soon." Rangiku said as her giggling finally stopped, but her smile remained on her face.

Toshiro looked to the screen as nothing was shown but noise, to which he glanced toward the door of the room; "Orihime is still out?" he asked with a slightly raised brow.

"Yeah. She's taking care of your gigai. Due to 'someone' trying to get him to write an official note that would allow 'someone else' to take a whole month off of work." Yoruichi said, obviously holding back a laugh as she glanced from Toshiro to Rangiku.

The icy captain raised his brow even higher now and looked directly to Rangiku, whom was doing all she could to avoid his gaze. After a few moments, the strawberry blonde had even began whistling to make it seem as though she hadn't done any of the things the tan woman suggested. Toshiro just sighed heavily and shook his head to this, then shifted his eyes to the screen once more just as it began flicking to show a Twelfth Division member on it.

This person was a short male, with chin length brow hair, which had a small pigtail in the front. He also had small black eyes and wore the normal garments of a shinigami, but the long, white lab coat showed that he was a part of the Twelfth. He also had a large box of some chocolates in his one hand while the other was placing one of the chocolates into his mouth. It being obvious to any on looker that he had been eating for a while due to the smudges of chocolate on his face. But upon seeing Toshiro, Rangiku and Yoruichi standing there, he fumbled with the box and quickly put it away and cleared his throat; "S-Sorry for the delay!" he began in a respectful tone.

"This is the communications server for the Shinigami Research and Development Institute." the twelfth division member said, continuing to speak in the same pitch.

"Tenth Division Captain and Commander of Omnitsukido...Hitsugaya Toshiro." said person spoke.

"Yes sir...the Head Captain is waiting. I'll transfer you now." the small male said as he pressed a button before him, to which the screen immediately switched over to the eldest captain in the Gotei Thirteen.

"Captain Hitsugaya...due to the severity of this conversation, I will get directly to the point." the Head Captain began, causing Toshiro, Rangiku and Yoruichi to narrow their eyes and listen carefully.

"Even after our investigation, we have not been able to discover Aizen Sosuke's true intentions. So I must ask you personally of what you know." he continued, to which the two woman looked to him with a mixture of expressions.

Rangiku had a confused, but also interested look on her face, while Yoruichi held a knowing one, yet she also appeared interested in what his answer would be.

"The Oken." the white haired captain stated simply, to which everyone else's eyes widened and stared at him in disbelief.

"Aizen's true goal is to create another Oken, open the gates to the Royal House and kill the Soul King." he continued, keeping his eyes narrowed.

The Head Captain's eyes closed once more and he nodded his head; "I will inquire of how you know this information later, but for now...we must prepare to counter his plan. If he wants to create the Oken, then he must be after Karakura town."

Toshiro nodded back to him and crossed his arms across his chest; "The first was created by using one hundred thousand souls within a spirit enriched land of no less then half a mile. And Karakura town has exactly all those things. So it's safe to assume he will come to here when he's ready."

Genryusai tilted his head down in thought, then after a brief moment, he brought it back up and slightly opened his eyes; "According to Captain Kurotsuchi, the Hogyoku will take at least four months to fully awaken. So we have enough time to prepare."

The white haired captain let out a silent breath and blinked his eyes very slowly; "But we have to make sure not to depend on that large of a gap. Kisuke and I have already devised a plan, which should be complete within a month. So everyone else should be train and ready to mobilize at any time."

The Head Captain nodded his head to this; "So be it. I command everyone to train and be prepared for war!"

"Yes sir." the three occupants of the room said in unison.

"Also...inform Kurosaki Ichigo of the situation. The World of the Living should build up it's strength as well." Genryusai continued as Toshiro nodded to his words.

"Rangiku..." the icy captain began, turning to look at her; "...inform the others of this. Including Kurosaki's group."

"Yes sir." Rangiku said, quickly vanishing in a shunpo.

"I'll go and tell Ichigo since he's farthest away." Yoruichi said just before she too disappeared in a shunpo.

Toshiro turned back to face the Head Captain as he narrowed his eyes; "What else is there?" he asked in a knowing tone.

"You are invited to the Kasumioji wedding to serve as a guest and security. Request from Kumoi Gyokaka on behalf from Kannoji Shu." the Head Captain said, his tone making it obvious that they both knew that something was amiss within that clan.

"Hmph. Very well, I will be there. When is it?" Toshiro asked as his eyes seemed to narrow even further.

"One week from today." the elder man said, to which the icy captain nodded his head.

"And lastly?" Toshiro questioned, knowing that there was one other issue that he had to inform him of, despite not knowing what it was.

The Head Captain seemed to remain silent for a moment before side stepping and revealing a figure behind him; "You have someone that wishes to speak with you." he said, moving himself off screen as it began focusing on the figure.

Toshiro's eyes widened as he recognized this person instantly; "H-Hinamori..." he whispered in shock.

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And there ya have it. I hope all liked this chapter and leave me the wonderful reviews I love so much. Lol. Btw, can anyone guess the movie I used as inspiration for the fight? Ja Ne.


	84. Chapter 84

Okay, here is the moment you've been waiting for...WHAT WILL HINAMORI SAY? AHHHHH! Lol. I hope you guys like it and leave a review. Now...here we go. ;)

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**Chapter 84:**

"H-Hinamori." Toshiro whispered silently in shock, staring at the brown eyed girl on the large screen before him.

"Hello...Shiro-chan." Momo said with a small and rather sad looking smile.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on her for a brief moment, but his expression softened as he allowed a small smirk on his face; "So...you've finally woken up."

Momo only managed to nod her head as the nearly black circles under her eyes all but screamed for more sleep. The white haired captain kept his attention on her eyes directly, but could still see them and felt a small cringe in his heart; "Are you sure you're well enough to be walking around?" he asked.

The raven haired girl smiled to him and nodded once more; "Yeah...I'm all better now." she said, her voice not seeming very convincing of her words.

Toshiro merely smirked slightly wider, but not much as he could only feel sympathy for the small girl; 'You don't look any better then when you passed out.' he thought to himself as he kept his expression the same.

"I'm sorry." Momo started, her face forming into a very sad look, this causing Toshiro to feel his heart clenching even further.

"I truly am sorry Shiro-chan. I doubted you...and even raised my blade against you. I don't know what was wrong with me. I'm truly very..." she continued, but as she paused for a brief moment, Toshiro spoke up.

"Stop." he began, causing Momo to look at him in shock, his tone seeming like he would yell at her.

"You don't need to apologize. I've already forgiven you. And if I forgave you then you should forgive yourself." he continued, to which the brown eyed girl blinked in amazement.

"Just hurry up and get rid of those bags under your eyes. And we'll call it even." he finished, making Momo well up in tears.

"Shiro-chan...thank you. Thank you so much." she cried with a happy smile.

"Hmph. Well you still look like a kid. If you wanna grow, you need to get more sleep." Toshiro started again, making Momo blush and look at him in embarrassment.

"Rangiku has at least ten years worth of sleep. So if you even want to get close to her you better get started." he continued, his smirk starting to become bigger as he spoke.

"Sh-Shut up...Rangiku-san is an exception." she exclaimed, her not sounding very intimidating due to her weak voice, appearance and size.

"Besides Shiro-chan...you're not in any position to lecture someone about their height." she continued, shaking her arms in a short tantrum, but due to her condition, it wasn't very threatening.

"Hinamori!" Toshiro called out suddenly, cutting her off from complaining further; "How many times do I have to repeat myself...it's not 'Shiro-chan', it's Captain Hitsugaya." he finished, offering a full smile, which in turn made her smile as well.

"Yeah...you're right." Momo said, keeping her smile for a while.

But neither of their smiles lasted as she tilted her head down in thought; 'Here we go...it's time to see how her progress has truly come along.' Toshiro spoke in his mind.

Though the silence only lasted a few seconds, it seemed like an eternity as Toshiro examined her every movement. Her breathing was somewhat irregular, making it obvious that she was nervous about speaking about whatever it was she was thinking about. She also had her hands clenched into fists, which allowed Toshiro to realize that besides her nervousness, she was also harboring a degree of anger toward her inner thoughts.

"Can I ask you something...Shiro-chan?" the raven haired girl finally spoke.

"Sure." was all Toshiro said as he kept himself from grinding his teeth and clenching his own ice covered hands in anticipation.

"You're going to fight Captain Aizen, aren't you?" she asked, keeping her head tilted down, making her miss the twitch in Toshiro's eye.

"Yeah." he responded, to which Momo finally looked to him, showing an expression of worry.

"Are you going to kill Captain Aizen?" she continued, her look now seeming to become sad once more.

"Yeah." he repeated, keeping his body from tensing up after hearing Aizen Sosuke's name and former title, twice.

"I see..." Momo began, tilting her head up to look at the ceiling, which showed how her throat was beginning to clench from her sadness.

"I understand that what he's doing is bad, but I still kept trying to tell myself that he had some kind of special motive behind his actions. Or the possibility that someone was controlling him into doing these awful things." she continued, staring at him with almost confused eyes, to which Toshiro just stared back at her.

'Is she saying that she believes those things...or that she doesn't?' he questioned himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"But it's not true...is it?" she asked, her eyes now showing that she knew the truth and was accepting it, making Toshiro blink in slight surprise.

"He's truly evil. An enemy of Soul Society." Momo said, placing her hands together as if praying and closing her eyes; "I know that what he's done is unforgivable. But..."

After he last word, Toshiro narrowed his eyes once more and tensed as he thought she was going to drift back into her delusion. But he was shocked once more as her eyes opened, which seemed to be pleading with him, and then she continued speaking; "...just for my sake, could you kill him quickly? I don't want anyone to suffer during this war. Not even if he deserves it."

Toshiro blinked in surprise, but then he returned to his normal expression and even smiled to her; "I'll try, Hinamori." he responded, his tone making it obvious that he was glad for her.

'She really did make progress. She's truly grown.' Toshiro thought as his smile had unconsciously widened slightly.

"Thank you...Shiro-chan." Momo said with a smile of her own, but she looked to the side as if listening to someone off screen.

She nodded after a few seconds and looked back to Toshiro; "Captain Unohana has come to take me back. I guess we'll have to talk later Shiro-chan." she said with a small but happy smile.

Toshiro nodded his head to her and kept a smile on his face; "Alright. I'll see you later Hinamori. Hopefully those circles under your eyes will be gone by then."

Momo smiled a bit wider to him and gave a bow; "Till then...Shiro-chan." she said before moving off screen.

The white haired captain let out a sigh of relief as he slowly blinked his eyes; 'Good for you Hinamori. You've become a lot stronger.' he thought.

But as he looked back to the screen, he saw the Head Captain once more; "Good luck on your mission, Captain Hitsugaya." was the old man said before the screen switched to noise.

Toshiro looked down at the ground and smirked lightly; "It's been a surprisingly good day thus far." he said silently.

'First I meet a long lost friend, then one of my best friend's son achieves something that would normally take days, if not weeks to do and finally...a good friend has become her old self again.' Toshiro thought to himself with a content sigh.

"I need more days like this." he thought as he brought his head back up and turned around.

As he did this, he noticed Orihime walking into the room, but she came in with his gigai, whom was covered in dirt, with clothes torn in various places and his face all bruised; 'I spoke too soon.' he thought quickly as his eye twitched in aggravation.

"What the hell happened?" Toshiro demanded, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Well...as I was walking him home, he kind of wandered off and got beat up by a few of the guys from the algebra class we were in this morning." Orihime said, fidgeting around nervously.

Toshiro turned his attention to his gigai, whom basically had an expression of 'I'm gonna die' on his face. But before the white haired captain said or did anything, he remembered Senna's words to him before he had left the school and groaned in annoyance; 'Now I have to listen to her telling me...'

-The next day, outside Karakura high school-

"I told you so~." Senna all but sang as she smiled widely at the white haired 'student', who's gigai was still healing from it's wounds from the previous day.

Toshiro merely frowned to her and rolled his eyes; "If it was actually me...those delinquents would never have been able to lay a single finger on me." he said in a 'matter-a-fact' tone.

Senna merely shrugged to him and smiled wider; "Doesn't matter. I was still right." she claimed, winking to him.

The icy captain sighed lightly to her words and looked to Rangiku, whom seemed to be on the brink of laughing. He then turned his head toward Rukia and Orihime as they merely offered him a smile, to which he let out a heavy sigh; "Let's get to class." he said.

"Yes sir. 'Captain Geek-san'." Senna said with a wide smirk and quickly ran away before he could say anything.

Toshiro sighed in annoyance, then began walking toward the main entrance, to which Rangiku, Orihime and Rukia followed. As they went through the door of the homeroom class, Toshiro immediately sat down in his seat near the window, him having all his classes near the same area. Each of the other students eventually came into the classroom and sat down quickly, not even paying attention as their 'teacher' walked in. Not even Toshiro noticed as he merely kept his focus on the clear blue sky through the window.

But the white haired 'student' quickly snapped his attention toward the teacher as she suddenly spoke; "Alright class. My name is Shihoin Yoruichi, your new school nurse. I've been asked to handle this homeroom for the next week or two, due to the fact that your normal teacher is out with the flu."

All of the male students, save for Toshiro, just stared at the 'Goddess-like woman' standing before them with gapping mouths. Yoruichi was wearing a fairly tight black tank top, a pair of dark blue, somewhat tight pair of jeans and a nurse's white coat. Though Rangiku, Rukia, Senna and Orihime all knew the tan woman, none of them expected to see her there and took on slightly shocked expressions of their own. But they all quickly recovered and just waited for her to continue with the class as if it was normal.

Toshiro sighed heavily, then quickly looked away as he began rubbing his temples with his fingers; 'Why me? Am I being punished for having a relatively good day yesterday?' he thought in annoyance.

"Alright...we'll start with role call and go from there." Yoruichi claimed as she walked over to the teacher's deck at the front of the room.

The white haired captain looked back to the window as he attempted to ignore the idiotic studdering of the male students after Yoruichi called out their names to make sure they were there. But once she reached Toshiro's name, she walked over to him quietly and sat down on his desk, which shocked all the boys in the room; "Hit~su~ga~ya~...To~shi~ro~." she sang with a smile.

Said 'student' sighed in annoyance and looked up at her with a frown; "What are you doing here Yoruichi?" he whispered in annoyance.

"Well...during my little 'visit', Hiyori told me to make sure that I don't let you out of my sight." the tan woman began, giving him a wink, but there was something else there that told Toshiro that she had something to tell him later.

"She's like the older sister that you never had...even though she's younger then you are." she continued, holding back a laugh.

Toshiro groaned and rolled his eyes to her words, but he obviously took notice of her small gesture and added a very slight nod; "You realize that a teacher doesn't treat their students like this." he said in a matter-a-fact tone.

Yoruichi smiled lightly to him as he looked away, but then simply shrugged; "I suppose that's true. So I expect to see you after class! And don't think that just because I'm new that I'll go easy on you!" she claimed, almost sounding as if he was actually in trouble for something.

The purple haired woman slid off his desk and started walking back to the front of the room, giving Toshiro a wink in a way that almost no one else saw. Rangiku giggled silently as she watched all this from behind Toshiro, while Rukia and Senna held back their urge to laugh. Orihime however was just sitting quietly, but she did have a small smile on her face as if happy abou the fact that all of them could have fun even in school.

All of the teen boys were looking from Yoruichi to Toshiro, making it obvious they were jealous for staying after class with the new nurse that looked like a Goddess. As Yoruichi went on with the role call and even with the normal class, she constantly walked around the room, and every time she passed Toshiro, she'd slip a small note to him. All of her notes had said the same thing, only they all had different styles of writing and side drawings around the words; 'Now we'll have a true High School Romance.'

Toshiro closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. But to add on to everything, every time Yoruichi came by with another note, Rangiku and Senna would start giggling. He just rolled his eyes to this and looked back out the window; 'Maybe I should switch with Madarame, Abarai or Ayasegawa. I'm sure one of them will switch their homeroom class with me.' he thought to himself.

'Then again...she'd probably do everything possible to keep herself as my 'teacher'.' he continued with a silent groan; "I'm not going to have an easy time being here...am I?" he asked to himself silently.

Immediately after he spoke, Yoruichi seemed to just appear behind him and lean against his shoulder; "Nope." was she said, winking to him.

Rangiku and Senna held back a laugh to this, while Orihime blinked her large eyes innocently and Rukia let out a silent sigh.

-Eight hours later on the school's roof-

Toshiro stood there with only Yoruichi as they seemed to just stare at one another for a while, everyone else having already left the grounds. But the silence was broken as Yoruichi crossed her arms under her chest and spoke; "They told me about your Arrancar friend and the fact that you gave him something." she began, closing her eyes midway through.

The white haired 'student' crossed his arms as well and continued to look at her; 'So Shinji did see me. He's always been good at noticing things, but he's nearly as good as I am. But then...that is where I get that trait from.' he thought.

"I'm not going to ask you what it was you gave him, cause I know you have a reason for it. So I'll just ask you of how you know one another." Yoruichi said, opening her eyes, her expression being quite serious.

Toshiro's gaze hardened, but he nodded his head; "Alright...you deserve to know a few things." he said, uncrossing his arms before beginning his story.

After informing her of the origin of his, Ulquiorra's, Coyote's and Lilynette's friendship, he gave a silent pause as to let her contemplate his words. Yet it only took less then thirty seconds before Yoruichi suddenly smiled lightly to him and uncrossed her arms; "Well I'm glad to hear that you made some friends that you have things in common with." she said as her smile widened slightly.

The white haired 'student' raised a brow, then closed his eyes briefly and smirked lightly; "Yeah...I guess so." he whispered to himself.

"But now that 'that's' out of the way...I need to think of how I'm going to answer Hiyori's question." Yoruichi commented as she walked over to Toshiro, tilting her head up to the sky.

Toshiro raised his brow once more to her and tilted his head slightly to the side in question; "What's that?" he asked.

"She asked me of why most of the people in Soul Society don't seem to mind me going back and forth from there to here all the time. And even accepting help from Kisuke, whom is 'supposed' to be the one behind what happened one hundred years ago." she said, making it sound as though she herself didn't understand why either.

"Well...I'm sure that because of the emergency with Aizen...they're willing to accept your and Kisuke's help." Toshiro said, only pausing for a brief moment.

Yoruichi blinked to him, then looked up in thought; "I suppose that's true. But does that mean that they'll treat us like 'villains' after its all over?" she asked, her tone sounding almost as if she were pouting.

Toshiro sighed lightly and shrugged; "I don't know. But I think that your part in this war won't go unnoticed. So I think a full pardon will be in order."

"He he, you've just thought of everything haven't you?" Yoruichi questioned, with a widening smile toward him.

"Nearly." was all he responded with as he allowed a small smirk on his face.

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Alright, that's the end for this one. Yes...Yoruichi's the school nurse and a teacher. XD It was actually a suggestion from my friend Tuli-chan, and I thought it was brilliant, so here she is...ready to treat poor Toshiro's 'wounds'. XD Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and stay tuned for more. Till next time. ;) Ja Ne.


	85. Chapter 85

A quick but big thanks to Tuli-chan again. You're awesome and you know it. *break dance* Ha ha. Anyway, on with the story. ;)

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**Chapter 85:**

-Karakura town, the top of an under construction building-

Toshiro stood on the highest beam on the incomplete building, it being parallel to the ground and large enough for him to stand on without fear of falling. He looked out to the clear blue sky as the sun finally reached the center of it, which marked the middle of the warm day. A gentle breeze blew around him, making his white locks and similar colored haori to flow like a river.

Beside him was Yoruichi, whom was sitting on the beam with her legs dangling off the edge and a pout on her face; "I wanted to tease you some more at school. This is so unfair." she whined silently as the wind blew her long hair behind her.

"Then you shouldn't have waited till Friday before you applied for the position at the school." the white haired captain muttered silently as he crossed his arms.

Yoruichi looked up at him and huffed; "It's still unfair." she muttered, turning away.

But she immediately looked to him once more as she took on a devious smile, it being covered as the wind blew her bangs into her face. She took a hand and moved her hair back into place and smiled even wider; "But I guess I'll have something to look forward to. We'll have to go to school all five days next week..." she began.

"...and I plan to have a lot of fun with you." she finished, winking to Toshiro, causing him to quickly look away and blush lightly.

"That is highly inappropriate Yoruichi. Especially since you're _supposed_ to be a 'teacher' and 'nurse', while I'm a 'student'. It wouldn't go well if anyone were to misunderstand." Toshiro claimed, attempting to keep their talk business related.

"Hmph. Why should we care? It's not like they're going to remember either of us in a few months." Yoruichi claimed with a wink.

Toshiro sighed and shook his head, giving her a glance; "That doesn't give us the right to do as we wish." he spoke in a serious tone.

Yoruichi sighed heavily, scooted herself closer to him and switched her position. Her back was now leaning against Toshiro's leg, one of her legs were hanging off the edge of the building while the other was supporting her arm as it was propped up on her knee. The white haired captain looked down at her and raised a brow, but Yoruichi just stared out in the distance; "That's true...but I'd still like to spend a little more time with you." Yoruichi not looking at him as she spoke.

The white haired captain's brow raised a bit higher, but he merely looked down at where her back was leaning on his leg; "Why are you leaning on me?" he asked, sounding only halfway annoyed.

The purple haired woman merely shrugged as she continued to stare at the sky; "Just because...it's easier on my back." she said, finally looking up at him and winking her eye to him.

Toshiro's brow raised even higher, then he let out a sigh and looked away; "Why do you want to spend so much time with me lately?" he asked silently as another light breeze blew around them.

The purple haired women stayed silent for a while, but when she broke it, she sounded almost sad; "I missed a hundred years of being with you...I don't want to miss another day."

The icy captain turned to her with wide eyes, him actually being slightly shocked at her words, but he eventually looked away and lightly smiled; "Thanks." he whispered just loudly enough for her to hear.

"It's the least I can do." Yoruichi said with a smile as they stared at the nearly cloudless sky.

They stayed there for a long while, merely listening to the whistling of the wind as it blew around, but then the two heard an actual whistling sound out in the distance. Both blinked their eyes and began looking around for the source, yet neither saw anything but the normal town. Yoruichi stood up on her feet, glancing to Toshiro as she did and raised a brow brow as she spoke; "Sense anything?"

Toshiro shook his head; "No. None of my ice shards are picking anything up." he said silently as they continued to look around.

"Hmm. Well...on a side note, I thought of a good name for that whole 'scattered ice bits' thing you've got going on." Yoruichi said, giving him a smile, to which he just raised a brow once more.

"It should be; 'The Ice Shard Network'." she said, waving her hand through the air as if to heighten the suspense of her words.

Toshiro merely kept his brow raised and shook his head; "If you say so." was all he said as they continued their search, the whistling only becoming louder as it went on.

After a brief silence, a surge of an arrancar's spirit energy flowed through the town, to which Toshiro and Yoruichi turned swiftly in it's direction. They narrowed their eyes and began walking across the air itself toward it; "It's not very powerful. But it's definitely an arrancar." the white haired captain said silently.

"It must be one that Aizen just sent out on a whim." Yoruichi claimed, placing a hand on her hip as the two stopped and stood on the air.

Toshiro nodded his head to her words, then narrowed his eyes even further as the arrancar's spirit energy seemed to suddenly vanish. The two shared an indifferent glance with each other, but then looked away as they felt Rangiku's spirit energy replace the arrancar's. The icy captain smirked lightly to this and nodded his head; "Whatever the case...it's gone now." he said silently.

Yoruichi smiled to him and let out a silent sigh; "Shall we see how she did?" she asked, sounding slightly bored by the fact that neither of them got to fight at all.

The white haired captain looked to her and raised a brow, to which she merely blinked to him innocently; "What? Wouldn't you like to know why that whistling noise was echoing across town just from one small arrancar?" she questioned with a light shrug.

Toshiro sighed heavily and shrugged before he vanished in a shunpo, Yoruichi doing the same a split second later. Though Rangiku was nearly half a mile away, the icy captain and his tan friend arrived at their destination in less then two minutes. They quickly discovered that the arrancar incursion had occurred in the park as they both saw the large foot prints in the ground, which just appeared near of a newly broken swing set.

The white haired captain and his tan friend landed on the ground near of the swing, but before either could even think to look around for the former's lieutenant, they heard said woman's voice; "My name is Matsumoto Rangiku! Not 'Oba-san' you little brat!"

Toshiro and Yoruichi both sweat dropped lightly and turned to the right side, between a group of large trees. The strawberry blond color of Rangiku's hair making a strong contrast to the dark and light green of the leaves and making her as noticeable as a black dot on a large white canvas.

When the two walked through the trees, what they saw was Rangiku, with her zanpakuto drawn and in her right hand in a reverse grip. Before her was a young brown haired boy, whom wore a long sleeved red shirt, beneath a short sleeved hoodie, and a pair of blue jeans. He also had a silver chain protrudes from his chest, which told them that he was a wandering soul and that the lieutenant was attempting to perform a konso on the boy.

Rangiku kept trying to to place the bottom of the hilt of her zanpakuto against the child's forehead, but the boy immediately backed away from her every time. Upon seeing this, the two onlookers let out a sigh and walked closer toward the two, neither noticing their approach as they continued the struggle. But after a few more attempts, Rangiku seemed to have enough of it and simply lifted the boy up by his yellow hoodie; "If you don't quit moving, I'm gonna just knock you out and preform the konso anyway!" the strawberry blond yelled in annoyance.

Yoruichi giggled to this and looked over to Toshiro with a wide grin as they stopped a few yards away; "Looks like you rubbed off on her quite a lot, huh?"

Toshiro looked to her and raised a brow, then sighed heavily and shook his head; "Whatever." was all he said before stepping toward his lieutenant and the boy soul.

"Hold on Rangiku..." he started, to which Rangiku looked to him and blinked, her halting her hand just before the bottom of her katana was about to hit the child's forehead.

"Captain?" the strawberry blond muttered silently as she released the small child and stepped back slightly.

"Eh? 'Captain'? You're an elite?" the brown haired boy asked with blinking eyes as he straightened his clothes.

Toshiro simply nodded and crossed his arms as he came up toward the boy, whom just took on a similar pose as him. They were nearly at eye level with one another, Toshiro only being a few inches taller, excluding the height difference in their hair. Something of which Rangiku noticed and seemed to be having a hard time not laughing at the face.

The child smirked lightly, yet confidently toward Toshiro as he spoke in an amused tone; "No way...you're like the same age as I am. There's no way you're that good."

The white haired captain sighed lightly and narrowed his eyes; "Well regardless of what you think...I have a few questions that you will be answering." he said, speaking in a very authoritative tone that didn't allow any room for the boy to argue.

The brown haired child was about to speak, but upon seeing Toshiro's glare toward him, he simply cleared his throat and gave a rather helpless expression; "Well...um...what do you want to know?" he asked a bit nervously.

"Firstly, what's your name?" Toshiro questioned simply as Yoruichi walked up beside Rangiku and shared a glance with her as if in a small greeting.

"Toyokawa Shota." the boy said almost immediately, him obviously appearing somewhat intimidated by the white haired captain before him, despite him not looking much older in appearance.

"Well Toyokawa Shota...my next question is, did you hear a whistling noise not long ago?" Toshiro asked, to which the child blinked at him and the two women seemed to become serious.

The air around them seemed to hold a slight chill in it, yet no breeze was felt on anyone's skin, as if the whole world's 'mood' had just shifted drastically. All the while, Toshiro stared carefully at Shota as the boy's expression changed from a shocked one to one that that told the icy captain that he had an intention to lie to him with his answer; "No."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on him, but didn't press him on his false reply, as he knew that any further questioning would only lead to more lies. He then glanced around the park as the air still seemed to be motionless around them, not even the slightest movement in the leaved trees was seen. Yoruichi and Rangiku also seemed to notice his lie, but they seemed to have a harder time of not saying anything then Toshiro. Though the two remained quiet, they shared a glance to each other that said that one or both of them would break the silence if it went on.

The icy captain then shifted his gaze back to Shota as he spoke once more, him somehow noticing the tension between the women and the boy; "Why were you out here?"

Shota seemed to hesitate for a moment once more, which told all three of them right away that his next response would also be a lie. This making Yoruichi and Rangiku appear fairly agitated, as neither liked listening to such ridiculous and rather pointless lies. But it was Shota's answer in itself that made Toshiro, Yoruichi and Rangiku roll their eyes, as his words seemed so incredibly predictable; "I was just out walking and that thing attacked me."

His claim was an obvious lie, which was made that way due to his tone not sounding at all convincing, as if his mind was elsewhere and his lips were just moving on their own. Toshiro's eyes narrowed on him coldly, making the boy gulp down slightly in nervousness; "Alright...and why were you really out here?" he asked, to which the brown haired child's eyes widened in shock.

After a brief moment of shock, Shota's expression changed to a saddened one and eventually let out a silent sigh; "I was looking for my sister." he said, his head tilting down as he spoke, not noticing as both woman's looks started to turn to sympathetic ones.

But while both the tan woman's and Rangiku's expressions changed, the icy captain kept his own exactly the same. The only thing that had shifted was his narrowed eyes decreasing in intensity; "What happened?" Toshiro asked, his voice not changing either, but he felt a clench in his heart from his own sympathy, or at least where his heart would have been.

"While we were out on a trip to the amusement park with our family...we were all killed by a head collision with a truck. Me and my sister Yui woke up a while later and figured out we were dead after seeing our own bodies." Shota started, hot tears starting to seem through his now closed eyes.

"We looked for our parents but couldn't find then...so we sort of just started wandering around in search for them. Last night, we were resting at the park...but when I woke up..." he continued, his fists clenching in anger as his shoulders shook.

"...she was gone. I looked across the whole town and eventually found her here at the park. But then we were attacked by that monster and...and I..." as he said this, most of his whole body began to shake in anger and shame.

"...I just ran! I was so scared that I ran away!" he continued, his voice raising, but sounding rather choked as he seemed to be having a bit of difficulty speaking.

"She was calling out for me! She needed me there for her! But I didn't do anything! I just kept running!" Shota cried out, heavy tears streaming down his face.

Toshiro simply nodded his head to his words, Yoruichi and Rangiku tilted their heads down as if in mourning for not only Shota's sister, but his parents as well. After yet another moment of silence, the white haired captain let out a quiet breath and uncrossed his arms; "And now you want to make up for your mistake by facing the arrancar that killed your sister."

Shota quickly looked to him, him realizing his own actions now that they were said aloud, to which he looked down once more; "It's better then doing nothing." the brown haired child spoke, sounding rather stubborn in his tone.

His words made Yoruichi and Rangiku smirk lightly, both of them liking his determination. The icy captain however simply nodded his head once more and looked to the side; "Very well. I'll allow you to search for your sister before preforming the konso. It's not a fact that she was killed, so it won't hurt to look. But you'll have to wait till tomorrow." he said silently, causing Shota to blink in shock and for the two women beside him to smile.

The moment his words left his lips, the dead air around them seemed to lift away and make way for a cool and gentle breeze. This simple gust of wind had blown not only the grass and leaves around, but Shota's negative feelings as well. He appeared to have much more dedication in finding his sister then he did before, something that Toshiro noticed and inwardly smirked to; 'I guess since Aizen won't be making a true move right away...we can go ahead and help a few souls in need.' Toshiro thought to himself.

"Such a softie Toshiro." Yoruichi muttered, giggling quietly as she spoke.

Rangiku nodded in agreement, but then looked to Shota as he smirked widely and thanked Toshiro for understanding; "Unlike 'Baba' over here." the boy continued, gesturing to Rangiku as he spoke.

The moment the boy's words left his lips, his face was immediately being crushed into her chest, her appearing to try and suffocate him; "That title is unforgivable! If you're going to call me something other then my name...then it better be Onee-san." she growled out.

Yoruichi laughed silently as this happened, while Toshiro merely placed a hand to one of Rangiku's arms; "Don't give him the same suffering you do me." he said, passing by as he started walking away.

"Let's head back." he continued as he kept going.

The strawberry blond let out a huff and released Shota, all the while Yoruichi kept laughing lightly, finding the whole thing quite humorous. But as Toshiro walked on, his tan friend quickly chased after him, followed quickly by Rangiku and Shota as the former halfway pushed, halfway carried the ladder with them. The white haired captain glanced back to the three and sighed heavily; 'I really need a vacation now.' he thought to himself.

-Orihime's apartment-

After going inside, they walked toward the room that Orihime had offered them, but were met by Senna, Rukia and the orange haired teen herself. All of whom just looked to the newly arrived four like little children that had just been caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. Toshiro raised a brow to this, but then he let out a sigh as he noticed the open box to the side and the cell phones in each of their hands.

"Sorry Captain Hitsugaya. These came for you, but we couldn't help but open it and look at them." Rukia said, appearing very guilty in Toshiro's eyes.

Orihime had her large eyes widened in a pout, as she seemed to simply hope that she wouldn't be in trouble with anyone, despite her being the one with the power to kick people out. Senna however was fidgeting around as if she had done more then simply open the box and look at what was inside, something that Toshiro caught on to immediately. The white haired captain let out another sigh and looked directly to the younger purple haired girl's way; "What did you do?" he asked simply, not really seeming to care much.

"Well..." Senna began, reaching to the side and bringing up a broken cell phone.

The screen was cracked heavily, while the axis point of the flip-open of the phone was broken nearly in half, the two parts only being held together by a few red and yellow wires. Toshiro inspected the device quickly and raised a brow to Senna as she continued to speak; "...we kinda fought over this one since it was supposed to be yours and seemed to have more features to it."

As she finished, Senna gulped down nervously, to which Toshiro placed an ice covered hand to his forehead and rubbed it, showing his annoyance to the situation. Yoruichi snaked her arms over his shoulders and placed her chin on top of his head; "Don't worry...Toshiro here can fix just about anything. That phone will be no problem." she said, giving the three girls a confident wink.

The white haired captain sighed once again and looked to the three as they seemed to calm slightly; "Just try not to break any of the othe-." was all he got out before he cut himself short as the whistling from earlier was heard.

Toshiro turned his head toward the noise and narrowed his eyes; 'How is that possible? Rangiku destroyed that arrancar not ten minutes ago.' he thought as Yoruichi removed herself from him and looked to the side as well.

Though each of the occupants of the room were looking toward the noise's direction, Shota was the first to move. He had gone directly out the door, to which Rangiku called after him and turned to Toshiro; "I'll go. I need to finish what I started." she said, turning and heading out the door.

Toshiro watched her go, but then looked toward a nearby window and narrowed his eyes; 'Something is wrong...I can feel multiple signatures of that same arrancar. What is this thing? Unless...' he thought silently as Yoruichi circled around him and looked at him directly.

"What is it?" the tan woman asked, Orihime, Senna and Rukia each looking at him as if waiting for him to make a decision.

The icy captain looked around to each of them and narrowed his eyes; "Senna, go take two soul phones to Madarame and Ayasegawa. I want all three of you to scan the area for hollows or arrancars. Rukia, you and Orihime will stay here and keep the vicinity clear of anything hostile. Yoruichi, go to Kisuke and ask him if he knows of a recent arrancar that might have the ability to clone itself." he ordered, looking to each person as he called on them.

Senna nodded her head in response, the took three more phones into her hands and put the broken one back into the box. She then vanished in a shunpo with a simple 'Yes sir' on her way out. Rukia and Orihime nodded to him as well after his words toward them, then echoed the same two words Senna left as they took on determined expressions. Yoruichi however raised a brow to him, but let out a sigh and nodded her head to him; "You got it." she said with a light smile as she shunpoed away quickly.

Toshiro turned to the door and began walking out; 'If it has the ability to clone itself, then after killing the original...the rest will simply disappear. But the tricky thing is, how do we find it?' he thought before disappearing instantly.

He reappeared outside the building and began leaping across the roof tops in very lengthy bounds; 'I guess my 'non-existent' vacation will have to be put on hold...again.' he thought with a heavy sigh.

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Okay, and that does it for this chapter. Sorry it was late and that it was kind of boring. But the next chapter will have fighting in it, so I hope you all look forward to that. Till next time. ;) Ja Ne.


	86. Chapter 86

Okay, here it is...the next chapter, hope you all enjoy. ;D

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**Chapter 86:**

Toshiro halted on the top of a steel telephone pole, then turned his head toward the tops of the heavily leaved trees within the park. He raised a brow as he quickly noticed that the whistling noise was coming from that direction; 'The park again? Why is this arrancar so keen on staying there?' he questioned to himself.

A split second later, a sudden shake of the ground was felt, the vibration making even the pole Toshiro stood upon to shake violently. A small percussion wave followed quickly, which hit anything and everything within a hundred foot radius like a punch to the chest. After this happened, Toshiro saw a large dust cloud form, which was exactly in the vicinity that he deduced the source of the small earthquake occurred.

He narrowed his eyes on this, but then his eyes slightly widened as he saw multiple hollows suddenly appear through the dust cloud. All of them seeming to resemble armadillos, only with light brown fur covering their entire back, while their legs had a light purple tint to them. At closer inspection, Toshiro could see a ring of brown near their feet, but it was the arrancar's masks that gave them the animal-like look. Their masks extended over their spine with spikes protruding from it every few inches, them also having very large mouths and no eye holes at all.

The icy captain quickly shunpoed above the scene, which showed Rangiku standing before Shota with one of her fists ready to swing. Despite the brown haired child trying to go and fight one of the arrancar, the strawberry blond kept him back with her free arm. Yet every time an arrancar got too close, she knocked it away quickly before it come too close to Shota.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to this, but he just simply crossed his arms and watched; 'I need to know how it clones. If it does it by getting cut in half...then I better not freeze it.' he thought as Rangiku punched a hole directly through the mask of a leaping arrancar.

The blow slashed a bit of blood onto the ground and a few drops into the strawberry blonde's face, but she didn't seem fazed as she merely killed many of the others the same way. Shota just stood there watching, but after seeing the first one die, he froze in shock, it being apparent that he had never seen anything being killed in front of him. This didn't go unnoticed by Toshiro as he simply raised a brow to the boy and looked back to Rangiku; "I guess she is a lot like me." he whispered to himself.

Rangiku continued to kill any and all arrancar that came toward her, but as the numbers dwindled, one of them suddenly started splitting in half. Toshiro narrowed his eyes on this and had even leaned forward slightly as to not miss any detail. The two halves had eventually separated, but after this happened, both halves began to expand until each one created a brand new arrancar. The white haired captain smirked lightly to this and let out a breath; "So that's all there is too it." he muttered as he lowered himself to the ground.

The moment his ice covered feet touched the earth, he flared his spirit energy to gain all of the arrancar's attention. The strawberry blond and Shota noticed him as well, but the former was the only one to speak; "About time Captain~!"

Her voice was a very apparent whine, which continued as she kept talking; "I was waiting here for hours~! It's so much work to be this beautiful...and blood stains don't fit well with my image."

Toshiro raised a brow to the woman as she flipped her hair with her hand as she only seemed to have just a few drops of blood on her; "You barely have anything on you." was all he said as all the arrancar nearby suddenly jumped toward him.

The icy captain merely looked over his shoulder toward the attacking arrancar, allowing a small smirk on his face as he quickly vanished in a shunpo. He reappeared behind one of the arrancar and sent palm directly into it's spine. This created a percussion wave through it's body that broke it's spine and even cracked it's mask. But once it's body slammed into the ground, the earth finished the job and killed it easily.

Rangiku seemed to merely watch this in only half interest, but Shota's eyes had never been so wide in his life. Watching a woman that could easily be a model suddenly kill so many and easily, was not something he thought he'd ever see. Then seeing a 'boy' that seemed no older then himself had come in and showed even more strength then he'd ever seen or thought possible. This was too much for the boy to watch as he ended up falling backward and backing himself against a tree in fear of the two.

Toshiro merely looked down at the arrancar as it vanished, him staying in the air as he glanced to the other arrancar around him; "Pathetic...even for a lowly arrancar." he said simply, his voice not sounding cold, but rather bored.

All of the arrancar had suddenly split themselves in half, each half forming into a fully grown arrancar. Toshiro just turned to each of them and shook his head as he lowered to the ground once more; "I just need one of you to track the original." he said, immediately dodging away from a lunging arrancar from behind.

The icy captain swiftly glanced around, his heightened senses coming into effect right away; 'Five behind, four seconds till an attack. Eight in front, seven seconds till attack. Four on both left and right, one second till attack. First, bring side enemies into center, dodge below and slash with hand. Minimum damage, fatal. Next, back flip over attack from back, send one ice shard into the back of the three arrancar, seventy miles per hour will ensure death. Spin around, punch incoming attack from side, five percent strength will make a clean kill. Then, gather water in points at exactly seven feet in a perfect octagon. Last, use the water to create three foot spikes to go directly through the remaining arrancar's chests. Most time spent during attack, twenty seconds. Most amount of damage taken, none.'

The moment his thoughts finished processing, only half of a second went by and allowed him to duck under the four arrancar that jumped toward him. But they had ended up running directly into each other, halting their attack immediately and giving Toshiro his chance to bring up his ice covered hand and slash all of them in half. Once he did this, he immediately made a complete back flip over three more arrancar that came at him.

Rangiku smirked once more to his actions, her knowing that he had already thought everything through for all but one of the arrancar's end. Shota however was still pressing himself against the base of the tree, trying to keep the most amount of distance away from the icy captain without fully running away. Said white haired fighter was just completing his flip when he generated three ice shards into his hand and threw each of them into the backs of the arrancar.

Toshiro smirked invisibly as each of the arrancar disintegrated, but then he quickly spun himself around and swung a fist toward the attacking arrancar before him. Once his ice covered fist made contact, the mask just shattered completely, splashing a small amount of blood into Toshiro's face. But as the arrancar vanished into nothing, some more of it's blood gushed out and got on his haori. This made Toshiro sigh lightly in annoyance as he seemed to slowly fall toward the ground.

As he came closer to the lightly blood stained grass, Toshiro clenched his ice covered hand and formed eight evenly spaced shards of ice around him. Each of these pieces were all located beneath an arrancar, all of Toshiro's attacks leading all eight into just the right position. The sight of this made Rangiku smile and almost laugh as she couldn't help but feel amused at how no one else would have seen this set up coming. Shota simply continued to 'hide' himself as he still felt incredibly scared at the captain's somewhat ruthless actions at his enemies.

The icy captain finally landed on the ground and placed his left hand to the earth, which made the ice shards glow and suddenly expand into three foot spikes. Each of these spike stabbed directly through all eight of the intended arrancar, but once they all disintegrated, the only survivor was seen. This arrancar however was attempting to clone itself again, but only reached halfway through the process before a blade suddenly slashed right through it's head.

As the arrancar disappeared, it revealed Kisuke and Yoruichi standing there with smirks on their faces; "Sorry about that." the former began.

"But you don't really need any of these guys to find the original. I can help with that." he continued, adjusting his hat on his head.

Toshiro raised a brow to his blond friend and nodded lightly; "So you have been watching it for a while." he said, crossing his arms.

Kisuke smiled lightly and shrugged; "Only a week or so." he claimed, bringing his small fan out and opening it in front of his mouth.

"But I did think of a plan not too long ago." he continued, now starting to fan himself.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes and sighed lightly; "More like you finally thought of it on the way here." she said, but hid a small smirk to her friend.

"Minor details." Kisuke said, waving his fan to the tan woman.

"So says the scientist." Rangiku muttered with a quiet laugh, that she stifled quickly as Toshiro glanced over to her with a raised brow.

But they all quickly turned their attention to Shota as he just looked to each of them with a frightened expression; "What are you?" he asked in a whisper.

Toshiro looked to each of the others and let out a sigh; "I guess we never did explain our story." he said as he walked toward the boy.

As he came closer, Shota's expression turned to horror as he seemed to believe that Toshiro was going to kill him next. But the icy captain seemed to cover the small amount of blood on his face and haori with a thin layer of ice. This ice slowly chipped away as he walked toward the young boy, but it didn't seem to make his appear any less intimidating in the brown haired child's eyes.

By the time he reached Shota, Toshiro appeared just as he had before the fight; "Sorry you had to see all that. Being so young...its understandable that you'd be afraid." he began, his tone not really seeming to change much, despite his words being sentimental.

Yoruichi and Rangiku just offered a slightly apologetic expressions, while Kisuke merely placed his fan in front of his face to keep it hidden. Toshiro knelt down to the boy's eye level and placed an arm on his knee; "But things like that need to be done, and it's just our job to do it." he continued, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"We're Shinigami...guardians of the souls who are going through the circle of metempsychosis. But there are creatures that stand in the way...they're called Hollows and will eat the souls we are meant to protect, merely to increase their own strength. So we kill them to save all the souls we can." Toshiro said, his words making Shota look at him with questioning eyes, but eventually seemed to calm down as his muscles relaxed.

"And as you saw...it can become quite bloody. But...kill enough of those things, and you barely pay any attention to the blood, you just keep in mind how many you've saved by cleansing those hollows." he continued, to which the brown haired boy looked down and eventually nodded his head lightly.

Toshiro let out a silent breath and stood back up, but his eyes seemed to flicker as if he noticed something through his peripheral vision; "And one of those souls was possibly your sister." he claimed, turning his head to the left.

As Shota followed his gaze, he saw a small girl merely sitting on one of the park benches nearby. This girl had brown hair and blue eyes, while wearing a pink dress and red shoes. She seemed to keep her hair in two ponytails with two yellows bands, but the chain in her chest showed that she was a soul. Shota's eyes became wide as he saw her, then quickly scrabbled to his feet and quickly ran toward her shouting her name; "Yui!"

Once Shota reached her, he looked her right in the eyes and seemed to start crying as he called her name over and over again, waiting for a reply. While this happened, Kisuke walked over to Toshiro and closed his fan; "That girl is a clone of the original arrancar." he whispered, to which Toshiro glanced to him with a raised brow.

"So it can transform into the human souls it eats. Hmph...that made things even more complicated." the white haired captain muttered silently, crossing his arms and looking back to the two children.

"Yeah. I watched it happen just two days ago. And judging by what Yoruichi told me...she was eaten without a doubt." Kisuke said, placing his fan into his sleeve and crossing his own arms.

Toshiro let out a quiet sigh and nodded to his words; "That's why you decided to come. So you could bring out the original before anything else happens." he said in a knowing voice.

The blond smirked lightly and shrugged; "Who knows. I didn't think I'd be able to track it for a while, but when I heard that kid's story from Yoruichi...I thought of a solution as quickly as possible."

"Hmph...that's pretty kind of you." Toshiro said with a small smirk on his face.

"I suppose." Kisuke began with a light chuckle, but then continued in a rather serious tone; "But I also discovered that in order to cleanse both the arrancar and her soul...you need to kill it when she's fighting against his control. Otherwise...she'll disappear forever."

Toshiro looked to his friend once more, then glanced over to Yoruichi and Rangiku as they seemed to smile at the 'sibling's' reunion; "That shouldn't be hard." she started, making Kisuke look to him with a raised brow.

"She has her brother to protect, and won't be willing to just sit by and let that thing kill him." Toshiro said as he looked to Kisuke.

The shop owner blinked his eyes to his friend and eventually smiled lightly; "True. And I'm sure that we'll be able to draw out the original with her help too." Kisuke said, uncrossing his arms and adjusting his hat.

Immediately after his words, they both looked to Shota and his 'sister' as the latter finally replied to her brother's cries; "O-Onii-chan."

"Yui! Are you okay?" Shota asked, looking his sister over for cuts or bruises.

"Yeah...I'm alright, Onii-chan." Yui said, giving a small smile to him.

Shota let out a relived sigh and smiled lightly back; "I'm glad." he said, just before his expression changed to one of guilt.

"I'm sorry Yui. I'm so sorry. I left you behind when I should have protected you. Please forgive me!" Shota said as shame filled tears welled up into his eyes.

"You're here now Onii-chan. I'm happy that we're together again." Yui said, her face not changing at all.

Toshiro sighed heavily to this, Kisuke glanced over to him and gave a knowing expression as they walked over to the two. Yoruichi and Rangiku kept a smile on their faces, but then shifted into suspicious ones as they noticed something wrong with the girl. They then looked over to Toshiro and Kisuke as they came closer to the pair, to which they followed; "What is it?" the tan woman asked.

"She's not who...or what we think she is." Kisuke said silently as all four of them seemed to surround Shota and his sister.

"Stand away." Toshiro said suddenly, to which Shota looked back to him in confusion.

"W-What? Why?" the boy demanded as he seemed to hold onto his sister tighter.

"Because...I was wrong." the white haired captain began, the whole park seeming to become silent as he spoke his next words; "That's not your sister."

Shota's eyes became wide in shock and looked at 'Yui', but the small girl seemed to narrow her eyes and become surrounded in a red spirit energy. She then smirked lightly, stood up and began backing away; "So...you saw right through it." she said, her voice still having a small girl's tone, yet it also seemed dark.

"Not entirely...I had some last minute information." Toshiro said, giving Kisuke as glance as the blond merely smirked lightly.

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes on the 'girl', stepping forward and clenching her fists; "You're such a coward. Hiding behind a false face so you can use it to get close to people." she began, her showing a rare hatred toward the 'girl' before her.

"You're no different than Aizen." she continued, to which Toshiro and Kisuke looked to her in slight shock, while Rangiku was too busy with keeping Shota from running to the person he thought to be his sister.

The icy captain kept looking at his purple haired friend as she glared daggers at the 'girl'; 'I wonder why she hates him so much.' he thought before both he and Kisuke turned their attention back to 'Yui'.

"So...how do we draw out the original?" Toshiro asked as he kept his eyes on the small girl as her red spirit energy continued to engulf her body.

"Well...that's an easy one." Kisuke began, glancing toward Shota; "We let him go." he finished, to which Toshiro, Yoruichi and Rangiku all looked to him and blinked their eyes in slight shock.

But during this shock, Shota was able to free himself from Rangiku's grip and immediately ran toward 'Yui', calling out her name frantically. As he came within a few yards, a whistling sound was heard coming from the 'girl', which had caused Shota's body to move all on its own, toward 'Yui' herself. Every step he took, two clones of the arrancar seemed to come into existence, all of which began surrounding them. By the time he was two feet away, there were two dozen clones all around the four; "Yui! Why are you doing this? Yui! YUI!" Shota cried out desperately.

The 'girl' kept an emotionless face, but upon the last call of her name, she seemed to suddenly change into a normal soul, the red spirit energy disappearing and a frightened expression to take over her features. Toshiro and the others narrowed their eyes to this and simply ignored the gathering clones nearby; "She's fighting back...but we need the original to come out." the white haired captain said silently, glancing around as if looking for his target.

"Don't worry...he'll come out for us." Kisuke whispered with a small smirk as he pointed toward a strange distortion in the air just behind Yui.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on this and smirked; "Well this is gonna be easier then I thought."

Kisuke smiled to him and nodded; "Yeah...I mean how else would you do it? Randomly throw your spirit energy around in hopes of breaking into the dimension he's hiding in and kill him after he releases his Resurreccion?"

The icy captain turned to him and raised a brow; "Why would anyone do that?" he asked as even Yoruichi and Rangiku looked to him with a similar expression.

"I don't know...just a random stupid thought." Kisuke said with a sweat drop; 'I hope they don't find out that 'that' was going to be my original plan.'

But as each of them continued to stare at him with raised brows, he cleared his throat and spoke up quickly; "Anyway...let's go." he said, walking forward in a hurry.

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Just to let you all know now, the whole 'Sherlock-Toshiro parts' (As quoted from my friend Tuli-chan. ;D) are not going to be appearing again for a while. So I hope you guys liked them while you did cause I won't be bringing it back for a while. ;) But hey, it's something to look forward to, cause I plan to have the next time be far more epic then this one. This is kind of lame compared to how the next will be. ;) Anyway, the next chapter will feature the end of this part of the story and also feature Toshiro playing soccer. :D Now don't expect too much out of that. I haven't played soccer in years so I'll probably end up taking things I see on YouTube to make it better for you guys...and gals. ;) I actually think I have more female readers then male ones. Lol. But that's okay...I want to appeal to everybody in this. Anyway, till next time everyone. ;) Ja Ne.


	87. Chapter 87

Here is the next chapter, slightly late for today...but that's because I had to stay after for a few hours at my work. =/ Hope you guys enjoy.

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**Chapter 87:**

Toshiro quickly headed toward the strange distortion behind the small girl, whom fell to her knees and seemed to be having an inner struggle within her mind. She had her head pointed down, but once she heard another call from her brother, her head snapped up and revealed the tears welling up in her eyes; "Run...Onii-chan..." she said weakly.

After her words, the red spirit energy began to leak out of her body once more; "Please...just RUN!" she screamed as red aura engulfed her.

'Looks like I'll have to end this now.' the white haired captain thought as he narrowed his eyes.

He quickly shunpoed directly into the distortion, then tore right through an invisible veil that showed a very shocked arrancar. This hollow-hybrid looked nearly like the clones, however, it had more of a humanoid look to it, which was an obvious male's build. His arms were large with long white claws that seemed to also act as flexible fingers. He had dark eyes that were seemingly glued in a shocked expression, him surprised that he was found.

His mask was the same as the clones, save for the long protrusions coming out the side and the three orange tufts rising from the top. The arrancar's hollow hole was in the center of his chest, it appearing as if two holes were fused together. He also had a very large zanpakuto on the left side of his waist, which was tied there by a thick white rope. Toshiro looked at it up and down, but simply unsheathed his zanpakuto, obviously unimpressed by it; "H-How did you find me?" the arrancar demanded as he took on a defensive position.

Toshiro stepped toward him with an icy look on his face, to which the arrancar unsheathed his own zanpakuto. As this happened, Kisuke, Yoruichi and Rangiku each killed off all the clone arrancar that attacked, and Shota was coming closer to his sister. Yui was simply crouching down with her arms wrapped around herself as the red spirit energy fluctuated around her. The icy captain glanced over to the small girl and spoke in a calm tone; "Come on, Yui. If you don't keep fighting...this thing will take your brother too."

Upon his words, Yui's eyes widened, despite them being filled with frightened tears; "Onii...chan?" she whispered before clenching her fists tightly and ground her teeth.

A brief moment after her silent call of her brother's title, a large blast of spirit energy erupted out of her, Yui letting out a loud scream in the process. Yoruichi, Kisuke and Rangiku turned to look at this in interest, not bothering with any of the remaining few clones coming toward them. Shota could only watch from his spot near his sister as she continued to fight against the arrancar's control. Toshiro was simply watching with a smirk, his zanpakuto at the ready and his ice covered feet prepared to move.

The original arrancar however had his eyes wide in shock to this; "I-Impossible! A mere human can't defy me!" he exclaimed, quickly charging at the child.

But as he came within two feet, Toshiro suddenly appeared before him and slashed his katana through his stomach, to which the arrancar's eyes widened increasingly wide. The icy captain just watched as blood gushed from the wound and the arrancar fell over to his side and into a small pool of his own blood; "W-Who are you?" he asked weakly, staring at Toshiro with hatred in his eyes.

"Hmph...no one." Toshiro began, not looking toward him till he continued; "All beings fear things they don't know...and I'm not about to offer you any comfort in my name."

The arrancar glared at the captain, but just as he started to scream out a cursing insult toward Toshiro, he suddenly disbursed into hundreds of small blue orbs. The white haired captain looked over to Yui as her body turned blue and transparent, then over to Shota as he quickly ran up to her and called her name. Yoruichi and the other two walked over to Toshiro as they watched the two siblings together, them not paying any attention to the clones disappearing around them.

"Yui..." the brown haired boy repeated as he fell to his knees in front of said girl; "...I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for leaving you."

The small girl kneeled down to her brother and took his hands into hers and gave him a smile; "It's okay Onii-chan. Just make sure to find me again." was all she said as her body faded away and joined the blue orbs that floated through the air.

Shota stared up to the lights, which slowly disappeared as they reached a high enough altitude. He then turned around and looked to Toshiro and the other three with a confident expression; "I'm ready now." he said.

Toshiro nodded lightly to him and walked over to the boy, his zanpakuto's end lifted toward Shota's forehead; "See you on the other side." was all the boy said before metal touched flesh and Shota was transformed into a hell butterfly.

The black and purple insect fluttered away and disappeared into the air, Toshiro and the other three watching the whole way. Yoruichi walked up beside Toshiro and gave him a smile; "Quite the long day. Morning patrol, consoling siblings, fighting arrancar and preforming konsos." she said, looking to the sky once more.

"We've had a pretty full day. I don't know about you...but I'm going to head off to bed." she continued, gesturing to the setting sun.

Toshiro looked over to the brightest point in the sky and let out a sigh; "It's still early...but I think your right." he said silently.

Yoruichi smiled to him and was just about to take his arm into hers, but was stopped as Rangiku quickly came up behind Toshiro and pressed her chest into the back of his head. Though he was nearly knocked over in the process, he managed to stay standing and look at her from over his shoulder; "But since you didn't do very much...you can stay out on patrol." he claimed, crossing his arms.

Rangiku blinked in shock, then immediately whined to his words, grabbed him by the head and shoved it into her chest as if wanting for him to listen to her pleas; "Aw~! But captain~! I worked hard all day~! Plus I need a shower~! I have to get conditioner in my hair quickly before the blood ruins it~!"

Toshiro rolled his eyes, him noticing the giggling of Yoruichi and the laughing of Kisuke; "You got a drop at most in your hair...it'll be fine." he claimed, attempting to sound cold, which he only managed halfway.

"But that's all it needs~! One drop can lead to a bald spot~! And one bald spot can lead to another~! An then another~! And pretty soon I'll look like IKKAKU~!" Rangiku exclaimed in a very dramatic manner, which caused the two males to sweat drop and for Yoruichi to merely giggle louder.

But no sooner had Rangiku's last word come out of her mouth, said man, Yumichika and Senna came running up toward them. However, only the former spoke as he had his zanpakuto already halfway unsheathed; "What do you mean...'Like me'?" his voice was like a growl as he came closer to them.

Rangiku merely shrugged and pulled Toshiro closer as if he were some kind of stuffed animal; "Well I don't wanna end up bald like you...simple as that." she said, not appeared intimidated by the man at all.

Ikkaku ground his teeth and brought up his halfway sheathed zanpakuto; "If it weren't for Captain Hitsugaya standing right there...I'd beat you to a pulp!" he called out in aggravation.

"Hmph...please~. I could beat you blind folded...with one arm tied behind my back...in ten seconds." she claimed, smirking proudly of herself.

Toshiro sighed heavily and looked over as he noticed Senna joining Yoruichi in her giggling fit, while Kisuke was hiding a smile from behind the fan he brought out once more. The white haired captain then looked to Yumichika as he merely flipped his hair and seeming to have an expression that said that he was 'too good for the situation'. He let out yet another sigh and merely allowed Rangiku to keep hugging him and arguing with Ikkaku about fighting; 'This long day is about to get longer.' he thought silently.

'Maybe I should have just stayed behind with Rukia and Orihime.' he continued, closing his eyes, but then sweat dropping heavily; 'But, between this and eating her 'food'...I'll just stay here for a little while longer.'

-The next day, down the road of a soccer field-

Toshiro walked down the side walk within his gigai, him wearing a black, high collar t-shirt, a set of dark blue jeans and a pair of black running shoes. He let out a silent sigh as he continued, looking up to the clear blue sky in thought; 'I guess I should be sending Orihime, Rukia and Senna to Soul Society to train soon. ' he began in his mind, not bothering to notice any of the strange stares people gave him as they walked by.

'I doubt their abilities will grow to much without someone more powerful with them...so I guess Madarame and Ayasegawa can help with that. Although...Rangiku would probably be the best choice if they're going to get stronger faster.' he continued, glancing over to a passing car.

He merely looked away once more as the single occupant of the car stared at him with blinking eyes; 'If that's the case...then I should tell Shinji and Kisuke to watch over the town while I'm at that wedding. I doubt Madarame and Ayasegawa can handle it all on their own.' Toshiro thought, looking toward a black and white ball rolling down the hill to his right.

Toshiro raised a brow to this, but quickly placed a foot over it, then kicked it up into his hand. He gazed at it for a moment, but then glanced toward a raven haired girl that came running for the ball. She had dark grey eyes, black hair that was kept straight, yet cropped to hang around her face, just above her shoulders. Her outfit consisted of a designers, unbuttoned baseball shirt, which she wore over a white and red stripped shirt. She also had a set of short, skin tight shorts and a pair of white and red running shoes.

Her expression toward him seemed different from everyone else's, hers being merely interested instead of simply scared. He didn't look at her long before he spoke up; "Is this yours?" as he asked this, he lifted the ball up a few inches as if to gesture his meaning.

The girl nodded her head to him lightly, her eyes not leaving him; "Y-Yeah." she muttered, her tone also expressing her look.

"Be more careful next time." Toshiro said, quickly dropping the ball and kicking it gently toward her, to which she caught it easily.

But as the ball flew through the air, Toshiro immediately began walking, him not looking back as the girl watched him leave; 'Odd...she seems...familiar for some reason.' he thought as he tilted his head down slightly.

As Toshiro walked on, he found a road that lead up a hill, which he decided to climb on a whim. On the way, he took a glance to the side, him seeing a wide open scene that covered much of Karakura town and even the small mountains out in the distance. He allowed a small smirk to cover his face as the first image that came to mind was the area he choose as his training spot in Soul Society.

He went to the metal guard-rail that kept people away from the edge of the steep hill, then stepped over it and sat down on the steel. Toshiro placed his elbows on his knees and let out a sigh; "This brings back a lot of memories." he whispered to himself.

Toshiro closed his eyes as dozens of events from his past floated through his mind, but his senses stayed open as to be able to sense anything nearby. He stayed in the same position for hours not moving at all, not even opening his eyes to look at the people that passed by. By the time he finally revealed his turquoise eyes, Toshiro saw that the sun was already setting and starting to disappear over the small mountains in the distance. He placed his hand to his face and rubbed his eyes; 'I'm glad Rangiku convinced Yoruichi to go out shopping with her.' he thought silently.

'Even though I'm not one for that kind of thing during a mission, it's needed to take the mind off of the fight ahead. Although...' he continued in his mind, starting to sweat drop at the end.

'...Yoruichi probably only went out so she could find something to wear that will embarrass me to no end.' Toshiro rubbed his forehead with a groan as he thought this.

"But then...this is as close to a vacation as I'll ever get." he muttered with a light sigh, stretching his arms slightly.

But just as he was about to stand up to leave, he stopped when he saw the same girl he saw earlier that day running toward him. He narrowed his eyes for a moment as he saw a group of boys following after her, all of whom were about the same age as the girl herself. But he merely turned his attention back to the girl and narrowed his eyes further; 'She seems incredibly familiar. Not only her facial build, but her spirit energy as well.' he thought as she came within a few feet of him and stopped, a light smile on her face.

"Yo. You're the one from earlier today right?" she asked, her having the same black and white ball he 'saved' for her, only it was in a net-bag slung over her shoulder this time.

Toshiro nodded his head slightly to her; "Yeah." he said rather silently, yet loud enough for her to hear.

The raven haired girl smiled a bit wider; "Thanks for that. I'm glad you were around." she said.

"No problem." Toshiro said silently, crossing his arms as he didn't think he would be going anywhere right away.

"So...what school are you from?" she asked, leaning forward slightly toward him.

Toshiro sighed heavily and turned his gaze away from her; "The high school." he said, sounding slightly less cold then he intended to.

The girl just blinked to him a few times but returned her light smile toward him; "Really? You don't look that much older then I do...you must be some kind of genius."

"You could say that." Toshiro said, ignoring the fact that she had just commented about his height.

"Anyway...you can play soccer can't you?" the girl asked, keeping her smile.

"Who knows." was Toshiro's simple response, him not really wanting to get involved in 'human affairs'.

"We're having a game soon. Will you play on our team?" she asked, placing a hand to her hip as she spoke.

Toshiro looked to her and raised a brow, but before he spoke, the boys that were following her suddenly pulled her away and called out her name; "Hey! Kurosaki!"

The white haired captain's eyes narrowed to this, but nodded lightly as he turned away once more; 'It makes sense now. She does share similarities between Isshin and his son.' he thought as the boys seemed to be whispering to the girl.

But as they continued, a specific word caught his attention, a word that he hadn't been called in years, especially not by someone even shorter then himself; "Chibi."

Toshiro's eye brow twitched to this and glared over to the group, to which they all felt a shiver down their spines from a strange drop in temperature. When they felt this, they each looked to Toshiro and cowered behind the raven haired girl; "Who are you calling a 'Chibi'?" he growled out.

Ichigo's sister turned to him with a nervous smile and spoke in a 'keep the peace' type tone; "He didn't mean anything bad by it."

The icy captain let out a sigh and finally stood up, swung his legs over the guard-rail and started walking away; 'I shouldn't have gotten that worked up. I should be used to that kind of thing by now. But I should get rid of that hollow.' he thought as he kept going, his senses feeling the arrival of a small hollow as he stood up.

As he walked, he placed his hands in his pockets and sighed, ignoring the calls Ichigo's sister made for him to wait up. But then the sound of something hollow being hit made him glance back toward the source. Toshiro narrowed his eyes as he saw a soccer ball coming directly for his head, to which he immediately made a side-back flip. In doing this, Toshiro was able to spin around and kick the ball away with his right foot; 'I hope I held back enough.' he thought quickly.

The ball hurled past each of the children, all of whom had shocked expressions on their faces. But after the ball bounced off a nearby tree and hit one of them in the back of the head, one of their expressions also included slight pain before hitting the ground. Toshiro let out a sigh, hoping that none of the children would notice the very blatant dent in the bark of the tree. But his worry disappeared as all of them suddenly ran up to him and began spouting out compliments to him.

"Wow! You're so cool!"

"How do you get you hair like that? You've got to teach me!"

"I want bleached hair just like yours!"

Toshiro raised a brow to each of them, not used to having people compliment his appearance so much; "What's you name by the way?" one of them asked with a wide smile.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." he responded, closing his eyes in the process.

"Well...we're; Toba Ryohei, Tojoin Heita, Uehara Kei, Usaka Kazuya and of course Kurosaki Karin." one of the boys said, this one having short, black hair at the sides and long, blonde hair that was parted to the sides on top.

As he spoke, he pointed to himself first, showing that Toba Ryohei was his name. He then proceeded to point to the boy beside him whom also had black hair, but was designed in a pointed way at the top of his head. This boy also had big eye brows and seemed to have a semi-serious expression on his face, but it was mostly full of admiration at the moment.

The next person the boy pointed to was a boy with an afro hairstyle, his hair in itself was a light brown and quite long. He had a round nose and big lips, which made him look oddly like some kind of clown. The next person that the boy gestured to was a brown haired male what wore thick yellow color glasses, whom seemed to have a permanent impressed look on his face. Lastly, he pointed to the raven haired girl beside him, whom at the moment had a far off expression, as if she were noticing something that no one else could.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to this, him realizing that she was feeling the hollow that appeared a few moments ago; 'It looks like she can already sense spirits. I wouldn't doubt if she could see me as outside my gigai.' he thought.

But he once again sweat dropped as Ryohei came into his view and smiled widely toward him; "You're the only one we can depend on for this game, Toshiro." he called out in an excited tone

Said white haired captain sighed heavily and shook his head; 'I better take care of that hollow...I don't sense anyone else nearby.' he thought as he turned away from each of them and began jogging off.

"Wait! Where are you going?" one of the boys called out.

"Something came up!" Toshiro responded, not slowing down his pace.

"Sorry...I can't help!" he continued, now turning his jog into a run.

"We practice at the park on the hill everyday! Come by tomorrow!" one of the boys called, Toshiro running over the hill, disappearing from their line of sight.

'Soccer huh?' the white haired captain thought as he headed for the hollow.

'Probably not a bad idea.' he continued, but shook his head slightly as he let out a sigh; "I don't know the first thing about it. Plus, it's best not to get involved in human affairs." he whispered to himself as he swallowed a green orb.

He separated himself from his gigai and immediately vanished in a shunpo, not noticing a shadowed figure stepping out an invisible barrier a few hundred feet away from him. This figure's appearance was completely unseen, but the distinctive white uniform made it obvious of whom they worked for. But their voice seemed to show a different intention then what one would believe; "So...this is whom Cifer and Starrk spoke of?"

"I still can't believe he's the source of that spirit energy I felt all those years ago. And it's even more so that he could actually be stronger now." after their words, a flash of blond was seen before they vanished completely.

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And there ya have it. Sorry, no soccer just yet, I got a little ahead of myself in thinking it would be in this chapter, but it will be next time. ;) And in response to anon's review: (what is the point of powering up toshiro, when in the end you pretty much stick to canon? there is no real deviance in the plot line. Also, for someone in charge of a military organization and a special ops organization toshiro doesn't really take any advantage of that and is still a very naive fighter. In any real fight you go in kill the opponent as quick as possible and leave, not go in and beat the oppenent up to show of your "strength" then get your ass kicked as the oppenonent takes advantage of your lack of willingness to kill.)

First, that's because I still haven't gotten to the point were it will make the most difference. If I have him just go around killing everything, Ichigo and the others won't ever become strong and screw up the story. Second, I really only involved the Onmitsukido for the sake of him being a hakuda master, and to increase his relationship with Yoruichi and Soifon. That fact is only meant to be a small addition and not meant to be utilized much since Toshiro mostly does everything on his own anyway. And he isn't a naive fighter, nearly every fight he's gotten into is for a very specific purpose of my own design. He doesn't have a lack of willingness to kill, I've mentioned various times that he's killed hundreds upon thousands of people. He only showed weakness because it was his own power that was hurting the people that he cared about. That is a normal reaction for any human being, to stop an action that harms others or themselves. I don't intend for him to be a complete psychopath, so that's why Aizen was able to escape.


	88. Chapter 88

I have to warn everyone now...this chapter doesn't have the soccer game. =/ It's not as long as many of the other chapters because of that fact, I originally had this and the next chapter going together, but it was going on for too long as I thought it through and I split them apart. I tried to make sure this had enough entertainment to last till the game, so I hope you all like it. ;)

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**Chapter 88:**

-The next day-

Toshiro was sitting high atop a very tall skyscraper, which had a radio spire at the top. His back was leaning up against the spire, while one leg hanging off the edge and the other was bent at the knee. The icy captain's right arm was propped up on his knee and placed his left in his lap. He also had his eyes closed and head tilted down, him appearing in very deep thought about something.

He remained stationary for what seemed like hours, but was merely a few minutes as the whistling wind whipped around him. His haori and shinigami robes blew around like a flag in the wind, yet he didn't budge at all, as if he were a statue upon the high building. After a few more moments, Toshiro slowly opened his and brought his head up and glanced to the side.

The sun was still high in the sky, beating it's warm rays on the surface of the earth and heating it for yet another day. Though it was slowly moving across the large blue ocean above him, his own mind felt the day was going by fairly quickly. Toshiro let out a sigh, stood himself up and turned himself away from the edge of the building. He then tilted his head up to the sky, rolled his eyes back as his lids closed and drifted backward. As the white haired captain fell, he turned his body around so he was heading face-first toward the ground.

Toshiro slowly opened his eyes once more and simply watched the pavement below him rush at him. Once he reached forty feet away, his pupils thinned into slits and he quickly flipped his body all the way around. His body traveling thirty feet in that split second, which allowed him for his to gather spirit particles on his feet and push off of them. This sent Toshiro flying through the air, him passing over the heads of the humans walking below him, whom had to cover their eyes from the gust of wind he caused while going by.

The white haired captain glided nearly an entire mile before he landed on the roof of a house, to which he leapt off of it in a shunpo. Though he seemed to be moving in an almost random direction, the focused expression on his face spoke otherwise. After a few more long shunpoes, he arrived near of the same area that he had met Kurosaki Karin for the second time, and her friends for the first. He stopped himself on the top of a telephone and let out a silent breath; 'Well...it's better then being on top of the building all the time.' he thought to himself, jumping down and walking forward.

As he came up to the guard-rail he sat on the previous day, he let out another silent sigh and turned his gaze to the view ahead of him. He stood there for a few moments in silence, but this tranquil time was interrupted as he felt a familiar spirit energy coming toward him. His eyes scanned the area, but didn't see the source of the anomaly till he felt a pair of hands were placed over his eyes; "Guess who~!" a voice called out in a cheery tone.

The white haired captain let out another sigh as he merely stood there as he responded silently; "What are you doing here Rangiku?"

"Eh?" said woman exclaimed, blinking her eyes as if in shock; "You're amazing Captain. You got it on the first try."

Following her words, she removed her hands and allowed Toshiro to turn around to her; "I can't imagine anyone getting it wrong." he claimed, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"So what are you doing out here Captain? Was there a hollow out here?" Rangiku asked, blinking her eyes to him.

Toshiro shook his head and glanced over to the view that was now behind him; "No. I just came here because I wanted to watch the sun set." he said, making his subordinate blink once more.

"Why here specifically?" she asked, walking up beside him as the two moved to the guard-rail and sat down on it.

The icy captain merely sat there with Rangiku for a few moments before speaking in a somewhat distant tone; "It reminds me of a place back home."

Rangiku tilted her head to the side as she stared at him with large and questioning eyes; "What 'place back home'?" she asked.

Toshiro glanced over to her, him seeming to come out of his thoughts as his expression turned to a blank and unreadable one; "I might tell you...so long as you do your paperwork for the next month." he said, him suddenly looking away with a confident smirk.

The strawberry blond blinked her eyes to him, then took on a pout and whined; "Aw~! You're no fair Captain~! I really wanna know~!"

"Can't you tell me now~? I promise I'll do it~!" she said, obviously intending to run away from her duty after finding out his 'secret'.

The white haired captain merely kept the smirk on his face as his eyes remained glued toward the sun, but not directly on it. The sun itself was just beginning to head in the direction of the distant hills before him, the bright rays becoming slowly dimmer as it traveled across the sky. Toshiro and his lieutenant remained in that spot for a long while, the latter continuing to whine about wanting to know his withdrawn information. Though his resolve remained strong, Rangiku was able to make chips and dents into Toshiro's determination to keep his knowledge.

This fact was proven as the icy captain was forced to keep his gaze turned away from her, afraid of what might come into view. He also had to grip down on the steel guard-rail with so much force that it bent, as to prevent Rangiku from dragging him off of it. The strawberry blond kept up her whining for nearly two hours straight, but eventually seemed to give up as she let out a sigh. She then looked down to the fluff of Toshiro's hair as he had been face-first in her chest for nearly ten minutes and still was not willing to say a word, or breath very much for that matter.

"So mean Captain." she muttered in a pout, releasing her hold on him, to which he took a deeper breath then usual and let out a heavy sigh.

Toshiro then rolled his eyes to her words as he fixed his hair; 'Yet I let you get away with hugging me for nearly everyday for over a hundred years.' he thought.

"You always use the same tactics to try and convince me to go along with you. Yet every time you fail. Why do it?" Toshiro asked, looking over to her with a raised brow.

Rangiku blinked her eyes to him, then simply smiled lightly to him, her expression looking as if the answer should have been completely obvious; "Cause I enjoy being able to tease and hug you without needing to worry about being scolded." she started, winking to him.

Toshiro raised his brow higher to her, but didn't get the chance to say anything as she continued; "Even if we're Captain and Lieutenant...we're also best friends, and I enjoy our time together a lot."

Though her words were completely truthful, there seemed to be a strange wave in her tone. This made Toshiro believe that she wanted to say something else, possibly something more. But he didn't think too much on the thought as a familiar presence seemed to start coming toward them. This caused both of them to turn their heads away from each other and look toward this approaching being. As they saw it, Toshiro raised his brow, but narrowed his eyes quickly, while Rangiku simply blinked her eyes.

"T-Toshiro?" Karin asked as she came closer to them, her noticing the two's shinigami uniforms right away.

Said person let out a silent sigh as he looked away; "What do you want Kurosaki?" his voice sounded almost annoyed, as if he were speaking to her brother.

The raven haired girl blinked to him as she kept looking between the two with a shocked expression; "You're shinigami...aren't you?" she asked.

Toshiro and Rangiku both raised their brows to her, but simply nodded as only one of them were actually telling the truth. After their gesture, Karin suddenly came closer to them with a very expecting look on her face; "Do you know where my brother is? His name is Kurosaki Ichigo." she claimed.

The white haired captain and his subordinate shared a glance before the former gave the latter a dismissive wave. Toshiro then turned back to Karin and let out a breath; "Yeah...I know where he is." he started, the girl's expression becoming one of high interest.

"He's out becoming stronger with some of my most trusted friends. You don't have to worry about him, he's in good hands." Toshiro continued, giving Karin a small smile.

The raven haired girl blinked her eyes to him, then looked down as if sad, yet she eventually took on a smile of her own and nodded her head lightly. She then tilted her head up and looked to Toshiro once more; "Thanks." was all she said.

The icy captain gave her a nod back, but Rangiku let out a huff and crossed her arms under her chest; "I knew where he was too." she claimed in a halfway pout, as if she was whining about her being left out of the conversation.

Toshiro rolled his eyes to her comment and just turned his attention back to Karin; "What are you doing out here anyway?"

The girl blinked her eyes to him a few times, but cleared her throat and gave a hopeful glance toward him; "I...um...I was wondering if you would help us in our soccer game tomorrow." she started, to which Toshiro raised a brow.

Rangiku had mimicked her captain's actions and simply glanced from said officer to the raven haired girl nearby. Toshiro let out a silent breath and looked out toward the setting sun; "I suppose I could for a little while." was all he said before closing his eyes.

Karin smiled widely and fist pumped; "Alright! Thanks Toshiro! I'll go let my friends know you're coming!" she called out, starting to jog in the same direction she came.

"See you tomorrow!" were her leaving words before disappearing over the hill.

The strawberry blond glanced over to the icy captain beside her and raised her brow even higher; "Soccer? Isn't it called 'Football' in other countries?" she asked, now blinking her eyes toward him.

Toshiro crossed his arms and kept his eyes closed; "Yeah. And since you'll be on patrol tomorrow...I think I'll be able to risk a short game of soccer." he said, cracking an eye open to her.

Rangiku blinked her eyes to him as his tone had made it sound as though he were inviting her to watch the game, to which she smiled lightly and nodded; "Sounds like fun. I'm sure you could win a million to zero...two minutes into the game." she said, winking confidently to him.

The white haired captain allowed a very small smirk on his face, then finally opened his eyes and looked to her; "I think they'd forfeit before then."

The lieutenant smiled a bit wider and nodded her head once more; "Probably. But that means you'll just have to draw out their defeat for as long as possible." she said, holding back a giggle.

Toshiro's smirk became slightly wider as he glanced off to the side as to hide this; "Looks like it." he said, his tone in itself giving away his expression to Rangiku, causing her giggle silently.

-Later on at Orihime's apartment-

Toshiro, Rangiku, Yoruichi, Senna, Rukia and Orihime were all sitting around the small dinner table, which held food that the two purple haired shinigami made. Everyone, save for Rangiku, had made a point for Orihime not to cook any longer, which had allowed them all to remain healthy and spend more time in the dinning area. But the teen herself had still insisted on having her own toppings, as she claimed that the food was too 'bland', to which Rangiku quickly followed suit.

"Soccer?" Orihime asked with blinking eyes as she finished the last bite of her food, which had been topped with things only she knew.

Toshiro nodded his head to her, then glanced over to Yoruichi as she took on a thoughtful expression and spoke; "Hmm. Well we all know that you'd be good at any sport...but I never actually pictured you playing any of them."

"Nor me. But I have always wondered which ones you'd be best at." Rangiku stated, looking up in thought.

"Definitely ice hockey." Senna claimed, crossing her arms in a confident way, to which everyone nodded their heads.

"And probably snow boarding too." Orihime said with a smile, as if she were imagining the white haired captain actually doing that action.

"But I think he'd be good at swimming as well." Yoruichi claimed, smiling deviously as she turned to Toshiro and continued on; "It would be quite a sight to see the 'Ice Prince' in a pair of swimming trunks."

Rangiku nodded her head in agreement, looking as if she might actually drool from the mental image. However, Orihime, Rukia and even Senna started to blush lightly or heavily as they seemed to try and not think about her words. But they were all brought out of their thoughts as Toshiro cleared his throat and looked to all of them; "Aside from all those other sports...I need to know more about soccer and how it works." he said, crossing his arms as he spoke.

"Well..." Orihime began in a thoughtful tone; "...all you have to do is kick the ball into the goal!" she finished, making it sound as though her words solved the hardest question in the world.

Each of the others either sweat dropped to her or simply raised a brow, but it was Senna that spoke up first; "Your also not allowed to use your hands. Only the goal keeper is able to." her tone sounding quite confident.

Rukia simply shrugged her shoulders with Rangiku as neither had any idea of how to play soccer, but Yoruichi seemed to gain a very knowing expression on her face. This made Toshiro raise a brow to her, but the tan woman began speaking before he could question her; "You'll also need to know that if there are going to be about six people on each team, there are going to be three forwards, two defenders and one goal keeper."

As she spoke, it seemed as though she were speaking of something very well rehearsed, which caused each of the others to raise their brows toward her. But despite this, she simply carried on; "Between the forwards, there is one center, one left 'wing' and one right 'wing'. The 'wings' usually stay on that side of the field, it's very rare that they cross over to the other side. For the defenders, they also have their own sides which they must stay on. And while the goal keeper stays just outside the goal, they are allowed to come out to play the ball in a limited area, mainly to keep the ball away from the other team if they come too far."

She seemed to pause for a moment, as if thinking of something she might have missed; "Oh! You should also know that the game usually starts through a coin toss. Even though with 'backyard soccer' they just toss the ball up in the air and whomever can get the ball takes it. But anyway...whichever team wins the coin toss gets to choose what team gets the ball for the start of the first half, and whoever doesn't get it in that half will take it for the start of the second half."

After her explanation, all of them just kept staring at her with a raised brow as if waiting for her now explain of how she knew all this. Yoruichi chuckled to their expressions and waved her hand dismissively to them; "While on one of my trips here, I ended up near a soccer field and found it quite interesting. So...I watched how it all worked and figured that maybe I could introduce it in Soul Society when I'm 'allowed' to come back." she said, winking her eye as she drew out quoted word.

Toshiro simply let out a breath to this and looked away in acceptance, but then he had to turn back to Yoruichi as she inched closer to him and smirked deviously. This caused him to sweat drop slightly, but then he did even more so as she spoke to him; "So I'll definitely be there to watch. I won't be missing out on this rare opportunity."

"And so will I." Senna, Rukia and Rangiku all said in unison.

Toshiro nearly groaned to them, then let out a sigh and rolled his eyes; "Do whatever you want." was all he said, his tone not really sounding cold enough to be a scold.

"Um..." Orihime began, sounding somewhat timid in her voice; "...is it okay if I come too?" she finished in a hopeful tone.

Each of the others looked to her, however, only Toshiro and Rukia answered through a simple nod. The remaining occupants of the room had spoke up in a cheerful tone toward the orange haired teen; "Of course you can!"

The white haired captain crossed his arms and tilted his head down as if in thought; 'Might as well invite the rest of the town while they're at it.' he said sarcastically in his mind.

But as he looked back to the women around the table as they all spoke to one another, he smirked invisibly and let out a silent breath; 'But I guess it can't hurt having a 'cheering section'.' he thought.

As if reading his thoughts, Yoruichi came over, placed her elbow on his shoulder and leaned her upper body on him; "Looks like you've got your entourage of hot cheerleaders for your game." she said with a wink.

Toshiro raised a brow toward her, but Rangiku scooted closer from his other side and mimicked the tan woman's actions; "That's right. Maybe we should all wear the outfits and get some of those pompom things." she suggested, smirking almost deviously, her truly considering it.

"Wh-What?" Orihime asked, blushing deeply in embarrassment and covering her cheeks as if to hide it.

Rukia simply looked away as to hide her own growing blush, not wanting to even imagine doing something like that. Senna looked up in thought for a while, but smirked widely and nodded her head to the strawberry blond's words; "Sounds good to me." she claimed in an upbeat tone.

Yoruichi smirked as well and snaked her arm around Toshiro's neck as to get closer to him; "Don't worry, we won't embarrass you..." she began, her lips curling even more as she spoke, making the white haired captain raise a brow.

"...that much." she finished, allowing a giggle out as Toshiro rolled his eyes and looked away.

Rangiku laughed silently to this, leaned in toward Toshiro and whispered in his ear; "Do your best, Captain~." she said, her drawing out his title as much as she could.

* * *

Again, I'm sorry for not having the game this chapter like I said I would. But I hope you guys enjoyed this at least a little bit, I'll try to update on time next week so you guys won't have to wait too long for the game itself. ;) Till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	89. Chapter 89

I hope this isn't too bad. I haven't played soccer in years, nor have I ever watched it. The only things I looked up were awesome moves and goals on YouTube, but I wasn't able to put a lot of the things I saw in here because the description would have been way too long. =/ So again...I hope you guys enjoy this.

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Chapter 89:

-The next day at the soccer field-

Toshiro sighed lightly as he walked with Yoruichi and the others toward the field, which held Karin, her friends and a group of middle school teens. Either gathering was at opposite ends of the area, but as Toshiro came closer, the others stayed behind and off the field. He then glanced toward Karin as she waved him over and called out his name, to which he walked over to her and her friends.

"Don't be too rough on them Toshiro~!" Yoruichi shouted out with a wide smirk.

After hearing her voice, all of the middle school students turned toward her, to which their jaws slacked and eyes widened. They could only stare at each of the woman standing there, not believing that they would all be watching the game. Even Karin's friends wore similar expressions, but Karin herself simply looked from the woman to Toshiro and raised a brow; "Are they your friends too?" she asked.

Toshiro nodded his head as he joined their circle and crossed his arms; "So...do you have any type of strategy?" he questioned silently, bringing most of the boys around him out of their trance.

"Sort of." Karin started, appearing almost a bit embarrassed about what her answer is going to be.

"Keep giving you the ball!" Heita claimed in an announcing way, which caused Toshiro to look to him with a raised brow.

The white haired captain looked back to Karin as she had turned away with a very light blush on her face, but he glanced over to the middle schoolers after a moment. All of whom were still staring at Yoruichi and the other females with shocked expressions, but the women themselves simply kept their gazes toward Toshiro and his group. The icy captain however closed his eyes once more and let out a sigh; "Whatever. Lets just get this over with." he said, opening his eyes and uncrossing his arms.

Karin nodded with a light smirk to him, her friends doing them same, only with wider smiles; "Lets do it!" the boys called out as they ran out to the middle of the field.

Toshiro glanced over to Karin with a raised brow, to which she returned his stare and shrugged her shoulders; "They're a bit childish, but they're always there when I need them." she said, keeping her smirk as she spoke.

The white haired captain nodded his head briefly and followed the boys to the center of the area, Karin going with him quickly as he walked. Once each of them positioned themselves in the correct places of the field, the middle school students finally tore their eyes away from Yoruichi and the others and came up against them. As they all faced-over with one another, Yoruichi, Rangiku, Senna and even Rukia began to cheer for Toshiro, while Orihime shyly called out for him to 'do your best'.

The middle school student that placed himself in the center had glanced over to Toshiro and narrowed his eyes, jealousy burning his eyes like a wild fire. But then he looked over to the five females and smiled widely; "Don't you worry! After this game is done, you'll be cheering me on!" he called to them, obviously trying to impress them.

Yoruichi, Rangiku and Senna held back a laugh to this, while Rukia rolled her eyes of how absurd his words were. Orihime simply blinked her eyes to him innocently, as if she were actually confused of why he'd say that. The student merely kept smirking toward them, then turned his gaze back to Toshiro, but growled in annoyance as he hadn't even looked at him. But he didn't have time to think further upon it as the referee came over toward him and Karin with a soccer ball in his hand.

The referee seemed to be a black haired man in his mid-twenties, somewhat tan skin and dark color eyes, he wore the normal outfit of a referee with a black and white shirt, white pants and black cleats. He also had a silver color whistle on a strand of string around his neck and a black and white cap on top of his head.

As he came over to the two, he pulled out a coin and looked to the middle school student with a serious expression; "Heads or tails?" he asked, placing the coin on his thumb as the tip was placed beneath his pointer finger.

"Heads." the boy called, smirking widely and almost proudly.

The referee nodded his head and flipped the coin high in the air, to which it seemed to hover for a moment before free falling to the ground. Karin smirked widely as she noticed the coin had landed on tails before the referee bent down and called out the results. Upon hearing this, each of the middle schoolers groaned and huffed in disappointment. But they quickly became focused as they watched the referee blow his whistle and drop the black and white ball in his hand at Karin's feet.

"Begin!" the referee called out loudly.

Immediately following this, Karin kicked the ball forward, going directly between the middle schooler's legs before her. She then circled around him and began running toward the goal, smirking lightly to her success thus far. Toshiro and the other boys followed after her, while the middle school forwards tried to catch up, them being shocked at Karin's speed, but quickly recovering. As the raven haired girl swiftly moved herself and the ball around the defenders, whom made futile attempts to stop her, she made a hard and fast kick upon the ball.

The soccer ball hurled toward the goal, but the goal keeper made a quick movement and caught it, to which he kicked it high and far into the air, it reaching on of the forward for the middle schooler's. Karin cursed herself before hurrying back toward the ball, her and one of the other forwards following Toshiro as he was moving faster then either of them.

The lead middle school student glanced over his shoulder toward Yoruichi and the others as if expecting them to be watching him, but frowned as none of them were. He quickly turned his attention toward the goal as Kei took on a fearful expression, him being the one to play the role of goal keeper. But just as he was about to kick the ball, he suddenly tripped and fell onto his face.

He picked himself up quickly and looked over, only to see Toshiro standing nearby with his foot over the ball and an expressionless look on his face. The middle schooler glared at him and hurried to his feet; "I'll get you for that!" he called out running toward the white haired captain with the other two forwards.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to each of them, him placing his foot away from the ball and kicking it quickly against his other leg. This caused the ball to bounce off his leg and go up about a foot in the air, then Toshiro brought his leg up and kicked the ball even higher with the side of his foot. Each of them watched this, but just as they were about to lift their legs up to get the ball, the white haired captain quickly jumped up, flipped his body around and kicked the ball in the opposite direction.

Karin and her friends blinked their eyes to this, the ball going right over the former's head and directly into the net of the middle schooler's side, the goalkeeper not even seeing it. Everyone was shocked to this turn of events, save for Toshiro, Yoruichi, Rangiku, Senna, Rukia and Orihime, most of whom were smiling widely. The tan woman then threw her arms up in the air and shook them as if she had pompoms in them; "T-O-S-H-I-R-O! That's our guy! That's our guy! To-Shi-Ro! Yay~!" she cheered, sounding exactly like a cheerleader.

Rangiku smiled widely to her actions, then started doing the same as Yoruichi continued, to which even Senna joined in after a few more chants. Rukia was looking away, seemingly quite embarrassed, yet she was able to keep her blush away from her face. Orihime however was surprisingly the complete opposite, she had joined in with the others with a wide smile on her face not long after the second cheer.

During all this, each of the middle schoolers seemed to glare at Toshiro, clench their fists at him and growl toward him. Yet he didn't show any reaction, save for the heavy sigh at the women's chanting; "Why me?" he muttered in annoyance.

Karin blinked once more to this, but then fist pumped the air and grinned very wide; "Yes! We've got this game in the bag!" she called out, to which each of her friends cheered in response and ran over to Toshiro.

"That was amazing! How did you do that?" they all questioned with wide and admiring eyes.

Toshiro just sweat dropped to them; "I took a lot of martial arts." was his simple yet mostly truthful response, quickly going to his position on the field.

The middle school students simply kept their glares toward him, but they were all trying to keep a shocked expression hidden. None of them believing the fact that Toshiro had kicked the ball so hard that it went all the way into the net, on the opposite end of the field. But they all recovered quickly, headed back to the center with the other team and readied themselves as the referee blew the whistle for the game to begin again.

The referee then tossed the ball over to the lead middle schooler, whom took it behind his left foot and placed his other foot on the opposite side. Karin narrowed her eyes to this and attempted to steal the ball away, but missed after the teen flipped his feet and the ball up. This made the ball go right over Karin's head and for her to look back at it in shock, as she didn't expect to be fooled so easily.

But as this happened, Toshiro had moved across the field too quickly for anyone to notice, then jump up in the air and kick the ball back down. The middle schooler blinked his eyes in surprise as he turned himself around, stopping his movements to get around Karin right away. As soon as Toshiro touched the ground, the ball had bounced off the dirt, went nearly twelve feet in the air and came up near his eye level. He then narrowed his eyes, jumped up a few feet in the air and round house kicked the ball directly into the goal, the goalkeeper not even reacting as it flew right by him.

Everyone on the field, save for Toshiro, gaped their mouths to this, them barely unable to register the fact that this white haired 'child' was preforming like a professional. Yoruichi and the others however were smiling widely and cheering once more, Rukia finally joining in after seeing Toshiro's second goal. The white haired captain merely glanced over to them and rolled his eyes in annoyance; 'Maybe having a 'cheering section' can hurt a bit.' he thought in a heavy sigh.

He looked around to everyone as they all shared mixed glances toward him, the middle schoolers having glares and looks of surprise on their faces. Karin and her friends had shocked, yet happy expressions as they were glad to be winning the game two to nothing already. The referee appeared just as surprised as each of them, him barely able to believe his eyes as he just stared at Toshiro with wide eyes. Yoruichi, Rangiku, Senna, Rukia and Orihime were continuing their cheering, now calling a different chant; "Go Shiro! Go Shiro! Go! Go Shiro! Go Shiro! Go!"

Toshiro himself sighed even heavier then before, rubbing his forehead as he tried not to listen to them; 'They better not make it a habit to call me that.' he thought.

Once all of the players returned to their positions on the field, the middle schoolers directed their full attention on Toshiro. Whom of which was just standing on the left 'wing' with his arms crossed, but as he met each of their looks with his own icy one, they all turned away from him. Toshiro briefly closed his eyes as an amused smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, but when his eyes opened, his focus was completely on the referee. The official walked up to the center, blew the whistle around his neck and produced the ball to the lead middle schooler once more.

This time he immediately passed the ball back to the defender on the farthest side from Toshiro, whom merely narrowed his eyes and quickly ran toward the player. On his way, the lead middle schooler tried to get in his way and trip him with an extended leg, but the white haired captain simply side stepped around him and continued on. Most of the players watched him with anticipation, while the others practically growled at him as they didn't want yet another goal against them.

As the middle schooler received the ball, he looked up the field and passed it right away, trying everything to keep the ball away from Toshiro; "Take it! Quick!" he called out.

The icy captain was now only a few feet away from him, but he had changed direction the moment he saw the teen bringing his foot back. This allowed Toshiro to take an extra few steps toward the ball, him close enough to take it before the other middle schooler, whom was even running to reach it first. As Toshiro closed the distance between himself and the ball, the defender that passed the ball, the wing that tried to retrieve it and the lead middle schooler all headed for him.

He quickly glanced around to everyone's position on the field, beside the three teenagers heading for him, the remaining middle schoolers followed after Karin as she and her teammates ran up the field. He immediately stopped the rolling ball with one of his feet, then placed his other foot on the opposite side, the ball being between the insides of his feet.

The three teens narrowed their eyes to this, then hurried their pace as to try and stop whatever action Toshiro was about to take. But the white haired captain used his remaining momentum of going forward to spin and flip himself into the air, the ball still between his feet. As he was in the air, everyone on the field looked at him in shock, each of them very surprised from his incredible and nearly impossible movements.

Toshiro smirked lightly as he could see each of their expressions as he spun around, but he quickly threw the ball from his feet and directly into the ground. This had bounced the ball hard off the ground and made it futile for the three teens to take it away, all of which had finally reached Toshiro. As the ball came back up in the air, the icy captain was just starting to face it as he continued his spiral, to which he sent a spinning kick into the ball and right to the foot of Karin.

The raven haired girl smirked widely and kept running forward, giving Toshiro a thankful wave; "Nice pass!" she called out before turning her attention to the goalkeeper and kicking the ball quickly.

Everyone watched as the black and white ball went directly by the diving goalkeeper and into the netting of the goal itself; "Yeah!" Karin called out with her friends as they all shared a high-five.

Toshiro smirked lightly to this, him turning away and heading back to his position on the field, ignoring all of the heavy glares from the middle schoolers. But then he groaned as he could hear yet another chant from Yoruichi and the others; "Who's the best guy on the field?" "To-Shi-Ro!" "I can't hear you! I asked; Who's the best guy on the field?" "To-Shi-Ro!"

The tan woman being the one to call out the question, while the rest of the women would cheer his name. Toshiro sighed even heavier then before and rubbed the bridge of his nose; "What did I ever do to deserve this?" he asked himself silently.

"You were awesome!" Yoruichi shouted out with a wide smile, making Toshiro blink his eyes in shock as he didn't expect her to hear him.

Toshiro turned away from her, then looked to Karin and her friends as they came toward him; "That was a great pass Toshiro! Is this really your first time playing soccer?" the raven haired girl asked, smiling widely to him.

The white haired captain nodded his head to her, then turned his attention to the referee as he walked forward with the ball once more. Upon seeing this, each of the others players placed themselves back in the correct areas on the field. Toshiro let out yet another sigh and looked up at the sky as the referee blew the whistle; 'This is going to be a long game.' he thought in a sweat drop.

-Eighty five minutes and forty goals later-

Toshiro let out a sigh as he stood with Karin and the others in a circle, the middle schoolers sudden calling for a time out for an unknown reason; "They're probably out to get back at Toshiro for scoring so much on them. But don't worry..." the raven haired girl began, smirking toward him as she spoke.

"...just hang back a bit and just leave the rest us. You've got us the win for sure! It's forty three to zero!" she continued, saying the last part with much enthusiasm.

The white haired captain simply raised a brow to her and shrugged, not making an argument at all; 'I guess that's for the best. Yoruichi did tell me to calm down a bit on scoring. I guess scoring nearly every thirty seconds was rather excessive. But so is their constant cheering...regardless of how many times I score.' he thought as they walked back to their positions on the field after hearing the referee blew the whistle.

As the official tossed the ball to the lead middle schooler, whom had a smirk that all but oozed malevolent intent, he seemed to attempt to get around Karin by making a deke to the right. But Karin quickly kicked the ball away from him and started heading in the opposite direction, going right toward the goalkeeper. Despite this, the teen didn't seem to be bothered by this as he kept the smirk on his face. Toshiro narrowed his eyes to this and immediately followed after his teammates; 'Figures they'd do something so cowardly.' he thought as his pace quickened.

Toshiro caught up to Karin just as one of the defenders suddenly stopped in his backward run and came right at the raven haired girl. Karin herself blinked in surprise, unable to side step out of the way quickly enough before the teen was within a single foot of her. But just before he made contact with her, Toshiro suddenly squeezed his way between them, took the ball away and then used it to trip the defender by placing it right between his feet.

As soon as the teen fell, Toshiro swiftly turned around and kicked the ball right into the leg of the second defender. This caused him to loose his balance and trip over his own feet, just before he could make a sliding kick toward Karin's legs. The raven haired girl blinked in surprise to this, but she had unconsciously kept on running and received a light pass from Toshiro. The icy captain retrieving the ball immediately after it bounced off the teen's leg, it being at a perfect angle to come right back to him.

Karin took on a wide smirk as she offered yet another wave of thanks to Toshiro; "Thanks again Toshiro!" she called out as she continued forward.

She then placed the ball between her feet and flipping it into the air, similar to the middle school leader's move on her earlier. As the ball arched over her head, she slowed down her pace and waited for a few brief seconds as it came low enough for her to reach. Once it drifted down low enough, she jumped up slightly and made a round house kick into the ball. The black and white sphere hurled right into the netting of the goal, the goalkeeper making a near save as his fingertips just barely touched the ball.

"Yeah!" Karin and her friends called out, still just as excited about every goal as the first.

Toshiro smirked very lightly, but it completely vanished after hearing even more cheering from Yoruichi and the others off to the side. All of them also seeming to be just as excited about each play he made as the first; "Yeah! Shiro! Shiro! He's our man! If he can't do it! No one can!"

Though he found their continuous chanting annoying, he couldn't help but notice the strange tone they all used for the last few words. It seemed as though they were stating more of a fact then a cheer, which made him sigh and shake his head; 'They really put too much faith in me.' he thought, getting back into his position.

"There is ten seconds left! One more play and the game will end!" the referee called out.

His words had caused each of the middle schoolers groan sadly, knowing that the game was already over, for them. Karin and her friends all smiled widely as they had every bit of confidence that they were going to win. Toshiro simply sighed in relief, closed his eyes briefly and glanced up at the sky; 'I guess one more goal can't hurt.' he thought as his light smirk returned to his face.

The moment the ball touched the ground, Toshiro instantly sped off toward it, counting down in his own mind as he went. Just as the teen was passing the ball to the opposite wing to Toshiro, said white haired player suddenly came right up toward the ball before the other middle schooler could get to it. But when Toshiro came up to it, he immediately kicked it back with his heel and toward Heita; " Kick it as high and far as you can!" Toshiro ordered as he started running down the field quickly.

Heita blinked to him at first, but then nodded his head as he went to go do as Toshiro said, but when he went to kick, he completely missed the ball. Karin rolled her eyes, ran over to the ball as all the middle schoolers began charging toward her and kicked the ball as hard as she could down the field. The older teens turned back toward Toshiro as they saw him standing almost directly in front of their goal, the goalkeeper looking almost frightened.

As the ball came toward him, Toshiro smirked lightly as he puffed his chest up slightly, allowing the ball to bounce off of it. As it did, the white haired captain quickly made a complete back flip, to which he kicked the ball hard right into the goal, the goalkeeper not being able to jump high enough to stop it. After Toshiro landed feet first on the ground, he turned himself around and smirked lightly at the sight of the ball in the net; "Zero." he said, his count down ending with that one word.

"YEAH!" Karin, her friends, Yoruichi and the others all called out happily.

The middle schoolers and even the referee quickly left the field, not wanting to stick around any longer then needed. Toshiro merely sighed lightly and shook his head; "Well...I guess this would be the first time they've won forty five to nothing." he said silently to himself, keeping his small smirk.

But this smirk vanished after he suddenly felt and even heard a spacial distortion nearby, to which he looked over and narrowed his eyes to an opening garganta. The sound of it was like a piece of metal being torn in half, only it was lower pitched and not extremely loud. Toshiro reached down into his pocket and grabbed the small green orb inside and brought it out; 'Hmph. Happy times never last too long, do they?' he thought as an adjuchas class hollow started to come through the garganta.

* * *

And there ya have it. That's all the soccer I can handle for one chapter. Lol. Anyway, the 'kendo tournament' will be coming up next and just to give everyone a heads up...Senna will be involved. ;D Till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	90. Chapter 90

A quick thanks to Tuli-chan for helping me out yet again. ;) You're awesome.

* * *

**Chapter 90:**

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on the hollow as it came out of the garganta, it being as tall as a Gillian with green skin and a strange mask that had a bottom like a curled beard. He then glanced over to Yoruichi and the others and hardened stare at Senna, whom took it as an order and transformed herself into her shinigami form. As she did this, Toshiro looked to Karin as she stared up at the large hollow with wide eyes, to which he started walking over to her.

Senna quickly brought her zanpakuto out of it's sheath, then jumped up to eye level with the hollow and readied her blade. But as she came up toward it, the hollow brought a large hand up and swung it at her. Senna flipped out of the way easily, smirking lightly as she did, then charged for the hollow's mask covered head. The hollow quickly opened its mouth and began forming a cero within it, but Senna moved too fast and slashed its mask in half. A loud bellow was heard from the hollow as it's body disintegrated, the garganta fully closing just as it was slain.

This caused Karin to blink her eyes in amazement and looked to Toshiro as he reached her; "She's your subordinate too, isn't she?" she asked, her tone reflecting her shocked expression.

Toshiro nodded his head to her, then just watched as Senna landed on the ground, glanced over to him and smiled widely to him. He mentally rolled his eyes and sighed as the purple haired girl fist pumped the air and announced her victory over a large hollow to the world; "Hell yeah! No hollow stands a chance against me!"

After a few more moments of self-cheering, she started walking back to the other women, reverting back to her gigai form as she did. Senna had a seemingly permanent smile on her face as she spoke with all of the other females, her rejoining with them soon after her transformation; "I totally rock!" was Senna's conversation starter.

The white haired captain and the raven haired girl shook their heads to this, then they both turned toward the latter's friends and lightly sighed at the sight. They were all continuing to celebrate their victory as if nothing had happened and without a care in the world; "He he, they didn't even notice." Karin commented with a chuckle.

The icy captain glanced to her, then allowed a very small smirk onto his face and looked up at the sky. Karin did the same, only her smirk was a bit wider as she tilted her head up; "Do you think you'll be able to help us out more often?" she asked.

Toshiro looked to her with a raised brow, then let out a silent breath as he turned his gaze back to the sky; "Who knows." was all he said before being hugged from behind by Yoruichi.

"You did awesome Toshiro~! That was so~ cool!" she exclaimed, smiling to him widely.

The white haired captain sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, not receiving any assistance from the raven haired girl beside him as she was busy laughing. Soon after Yoruichi had released her hold on him, he was pulled to his side and into the arms and chest of Rangiku; "That was amazing Captain~! I just know those pictures will sell!" she squealed out.

Toshiro brought himself away from her just enough to look at her with a raised brow; "What pictures?" he asked suspiciously.

Rangiku cleared her throat and simply smiled widely to him, this making it obvious she just said something she shouldn't have and wants to cover up her mistake; "What do you mean?"

The icy captain breathed out an impatient sigh and crossed his arms, despite Rangiku still halfway hugging him; "You didn't support me in playing this game just so you could take pictures of me for the sake of the SWA...did you?" he said this in a tone that seemed more like he were stating a fact then asking a question.

The strawberry blond looked away from him, her expression was one of fake embarrassment; "Of course not...I also wanted to see your cute reactions to our cheering." she claimed with a giggle, hugging him tighter before releasing him and allowing Senna to take her place.

The purple haired girl hugged him tightly but briefly as she gave him another wide smile; "You've got to let me join in for the next game! Watching in real-life looks so much more fun then it does on TV!" she exclaimed.

Just before Toshiro could respond, Karin suddenly came up and mimicked Senna's smile; "Of course you can! We'd love to have your help!" the raven haired girl announced.

Senna smiled widely and fist pumped the air; "Alright!" she called out, the two sharing a look with each other.

Toshiro sighed heavily yet again and shook his head, but then turned his head to Rukia and Orihime as they came up to him; "Congratulations Captain Hitsugaya. You played remarkably." the former said respectfully.

"Yeah...I was glad to be cheering for you Hitsugaya-kun!" the orange haired teen claimed with a smile.

The white haired captain nodded to both of them, then turned his head to the sun as it was beginning to set over the horizon; 'The days seem to be flying by.' he thought silently to himself.

"I'm heading back now." he muttered, turning toward Orihime's apartment and started walking.

Yoruichi blinked to him, but quickly followed, Rangiku, Rukia and Orihime not being far behind. But Toshiro was stopped as he heard the voice of Karin's friends calling out to him; "Are you going already?" "Why don't you stay and celebrate for a little while?" "Yeah! It's not every day we win against middle schoolers!"

The icy captain let out a quiet sigh and shook his head; "Sorry. Maybe next time." he responded before walking once more.

"Aw~! Why don't you celebrate? It'll be fun?" Yoruichi said, smiling to him as they walked.

Toshiro shook his head to her, hearing both Senna and Karin calling out to him to wait up, to which he subconsciously slowed down. But he had to stop yet again as the raven haired elementary girl came up in front of him and placed her hands to her hips; "You're part of the team too. You should enjoy this victory...even though there was no doubt about us winning with you on our side." she said, giving him a smile at the end.

The white haired captain tilted his head down slightly and closed his eyes for a moment before looking at Karin directly; "Not this time." he began.

"I'll make it up the next game." he finished, to which the raven haired elementary girl shrugged and eventually nodded her head.

"Alright. You'll take a rain check on that then?" she asked, smirking lightly to him.

Toshiro nodded to her and even curled his lips into a very small, yet visible smirk; "Yeah." he said.

Karin smirked wider in acceptance and suddenly patted his head; "Thanks for your help Toshiro! You're a really good guy, even for being almost as short as an elementary student." she said, ruffling his white hair.

The icy captain blinked his eyes to this, but couldn't help the aggravated and annoyed expression that came over his face; "I've had it..." he began, Yoruichi, Rangiku and Senna trying and failing to hold back a laugh.

Rukia backed away slightly, not wanting to get involved, while Orihime was just blinking her eyes innocently to this. Karin did the same as the orange haired teen as she just stared at the white haired captain, whom was grinding his teeth in his rising annoyance. He then removed her hand away from his head and nearly growled; "...Quit Mentioning My HEIGHT!" he yelled out, his words sounding very contradictory to his rather childish tone.

-The next day at Karakura High School-

"And then he scolded her for calling him short!" Senna gossiped, her being with Rurichiyo, Kenryuu, Enryuu and Tatsuki.

The blond haired girl and the tomboy teen laughed to this, while the other two remained straight faced as they looked around the classroom. Rurichiyo covered her smile with the back of her hand, but there seemed to be something off about her; "Hitsugaya-dono truly has amazing talent...on and off the field." she said, her smile becoming wider, yet it never reached her eyes.

Senna smiled and nodded her head; "Yes he does!" she claimed, glancing over to Toshiro across the room, not even noticing the change in Rurichiyo.

The white haired captain was staring out the window, his hand supporting his head as he just gazed at the sky. Behind him, Rangiku was walking up toward him, then as she came up to his desk, she just sat down on it and smiled down to her captain. Toshiro looked up at her with raised a brow, then looked back to the window in a sigh and seemed to try and ignore her. Yet the strawberry blond simply leaned toward him and widened her smile; "Hey~ Captain~." she sang to him.

Toshiro sighed once more, not looking to her as he spoke up; "What do you want now Rangiku?"

Said woman huffed and pouted to him as she kept leaning closer to him; "Aw~! Why do I need to want something to come visit you at your seat~?" she whined, but only received a raised brow as her captain finally turned to her.

"You don't...but you never use 'that' tone whenever to just come by to 'visit'." Toshiro said in a knowing tone.

Rangiku blinked to him, but then looked away quickly as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have; "It was only about Ikkaku needing some help." she muttering innocently.

Toshiro raised his brow once more, then leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms; "Help with what?" he asked.

"Well~...he's staying with this brother and sister at their apartment and one of them needed his help for some kendo stuff. So he agreed and started training the kendo team, but he worked them too hard and now he wants some help from us." she explained, looking away from him as she spoke.

The white haired captain let out a heavy sigh after she said this, but then he returned to his raised brow; "Did you join?" he questioned.

"Nope!" Rangiku claimed, sounding proud of herself in her tone, to which Toshiro couldn't help but sweat drop.

"And why not?" Toshiro asked, crossing his ankles and continued to stare at her with a raised brow.

"'Cause...the uniforms smell horrible." she responded, pinching her nose as if to further her words.

Toshiro rolled his eyes and looked away once more; "And yet you think it would be fine for me to do it." he said, closing his eyes after speaking.

"I already have that handled." she claimed in a cheerful tone, giving her captain a wide smile as he opened his eyes and looked to her.

Before he could ask what she meant, she suddenly pulled out a fairly large bottle of perfume from her chest and placed it on his desk; "This will block out any and all odors, leaving a..." she began, looking at the front of the bottle and quickly reading it.

"...'a fresh and wonderful scent that will increase your confidence'." she finished, obviously taking the words from the bottle itself.

Toshiro sighed, rolled his eyes again and shook his head; "I have no intention to wear women's perfume." he said in a very matter-a-fact tone.

Rangiku huffed to him and whined; "But I went through all the trouble of buying it~!"

"You bought it for yourself the first day we came here. You hid it in your school clothes." he claimed, making the strawberry blond blink in surprise.

"Y-You knew?" she asked as even her tone showed her shock.

"Of course. And if you have enough to make my uniform smell good...why don't you join and use it on your own uniform. Then you won't have to worry about it smelling bad." Toshiro said, sounding as if he had just answered a fairly easy question.

Rangiku looked to the side as if thinking his words over and eventually shrugged and smiled to him; "I guess that'll work. I didn't think kendo would be all that great...but so long as you join, I will too." she said with a wink.

Toshiro nodded his head as he held back the urge to sigh again; "Fine...I'll join. How many people does he need?" he asked, not sounding very interested.

The strawberry blond looked up in thought once more and placed a finger to her chin; "Mmm...I think he only needs three. But with us...that only makes one." she claimed with a smile.

The white haired captain finally let out a sigh and looked over to Senna and the others as they continued to talk amongst themselves; "Has he asked anyone besides you?" he questioned.

"Just Yumichika...but he turned it down for the same reason I did." Rangiku said, as she sat herself up fully on the desk, her slightly leaning due to leaning toward Toshiro so much.

Toshiro mentally rolled his eyes to her words; "When does it take place?" he asked, glancing to her.

"This afternoon after school." Rangiku answered, smiling lightly to him once more.

The white haired captain then looked over to Orihime as she walked over to Tatsuki, whom laughed once more to something Senna had said; "Any one of us could easily defeat the other team. So long as each of us win our match, our team will automatically win. There's no point in asking anyone else...just leave Ikkaku to find the last replacement." he said looking to the window.

Rangiku blinked her eyes to him and tilted her head; "Are you sure? I'm sure Senna would like to try out." she said with a questioning expression on her face.

"Yeah...I watched a kendo match the other day when Orihime was out. It was over quite fast, so I don't think she'd be into that sort of thing." he said, not sounding very interested in competing.

As soon as this was said, Senna felt an odd chill run over her; "Why do I have the feeling someone just assumed something about me that isn't true?" she asked out loud, making everyone around her give her a questioning look.

Just before anyone could say anything, Yoruichi suddenly walked into the classroom and called them all to attention; "Alright everyone! Let's get started!"

As everyone moved to their seats, the purple haired woman smiled widely as she noticed Rangiku getting up from her spot on Toshiro's desk. But then she sighed heavily as she looked to the notebook on her desk, knowing that she would have to teach this time instead of just having everyone read their books; "Stupid Calculus." she muttered under her breath as she started to take attendance.

It was during this process that a note had been passed over to Toshiro by the person sitting beside him, to which he raised a brow and took it. After observing the small piece of paper for a brief moment, he unfolded it and read it's contents; _'Hitsugaya-dono, I wish to speak with you after school is finished. It is a very important matter and needs to be addressed immediately. Rurichiyo.'_

Upon reading this, Toshiro glanced over to the small blond haired girl from across the classroom, whom was looking to the front of the class. He then folded the piece of paper once more and placed it into his pocket; 'I guess I'm going to be quite busy after school.' was all he thought as he sighed lightly.

-After school-

"Hitsugaya-dono..." Rurichiyo started as she, Toshiro, Rangiku, Kenryuu, Enryuu and Yoruichi all stood on the roof of he school in a small group.

"...word has reached my ears of my marriage taking place the day after tomorrow." she continued, looking down as she spoke.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to her as he just nodded his head; 'Yoruichi or Rangiku must have told Orihime about it, then she must have told Rurichiyo. But I wonder how either of them heard it when they already left.' he thought quickly.

"Yes. I have been informed as well." the white haired captain said, sounding as though he were gesturing for the girl to continue of what she wished to ask of him.

"I also know about Kumoi's attempts on my life." Rurichiyo said, her head still tilted down as everyone around her, including Toshiro, gave a slightly shocked expression.

"And I have decided that I will still go through with the marriage. So when I become the true leader, I can ban him from my manor forever." she continued, the look on her face appearing very determined.

Toshiro closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them once more, each of his turquoise orbs having a focused look in them; "You realize that this is what he's expecting you to do, don't you?" he asked.

Rurichiyo nodded her head to him, while the others around them just looked between the two and simply listened to the conversation. Toshiro looked at the blond for a while, as if searching for even the slightest doubt in her words; "Very well." he said after a few moments, going up closer to her and placing a hand to her shoulder.

"But if something goes wrong, don't worry...you have people you can rely on." Toshiro continued with a very light, almost invisible smile.

The small girl blinked to him at first, but nodded slightly and smiled back; "Thank you, Hitsugaya-dono." she said as she started walking away.

"I will return the morning of my wedding day." were her leaving words, disappearing back into the school.

Kenryuu and Enryuu still had expressions of shock, but while the latter followed after Rurichiyo, the former quickly bowed to Toshiro and spoke in a humble tone; "Please accompany us back to Soul Society! Kumoi will surely ambush us on our way through the Dangai!"

Toshiro looked at him and shrugged; "I can't make any promises." was all he said before circling around them and retreating back into the school as well, his answer sounding more like a 'no' then anything else.

Kenryuu, Rangiku and Yoruichi all looked shocked to his response, but followed after him as he had rejoined with Rurichiyo and Enryuu at the bottom of the steps. They made one last farewell nod before heading in separate directions, both being in a group of three. Toshiro, Yoruichi and Rangiku had walked in complete silence for nearly the whole way to where they felt Ikkaku's spirit energy, the white haired captain walking in front of the two.

Though neither of the women spoke, they seemed to have a silent conversation with one another as they gave one another glances of concern. This concern being directed toward Toshiro, or more for his cold words to Kenryuu's rather desperate request. It hadn't been till the three had nearly reached the open classroom door, which Ikkaku's voice could be heard through, had Yoruichi finally decided to speak; "Why won't you-?" but she cut herself short as Toshiro suddenly stopped.

They were standing a few feet away from the door as the icy captain turned around and faced the two; "I'm sending you both out." he began.

Yoruichi and Rangiku blinked their eyes to him as he said this, but Toshiro continued before either could question him; "Yoruichi...I need you to go to Soifon and give her this tomorrow." he handed the tan woman an envelope as he said this.

"And when you do, come back here and start erasing the memories of everyone we've met here." he continued, his tone being extremely serious.

She took the envelope in her hand and gave Toshiro a nod, to which the white haired captain turned his attention to Rangiku; "You will be going back to Soul Society with Senna, Rukia and Orihime. I need you to help train them all for the upcoming fight." he said.

"Yes sir." Rangiku responded, but then looked down for a moment before looking back to him once more; "What about you Captain?"

Toshiro narrowed his eyes, then turned his back to them as he answered; "I'm going to finish the only way to end this war."

* * *

And there ya have it. The kendo match will be next and will also feature a sparing match between Hitsugaya Toshiro and Urahara Kisuke. ;D And for the chapter after that...it will be the one and only one-shot I received during this time frame. Which is by none other then my awesome friend Tuli-chan. ;) You guys will love it, trust me. Anyway, till next time. Ja Ne.


	91. Chapter 91

**Chapter 91:**

Toshiro's right eye twitched slightly as he sat in the classroom, wearing the blue and black, armor-like outfit for kendo; "Madarame..." he began in a growl.

"...if one more person calls me your 'little brother' or 'and elementary student', I swear...I'll-" but he was cut short as a teen wearing the same kendo outfit, came into the room.

He seemed to be an average sized boy, with short brown hair and eyes of the same color. But it was his words that caused Toshiro to stop his sentence; "I'm glad that your little brother was able to fit into the uniform, even though he's an elementary student...he's just big enough for the smallest uniform we had."

Toshiro's eye twitched even more as he seemed ready to beat the teen to death any second, but he didn't get the chance as Ikkaku quickly spoke up quickly; "H-He's not my brother! Or an elementary student!" his tone seeming to try and defend Toshiro so he and the teen wouldn't face his wrath.

Yoruichi and Rangiku were both trying, but failing to hold back a laugh, the latter having on a kendo uniform as well. Though her outfit smelled heavily of perfume, Ikkaku's and the brown haired teen's smelled of sweat, while Toshiro's had a mixture of both. The white haired captain tilted his head down so his eyes could not be seen, but then he stood up and glared at Ikkaku, whom gulped down once more.

"I'll make you pay for this later." was all Toshiro said before he crossed his arms and looked over to the brown haired teen; "And you are?" he asked, speaking in a halfway growl.

The teen blinked his eyes, but then bowed slightly at the waist and spoke quickly; "My name is Shinji."

The icy captain simply stared at him for a long while, but then let out a silent breath before speaking again; "And where is the remaining member of your group?"

"Um...well..." Shinji began, shifting his gaze over to Ikkaku; "...we never found one."

"That's only because Yumichika wouldn't do it and I couldn't find Senna!" the bald man exclaimed, sounding like a criminal on trial.

Toshiro rolled his eyes and sighed; 'I guess I assumed too much.' he thought, but raised a brow as he noticed a figure in the doorway.

"I believe I can help you with that!" the newcomer gained everyone's attention in the room.

This person had the same kendo uniform as the others did, but they already had their helmet on and a strange shadow projected over their face. This made it impossible to tell whom it was, but the forced masculine voice the figure spoke in made it very apparent. Toshiro sighed and rolled his eyes as he had a sudden urge to rub his temples in annoyance; 'This day is just full of assuming to much.' he thought quietly.

Yoruichi and Rangiku both blinked their eyes to the newcomer, but then smirked widely and shared a glance as they realized the person's identity immediately. Yet neither of them said anything, both having a look that said that they were going to play along with this 'mysterious helper'. But Ikkaku didn't seem to notice the newcomer's identity, nor anyone else's expressions, as he just fist pumped the air and smirked widely; "You're in!" he declared.

"Then lets do this!" the 'mystery' person in the doorway claimed, still having a strained masculine voice.

This caused Toshiro to roll his eyes once more and groan loudly; "Why me?" he asked in a whisper to himself.

Yoruichi laughed silently to him as she and Rangiku were the only two to hear him, the strawberry blond herself was holding back her own laugh, even placing her hand over her mouth. But as all of them walked out of the classroom, she let a silent giggle out, to which Toshiro sent a raised brow her way. Though when they arrived to the large gymnasium that the tournament was taking place, all of them fell silent and just looked around.

There was a large, chalk drawn, rectangle in the center of the room, while two long tables were placed at the corners on the right side. At either end of the rectangle, there differing color mats laid a few feet from the edges, one being red, while the other was yellow. Behind each of the mats stood large groups of students, the group behind the red mat being from the opposing school, and the group behind the yellow one were from Karakura.

The students on the red mat each varied in appearance and size, but they all shared the same raven color hair. They eyed Toshiro and the others with the same expression of cockiness and underestimation, each one commenting to another about them; "Ha ha, look at that kid over there." "Yeah, he's got white hair." "What a freak." "But check out the chick with the huge rack...she's hot!" "Damn, I'd like to 'go out' with her. Ha Ha!" "Dude! Look!...He's bald!"

But immediately after the last comment, Ikkaku shifted his gaze toward them and held out his kendo sword before him; "Who said that?" he asked, seeming far too calm for them to go back to laughing at their wit.

Rangiku, the 'mystery' person and Yoruichi all narrowed their eyes on the opposing team, but Toshiro just let out a silent sigh and walked over to the yellow mat. Shinji simply hurried over to the padding with his white haired teammate, not wanting to get in Ikkaku's way. Said student continued to point his 'sword' at the teens, but eventually walked away with the others after not getting answer out of any of them; "Tch! Nothing but a bunch of pansies." he commented along the way.

Yoruichi simply joined all of the students behind the mats, but kept giving the students on the opposing mats a sever glare. Rangiku did the same, only she went over to the mat with Toshiro and let out an aggravated huff. The mysterious student had also walked over with them, but they also kept their stare on the students across the room. Once they all kneeled down on the mat, the group of high school students behind it all began cheering for them; "Go get those pricks!" "Beat those guys down!" "Give 'em a good smack down!"

However, one of the teens stood out among the rest as she ran out to Ikkaku and wrapped her arms around one of his; "Darling~! Do your best~! I'll be cheering for you~!" she sang.

This girl had long brown hair, which was tied up in a ponytail with a purple hairpiece, while she had long bangs on both sides of her face. She also had slightly thick eyebrows, brown eyes and wore the typical Karakura High School outfit. But her actions toward the bald shinigami had made Toshiro and the others sweat drop heavily, raise a brow in question and shake their heads with a sigh.

Yoruichi blinked her eyes and glanced over to Toshiro as he looked away from the strange pair on his left side; "They're bizarrely cute together." she whispered to herself, her heavy sweat drop remaining.

"Karakura First District vs Kotei Academy is about to begin!" a man called out as he walked forward, to which the brown haired girl returned to the crowd and each of the competitors stepped into the rectangle.

This man was a short, black haired man with small brown eyes and wore a black suite with a yellow tie; "Since this is and exhibition, we'll declare whoever lands the first blow will be the winner." he continued on as he looked between all of the competitors.

Toshiro had his arms crossed and eyes narrowed on his opponent, whom was a large teen with an exceedingly cocky expression on his face. Shinji was looking around to everyone as if nervous about the competition, but the student before him was wearing the same expression as Toshiro's opponent. Rangiku was just staring at her finger nails, completely ignoring the ogling eyes of the person that would face off against her. The 'mystery' student's face was still unseen as they kept their helmet on, while their challenger merely kept his eyes on Rangiku with a similar look as his teammate.

Ikkaku and his challenger however were staring each other down as both seemed to be itching for a fight. But all of them were brought out of their thoughts as the announcer walked forward and spoke up; "Will the first contestants step forward and take their stances."

To this, all of them returned to their mats, but Toshiro and his opponent simply grabbed their helmets and kendo swords, then walked to the center of the rectangle once more. They placed their helmets on their heads, took the shinai in both hands and kneeled down; "Begin!" the announcer called out.

Both students within the rectangle stood themselves up and took on mirroring fighting stances, it being the most basic of poses with one foot out in front of the other and the 'sword' pointed forward. The two merely stood there for a brief few moments before Toshiro's challenger came forward, letting out a short battle cry as he did. The white haired captain however stayed perfectly still till the last second, his opponent swinging his shinai toward his head.

Just as the bamboo-made sword came a mere foot of Toshiro's head, he quickly ducked under the attack and delivered a blow directly to the teen's midsection. Immediately following this, the announcer held up a white flag in his hand, everyone noticing that he also had a red, but the white was obviously representing Karakura High School. Just as Toshiro began walking back to the mat, the group of his fellow classmates all began cheering for him; "Alright!" "Way to go!"

"Second contestants, take your stances!" the announcer called out, to which Shinji and his opponent stepped out, their equipment already prepared.

The two kneeled down and narrowed their eyes on one another, but then charged at each other as the flag holding man shouted; "Begin."

Though it took much longer then Toshiro's match, Shinji had rose victorious, to which he took on a large smile on his face. This made the students burst into a cheer once again, as their team was now two matches to none. But they quieted down as Rangiku stepped into the rectangle with her rather odd opponent, whom spoke to her as they kneeled down; "No hard feelings after I win. Maybe we can go on a date after this is over."

The strawberry blond laughed silently to this, her standing up after the announcer called out for them to begin; "Well~..." she began with a smirk.

"...how about; not a chance in hell." she finished, her quickly coming at the teen before he could even blink.

Just as he was about to move, Rangiku smacked him on the top of his head, to which he nearly fell over from the force as she had used much more then she should have. Once the announcer raised the white flag, Rangiku immediately turned on her heels and walked back to the mat, giving Toshiro a wink as she removed her helmet. The man in the suit walked to the very center and lifted the white flag higher into the air; "Karakura has won in the Goodwill Competition of Karakura First District vs Kotei Academy!" he called out.

"Hold on a second!" both Ikkaku and the 'mystery' student called out, the former finally removing their helmet to reveal a rather angry Senna.

"What about my fight?" they both demanded in unison, to which the announcer turned to them.

"Karakura First District already won three matches, neither of you get to fight." the man said, him seeming to be far too confident in controlling the situation.

"What?" the two shouted, both smacking the man on either side of his face.

The man fell to the ground as both of their attacks was too much for him, to which Senna and Ikkaku looked to the two remaining students from the opposing team. They then pointed their kendo swords at them and smirked widely; "Let's do this! I'll take you on right now!" both called out in unison.

The two blinked their eyes, but couldn't react before the two charged at them and smacked them over the head. This caused the other members of the team to come at them to help their comrades, but they fell victim to Senna's and Ikkaku's fury as they went crazy in attacking everyone. Toshiro sighed heavily, shook his head to all this and stood up; "I'm going to go see Kisuke. I'll be leaving my gigai here with..." he began, looking over to Rangiku.

He then turned his head to Yoruichi as she came over to him, but he shifted his gaze to the familiar face of Keigo and sighed once more; "...I'll leave my gigai with you. Just keep it safe." he said before taking a green orb from his pocket and swallowed it.

After his words, Rangiku and Yoruichi huffed and crossed their arms under their chests, a pout on both of their faces; "So mean." they said in unison.

"Wait! What?" Keigo asked, blinking his eyes to Toshiro, whom had just separated from his gigai.

Just before the brown haired teen could say anything else, the white haired captain immediately shunpoed away, leaving Keigo with his mouth gaping and the whole class of Kotei academy to face Senna and Ikkaku. But within a few more seconds, all of the students and even the announcer were laying on the floor with the purple haired girl and the bald man standing a top their limp bodies. However, it was the former that spoke first as she fist pumped the air; "Victory! I knew I could get into this! Take that Captain Hitsugaya!"

After her claims, the brown haired girl that hugged Ikkaku earlier had ran over to him once more; "Oh darling~! That was amazing~!"

Senna glanced over to the two, Ikkaku basically ignoring the teen as she hugged him; "They're bizarrely cute together." she whispered to herself with a light shake of her head.

-Urahara shop, underground area-

Toshiro appeared in a shunpo near of Kisuke as the the blond stood in front of the two arrancar that he's been taking care of for the past few weeks. Upon seeing the two conscious, the white haired captain walked toward them, allowing a small smirk on his face. Once the two saw him coming, they both kneeled down and bowed their heads; "Hitsugaya-sama." they said together.

The icy captain waved his hand to them and slightly widened his smirk; "You can just call me Hitsugaya." he said, speaking to them as if he had known them for years.

This caused Kisuke to look over to him and smile lightly, his expression being a knowing one as he knew that Toshiro wanted to treat them as well as possible. The white haired captain showing a rare compassion toward them, him seeming to want them as close to him as they were to Sojiro.

"But-" the one with red haired began, but stopped as Toshiro raised a hand.

"Sojiro was one of my best and greatest friends. You may think that you were simple pawns to him, but I believe he thought of you as friends...and therefore, I will as well." Toshiro said.

The two looked to one another, then back to him and nodded their heads; "Thank you. Hitsugaya-sama." they said, to which Toshiro and even Kisuke chuckled silently.

'Looks like they'll be just like Soifon.' he and the blond thought in unison before Toshiro spoke to them; "By the way...I never got your names."

"I am Yin." the one with the red hair said, while the other with blue hair spoke up immediately afterward; "And I am Yang."

Toshiro nodded his head; "Well Yin and Yang...I need to ask you both a favor." he began, to which they both bowed lower and let out a 'Anything Hitsugaya-sama!', making him sweat drop.

"I need to speak with Kisuke alone for a moment alone. Can you two wait upstairs?" he asked, his tone truly sounding like a question as he spoke.

They both nodded their heads and instantly vanished in sonidos, to which Toshiro turned his attention to Kisuke, whom did the same; "Is it working?" the white haired captain asked.

Kisuke nodded his head to him with narrowed and serious eyes; "Yeah. And I would really like for you to explain...'this'." he said, even his tone being very serious.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes as well, then turned away with crossed arms; "After all this is over...then I might explain." he claimed, his answer sounding absolute, leaving no room for argument.

The blond kept his eyes narrowed for a moment, but then tilted his hat down and smiled lightly; "Well...how about this; a quick sparing match? Whoever wins...gives up a piece of information the other wants." he said, his smile widening as he spoke.

A brief few moments went by before Toshiro turned around and looked at Kisuke once more; "Deal." he said, instantly dodging away from a fast palm directed toward his head.

The two shared a small smirk before the white haired captain sent his own palm at the blond's ribcage, but it didn't connect as Kisuke spun away. He then used his momentum to spin a kick at the back of Toshiro's head, to which the icy captain ducked beneath the attack. They quickly shunpoed fifteen feet into the air and sent kicks toward one another, making their limbs connect at the shin and cause a large percussion wave. This blast making the ground below crack heavily and create a large divot; "My oh my..." Kisuke began as they separated from one another.

"...if we don't finish this soon. My precious underground training area will have nothing left." he continued, placing his hand to the top of his hat.

Toshiro smirked lightly and flexed his ice covered hands; "Hmph...I guess I should." he said confidently.

Kisuke chuckled as he adjusted his hat so only one of his eyes could be seen, it having a look that told Toshiro not to underestimate him. But upon seeing this, the white haired captain simply smirked wider before both of them vanished in another shunpo. They reappeared nearly forty feet from their original standing point and repeated the process of exchanging a powerful kick, which had the same effect as the previous.

But then Kisuke spun himself around and sent a backward roundhouse kick at Toshiro, whom back flipped quickly out of the way. As he did this, the icy captain caught the blond's swinging foot with his own ice covered ones and used his momentum from the flip to launch Kisuke forward. The blond's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly brought his hands out, caught some of the spirit particles in the air and flipped himself around, allowing him to regain his footing.

But though he did this instantly, it was enough time for Toshiro to shunpo behind him and throw a side kick toward Kisuke's back. Despite spinning away from the attack, the white haired captain had pushed off his other foot and spun a kick right into the blond's face. Kisuke winced and clenched his teeth as he was hit, but had quickly brought his hands up and grabbed Toshiro's icy foot. The white haired captain narrowed his eyes, just before Kisuke twisted Toshiro's leg, making the rest of his body turn in the direction.

'Hmph...he's definitely improved.' the icy captain thought quickly as his eyes narrowed.

The blond quickly brought up a leg and sent a kick toward Toshiro's chest, which made the icy captain crossed his arms across it in order to block. Once Kisuke's foot connected to Toshiro's arms, yet another percussion blast was sent out and into the ground. This had punched another crater in the rocky terrain below and even reduced a tall rock formation to ruble.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes further as he noticed the focused look on Kisuke's face; 'I guess I should get a bit serious too.' he thought before grabbing the blond's retracting foot.

He then used Kisuke's leg as leverage to free his own foot from the blond's grasp, but as he kept a hold of Kisuke's foot, Toshiro swung himself up and threw a kick toward his face. The blond shop owner ducked under this blow, but his eyes widened as Toshiro instantly vanished before his eyes. Kisuke spun around quickly, bringing up his hands to block, but the white haired captain simply swept both his legs and sent a palm into his ribs.

The blond slid back through the air, grunted in pain to the blow, but quickly recovered and came back toward Toshiro. They immediately disappeared in shunpoes, reappeared back on the ground and threw punches directly into one another's fists. This blasted an enormous percussion wave that destroyed everything within a fifty foot radius around them.

Kisuke narrowed his eyes, but smirked at his long time friend, whom did the same just before they shunpoed away once more. The two ended up becoming complete blurs as they would exchange a blow, then shunpo once again and appear in a different area to repeat the process. Both of them seemed to take on emotionless expressions after the small smirk they shared as they continued to fight.

Nearly several dozen more times of their 'hit and shunpo' battle, they landed one the ground almost twenty feet apart, to which they leapt toward each other. But just as they were about to collide, both of them spun to either side, shifted their momentum and swung round house kicks toward one another. As their legs collided, it created a large blast of exploding spirit energy that they inserted into their attack. This had knocked both of them away and created yet another crater one hundred feet in diameter.

Once they landed their feet on the ground, Kisuke suddenly appeared before Toshiro, whom had his eyes closed as to shield them from the blinding light of the blast. He then began throwing punch after punch into Toshiro's chest and stomach, his arms barely being seen as he moved too fast for the white haired captain. Kisuke eventually made one final punch before he sent a strong kick to Toshiro's ribs, knocking him directly into a nearby rock formation.

As Toshiro hit the rock, his body embedded into it a few feet, to which he slumped down as if defenseless. But though he knew it was a trap, Kisuke still came charging toward him, expecting Toshiro to move at the last second. Yet as he came closer, he narrowed his eyes carefully and quickly shunpoed directly in front of Toshiro as to not give him the chance to dodge.

The split second that Kisuke shunpoed, Toshiro smirked lightly and cracked an eye open; 'Just one step closer.' he thought.

Once Kisuke stepped forward with a fist ready, Toshiro's eyes snapped open and he easily caught the blond's hand. Both of them narrowed their eyes on one another, Kisuke sending his other fist toward him, but Toshiro brought up his arm to block. As soon as the blond's follow up attack was sent to the side, the icy captain suddenly kicked him in the stomach.

The blow knocked the air out of Kisuke and sent him flying directly into a rock formation, only he completely destroyed it and fell into the ruble. The blond gasped for air as he pushed the rocks off of him, but became wide eyed and shunpoed away as Toshiro came flipping through the air. The white haired captain spun around and delivered a powerful downward kick into the ground, which shattered it completely in a sixty foot radius.

"I guess this isn't going to be easy." Kisuke said in a sigh, him catching his breath and fixing his hat.

Toshiro simply raised a brow to his words as he walked out of the crater he just created, him noticing that neither of them were out of breath whatsoever; "Of course it is." he said simply.

Just as the blond turned to his left side, where Toshiro immediately appeared, his eyes widened as he noticed a reflection out of Toshiro's eyes; "Damn." he cursed quickly.

The Toshiro on his left suddenly smirked as he simply had his arms crossed, while another Toshiro appeared on Kisuke's other side and sent a palm into the back of his neck. This blow sent a blast of spirit energy into the blond's spine and nervous system, which paralyzed him instantly. But as Kisuke's body fell to the ground, he suddenly swelled up and popped like a balloon, which made both Toshiro's eyes widen.

A chuckle could be heard from off to the side and a clap followed as Kisuke stepped out from behind a rock formation; "That was perfect! I finally figured out just how durable these guys really are." he claimed with a wide smile on his face.

But as he spoke, the two Toshiro's raised their brows in unison, before both shattered apart, giving Kisuke his turn to blink his eyes in surprise. Though it didn't last long as he felt an icy hand being placed on his shoulder; "Hmph...I guess they're not as durable as I thought." he muttered.

Toshiro smirked lightly and retracted his hand and shook his head; "Not quite. But it's good for a distraction." he said, walking up beside his friend.

"I guess that means you win. It's a good thing those two didn't see this...they probably would have been very confused." Kisuke said with a lightly laugh, yet still sounding somewhat disappointed in his loss.

The white haired captain looked over to him with a raised brow, but he smirked lightly and let out a light breath as he looked forward. After a brief moment of silence, Toshiro shifted his gaze back to Kisuke and narrowed eyes; "Now...tell me. Where is Tsukishima Shukuro?"

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I know...it's not a true fight. But if those were just copies and dummies, then the real thing would be just too much for only one chapter. Lol. ;) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Next chapter will be...on second thought, I'll let you find out for yourselves. XD Till next time. Ja Ne.


	92. Chapter 92

Alright, here it is...the next chapter. The piece that my awesome friend Tuli-chan did for the contest...though it wasn't much of a contest when I only got two people that sent in a chapter. =/ And btw Mr. Hourglass...I won't be able to include yours in my story. I truly did enjoy it and would like to put it in, but I'm afraid that you dictated too much on how the fight against Aizen would go that it just wouldn't work for what I have planned. Sorry. =/ But I will put in a few of the themes you have, cause I really liked them and can work them into my story. ;) I also want to thank Cifer Ulquiorra for reviewing so much for my story already, so thank you very much. Oh...and before I forget. I will be having some extra space further down the line, somewhere in the Toju Campaign arc. So if anyone wants to make a chapter in that setting and send it to me let me know. I'll accept chapters till I actually reach that point so you all have a long time to plan and tweak them till you feel that they're ready. I'll also be picking the top five just so you all know...I might make an exception, considering how many I actually get. ;) Anyway, on to the chapter! XD

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Chapter 92:

-Early the next morning, on top of Orihime's apartment-

Flaming orange and red colors filled the cool air as Toshiro looked at the horizon with narrowed eyes. Him being so deep in thought, that he nearly missed the presence of another person who appeared behind him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Just like the sunset." a somewhat teasing voice purred near of Toshiro's ear as he turned around and settled his turquoise eyes into golden ones.

The white haired captain allowed a small smirk to appear briefly into his lips as he looked to his long-time childhood friend, Yoruichi; "Yeah." was his simple reply as he looked away.

But he was suddenly and almost forcefully turned to the side by Yoruichi as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind; "Oh! Look!" she breathed out in a slightly astonished tone.

She then pointed to a specific place in the sky and leaned in closer to him; "It's the Morning Star!" she claimed enthusiastically.

Toshiro sighed heavily as he was about to say something to her, but stopped as he heard another voice shouting to them; "Captain! Hurry up or we'll be late~!"

Both Toshiro and Yoruichi looked over to Rangiku as she was looking up to them from the ground, impatiently tapping her foot. She was wearing her normal, all too revealing school uniform, a dark green shawl draped over her shoulders, which had Tenth Division's insignia daffodil, and also small, cute little bag on her arm. But what surprised the duo most was the fact that the sun hadn't even rise fully, and yet the normally lazy Rangiku was there being all chirpy and ready to go.

Toshiro and Yoruichi shared a doubtful look before they looked down to Rangiku again; "What has you all cheery this morning?" the former asked with a raised brow.

"It's the last day we're gonna be in school! I'm gonna make sure to enjoy it!" the strawberry blond called out with a large smile.

The white haired captain sighed lightly, grabbed the school bag laying at his feet and shook his head to Rangiku's words. Toshiro and Yoruichi then jumped down from the roof, neither being worried about anyone seeing them as it was too early for someone to be up or remember anything they see. But as he and the purple haired woman walked closer, Rangiku suddenly started walking away and toward the school; "Come on Captain~! Orihime already left! We're gonna be late~!" she called out from over her shoulder.

Toshiro sighed lightly, then looked over to Yoruichi as they walked; "You should start erasing everyone's memories after school is over. Just make sure your visit to Soifon is short." he said in a low voice.

The tan woman nodded her head to him with a small smirk; "Of course." was all she said with a rather mysterious smirk on her lips.

This caused Toshiro to raise a brow to her, them coming closer to the school as they continued on; "What are you planning Yoruichi?" he asked, now narrowing his eyes.

"Oh nothin'. You'll find out soon enough." just as Yoruichi finished her sentence, they arrived at the school, but saw many rows of buses parked just outside.

Seeing this made the white haired captain raise a brow and look over to his purple haired friend, but she had vanished from his side. Toshiro sighed heavily and shook his head; "Always so difficult." he muttered to himself, his words not matching his almost fond sounding tone.

Toshiro started walking up to the buses, noticing that all the students of the school were lined up, each one leading to each of the buses. He looked around a bit longer, but stopped when he saw Rangiku joining Orihime, Senna and Rukia all of them being in the same line, to which he headed toward them slowly. As Toshiro went, he let out another sigh as he retreated into his thoughts; 'Being a student is so annoying...even as an undercover job. Everyone calls me an elementary student or looks at me like I'm a child. Hmph, if they only knew how old I really am, they'd probably avoid me all together.'

To his last thought, Toshiro smirked lightly and looked to the large group of students once more; "Maybe that's not such a bad idea." he whispered to himself.

"What isn't a bad idea?" Rangiku asked as she came up in front of him, to which the white haired captain merely shook his head dismissively.

Toshiro then glanced over to Senna and Rukia as they talked to each other, seeming fairly excited in their conversation. All the while Orihime added in a few words with them as the three spoke among one another, the white haired captain going with his strawberry blond lieutenant toward them. But as they walked, Rangiku suddenly spoke up in a concerned tone, catching Toshiro's attention right away; "What's the matter?"

At first, all Toshiro did was look over to her with a raised brow, but he simply shook his head again and glanced to the large yellow vehicles off to the side; "So what's this all about?" he asked.

"Don't say you forgot!" Rangiku declared, looking and sounding genuinely shocked; "Today is a field trip!"

Frowning slightly, Toshiro closed his eyes for a moment in thought, as if to recall any of his teachers saying something about a field trip. As he opened his eyes once more, they showed that he couldn't recall such thing, but Toshiro wasn't able to voice this as he was met by Rangiku's sparkling eyes right before his own. The white haired captain had to back away slightly in order to regain his 'personal space', but the strawberry blond simply came closer.

"Remember the day that you left the school early? Well there was an announcement throughout the school that said there would be a whole school field trip today~!" Rangiku all but sang as her expression remained the same.

Toshiro raised a brow, then sighed in response to her words; "Figured I'd miss something...and not be told anything about it." he said, giving Rangiku a rather suspicious look at the end of his words.

'At least this explains partly of why Rangiku was so eager to go school today.' he thought quickly, resisting the urge to shake his head.

The strawberry blond just smiled and came even closer to him, to which Toshiro had to back away once more. But he was immediately stopped as Senna suddenly came up on his right side and grabbed him by the arm; "Well we wanted to surprise you!" she claimed with a wide smile on her face.

The white haired captain raised a brow to her and rolled his eyes, but before he could speak, Rangiku came up on his other side and wrapped her arm around his; "Come on Captain~! It'll be SO much FUN~!" she squealed happily.

Immediately following her words, both Rangiku and Senna started to drag him forward, the line of students continuing to move into the buses. Orihime and Rukia stayed behind them as they became silent, just glancing between the others as they spoke. As they slowly moved toward the buses, both Rangiku and Senna started to babble on about the upcoming trip and what they'd do. The white haired captain just tuned them out as best as he could, which wasn't as much as he would have liked. But he thanked the heavens as Ikkaku and Yumichika suddenly arrived and greeted them; "Yo, Matsumoto, Hitsugaya, Senna, Rukia, Inoue." Ikkaku said rather lazily.

While the bald man's tone was very casual, his friend's was far more sophisticated; "Good morning, Hitsugaya, Rangiku-san, Senna-san, Rukia-san, Inoue-san."

But before any of the others could return the greeting, a voice was heard from off to the side, which came closer very quickly; "Good~ morning~ Nee~cha-Aurgh!"

Keigo's greeting was instantly cut of as his failing attempt to 'attack' Rangiku ended with a punch in the gut, which caused him to fall on the ground and groan. This made everyone around them smirk lightly, including Toshiro as he had a similar thought float across his mind that everyone shared; 'He never learns.'

Everyone rolled their eyes to this thought, then looked to the last of the people that actually spoke to them; "Hitsugaya-san, Matsumoto-san, Inoue-san, Rukia-san, Senna-san...good morning. It seems Keigo-_san_ is once again really energetic from the morning." Mizuiro said just as he flipped his cell phone close.

"Ahhh! Stop saying my name like that Mizuiro!" Keigo cried, grabbing Mizuiro's foot who just shrugged to his friend's acting.

"Oh, let's hurry on or we'll get left behind~!" Mizuiro said in sing-song tone, walking over Keigo's hand and walked closer to the buses.

Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, Senna and Rukia followed, while Toshiro and Inoue stayed behind, the former of the two able to pry himself free of his subordinates' grasp. But after a nod from the white haired captain, Inoue also followed them, to which he bent over slightly and offered a hand to Keigo. The brown haired teen began to cry heavily as he accepted his hand, making Toshiro sweat drop and sigh; "T-Toshiro...! You're truly an amazing and wonderful person!" he called out, tears continuing to fall from his eyes.

'He's the only one to get my gigai back without it being beat up or embarrassed...I guess he deserves at least this much as thanks.' he thought to himself, before taking on an annoyed expression.

'But I can go without the compliments.' he continued as he helped the teen up.

Rangiku and Senna glanced back to him with a smile and giggled lightly as they watched all this; "Wonder if he'd pick me up if I fall over." the former whispered, to which they both giggled once more.

"Let's go before we really are left behind." Toshiro said, quickly walking toward the nearly filled buses.

As he passed by the others, they simply watched him silently before following close behind, but their path was blocked as Tatsuki came up before them. She had her hands on her hips and a rather aggravated expression on her face, but she spoke before any of the others could; "So? Where's my explanation?"

Everyone, save for Toshiro blinked their eyes to her as they eventually looked to the white haired captain, whom was the target of Tatsuki's narrowed eyes. Toshiro had simply let out a breath and walked up to and around her; "I'll explain on the bus." was his simple response as he continued on.

Behind the icy captain, he could hear the 'idle' conversations of the others; "Did you buy any goodies for the field trip, Orihime-chan?" Rangiku asked.

"Of course! I brought lots from home! I have enough for all of us!" the orange haired teen claimed cheerfully, which caused everyone but Rangiku to sweat drop heavily and have the same thought; 'We're doomed.'

As the group headed onto the only non-filled bus left, they found that the seating arrangement was almost predictable. They were all in the very back, Ikkaku and Yumichika being in the seat second to the back on the right side, while Senna and Rukia were in the seat beside them. Rangiku and Orihime were in the seat behind Ikkaku and Yumichika's, leaving Toshiro and Tatsuki in the one on the other side.

Despite the bus being full of noise from the other students, each pair managed to hold their own conversations, however, only Toshiro's and Tatsuki's was about something serious. The white haired captain informing the raven haired teen about Shinigami, Hollows, Ichigo's situation, where he sent him and why. The only things he left mentioned were where Chad and Renji were, not finding it necessary information to inform her.

"I see." was her starting response, as the whole time if Toshiro's explanation she had merely listened, keeping a straight face.

"I guess a lot has been happening lately." she continued, glancing up at the metal roof of the bus; "I'm guessing that Rurichiyo and those two guys that are always with her are also from Soul Society?"

Toshiro nodded his head to her, him being a bit surprised that she was taking all this information so well; "Yeah...she's actually a powerful noble and those were her personal body guards." he said silently.

Tatsuki let out a silent breath and glanced around as if expecting to see said blond somewhere on the bus; "Where is she anyway?" she asked.

"She's returning to Soul Society tomorrow. It's not surprising that she wouldn't be here today." he said, crossing his arms.

The raven haired girl seemed to think a few questions over in her head before looking to Toshiro once more; "What about that Ishida guy?" she asked curiously.

"He's called a Quincy. A race of beings, which in modern times could be considered 'Human mediums'. They had the ability to detect the existence of Hollows, which allowed them to train themselves to be able to defeat them, similar to what the Shinigami do." Toshiro explained, making Tatsuki's eyes widen slightly.

"Right now...he's training with his father." he continued, to which the teen girl let out a breath and nodded her head.

After those words, they remained silent for a while, neither speaking at all, Tatsuki because she needed more time to process everything she was just told and Toshiro so she could have that time. But the tomboyish teen surprised the white haired captain as she suddenly spoke up in a very normal tone, sounding like she had before all his information; "So...you excited about this field trip?" she asked this rather normal question.

Toshiro merely shrugged lightly to her, then he narrowed his eyes on her; "Will you be okay?" he asked somewhat concerned.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but-" the icy captain halted his sentence as Tatsuki looked to him with a small smile.

"Don't worry...I've already seen a lot before all this. I should be fine." she said confidently, to which Toshiro just nodded his head to her.

"Orihime has talked lot about feeding deer. Can you believe that they actually planned having a school field trip near the mountains?" Tatsuki continued, her tone becoming lighter as she spoke.

Toshiro shrugged his shoulders once more, but couldn't help a chilling feeling that came over him as Tatsuki glanced between him and Rangiku. But just as he was about to ignore this feeling, his chill was confirmed as the raven haired girl suddenly spoke again; "By the way...she your girlfriend or something?"

The white haired student mentally face palmed and had the faintest tint of pink in his cheeks, something that Tatsuki hadn't noticed before; "No...She is my lieutenant." he claimed, attempting to remain as clam as possible.

"Hmm...then are you at least going to confess to her?" the dark haired girl asked, making Toshiro turn scarlet red for a brief second and for his eyes to widen.

The icy captain turned his head to Tatsuki as she simply grinned widely in response; "Just kidding. But people usually use field trips to do those kinds of things." she continued, an amused grin on her lips as Toshiro seemed to try and calm himself down.

"I didn't even know about it till today…" he muttered as Tatsuki blinked her eyes to him confused.

"But that's your own fault Capt-I mean...Toshiro~!" Rangiku claimed from across the aisle, to which Toshiro's eyes widened slightly.

Toshiro's blush began to return to his face as he hadn't realized Rangiku had heard or begun listened to them; 'Just how much she heard?' he thought to himself.

"Whatever." was his somewhat unintelligent answer, not able to think of anything else to say.

"Aside from that, we must decide the most important thing on this trip." the strawberry blond began, to which he, Tatsuki and Orihime looked to her with a raised brow; "Who gets to sit next to Toshiro on the way back~!"

Immediately following her words, Toshiro and Tatsuki sweat dropped and sighed heavily, while Orihime simply blinked her eyes and looked up as if she were actually thinking it was a difficult question. But the white haired student was brought away from his thoughts as the buses began to slow down, him noticing a sign saying; 'Nara Park, Place of Scenic Beauty'.

As the bus finally stopped and everyone walked out of the buses, they all had to listen to a few minutes of a couple of the teachers went over the rules of being at the park and what to do if they get lost. After this was over, Toshiro ended up being dragged away by Rangiku as she and the other girls formed their own group. All the while Ikkaku and Yumichika seemed to go off in their own direction, not seeming to care about where they were going. Keigo and Mizuiro on the other hand joined another group of students as each of the others disappeared too quickly for them to catch up.

The group of women, and one male all walked down a small road that lead farther into the park, most of them holding conversations with one another. But from time to time, they had to stop so Rangiku and Orihime could watch and feed deer that practically walked right up to them. Though many of them ran away after the two females were unable to stop squealing at how adorable the animals were, some of them simply put up with it so they could have the food.

"Aw~! Aren't these cute Toshiro?" Rangiku asked in a halfway squeal, petting one of the deer as it came up to her.

Said student merely smirked lightly and nodded his head, but then blinked his eyes as Tatsuki suddenly pushed a camera into his hands; "Take a pic of us!" was all she said, before going next to Orihime and one other deer.

He sighed heavily to this, then adjusted the device in his hand and took a nearly perfect picture of all the women surrounding just one small deer. Once he took it, Rangiku walked up to him and smiled widely, yet deviously, to which Toshiro sweat dropped; "Now I'll take a few shots of you!" she claimed, reaching for the camera.

The white captain quickly moved the small device away from her, his eyes slightly narrowed, almost in a challenge; "I don't think so." he said, making Rangiku whine to him.

But after a few failed attempts at getting the camera, a playful glint sparkled in the strawberry blond's eyes as she smirked widely; "I guess you win Tos-Whoa~!" she called out as she seemed to 'accidentally' fall into Toshiro.

This knocked both of them to the ground, Rangiku being on top as she grabbed the camera quickly; "Ha ha! Now I win!" she exclaimed with a wide and victorious smile.

Toshiro could only blush lightly as Rangiku's chest was pressed against his face and the rest of her body against his own; "Rangiku!" he yelled out

Said woman just giggled as she got away from the captain quickly, who had got himself up as well, turned away and began brushing himself off. But as he did this, Rangiku snuck up behind him, readied the camera in her hand, then spun him around and began taking pictures of him. Toshiro blinked in surprise to this, but quickly placed his hand in front of his face in order to obscure the pictures being taken. As they continued this, Senna, Rukia, Orihime and even Tatsuki smirked lightly as they watched their rather comical chase.

"Seriously…" Tatsuki muttered, scratching the back of her neck; "They should just-" but she was cut off as she was grabbed by her waist and roughly dragged to the side.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime's scream filled everyone's ears, them turning just in time to see Toshiro taking the blow of a slashing attack to his back.

Though the wound was shallow, it still managed to draw blood from the white haired captain's gigai; "Captain!" Rangiku, Senna and Rukia called out shocked.

They all turned their eyes toward a large spider-like hollow, it having a normal mask that had pincers almost just like a true spider. It also had spikes on the ends on all eight of its legs, this being what had slashed Toshiro and caused his wound; "A hollow?" Rukia breathed now shocked.

"I didn't sense it at all!" Senna continued Rukia's words, as she and rest of shinigami females were still shocked as they should have been able to feel such a large hollow.

"Tch." Toshiro spat slightly irritated, him not seeming to care about his injury at all.

He then released Tatsuki from his grip, to which she backed away and looked at the hollow with wide eyes; "Th-That's a hollow?" she breathed out shocked, her never actually seeing one that close.

Toshiro didn't even respond as he quickly swallowed the Gikon in his pocket and then lunged toward the hollow, immediately after exiting his gigai. As he came toward it, the hollow suddenly vanished right in front of his eyes, to which he narrowed his eyes. But this didn't stop the icy captain as he disappeared in a shunpo and reappeared behind the hollow; "So a lowly hollow managed to use sonido?" he commented silently.

Just after his words, the hollow sonidoed once more, only this time it was directly above Toshiro, to which he just tilted his head up. But as its large body came down toward him, he simply brought up an ice covered hand and caught it by the mid-section. The hollow had extended its legs in order to crush him with its full weight, but once Toshiro stopped it from doing so with a single hand, it quickly picked itself up and sonidoed away once more.

Sighing, the white haired captain glanced over to the hollow as it came charging toward him from his right side. As it came closer, Toshiro shifted his body to the side, appearing to be ready to fight, yet his form didn't seem very guarded at all. Once it came within a few feet, it slashed one of its front legs toward Toshiro, but when he dodged, he leaned his body directly toward the attack.

Despite Toshiro doing this, the hollow's leg just went right through Toshiro as if one of them were a ghost. Immediately following this, Toshiro spun himself around and swung a kick toward the seemingly empty space behind him. But when his ice covered foot came into contact with a seemingly invisible force, the 'hollow' on the other side suddenly vanished and the true hollow appeared just as Toshiro's kick smashed its mask into pieces.

The white haired captain then turned his back to the view of the hollow vanishing from its death; "Interesting." he muttered silently to himself.

Toshiro then returned to his slightly bleeding gigai and returned to his small group who all were grouped together around Tatsuki as they watched him. However, Orihime was concentrating more on her raven haired friend in asking if she was okay than anything else. But when he rejoined them, Tatsuki had freed herself from her friend's consistent questions as she herself questioned Toshiro; "That was a hollow...right?" she asked once again from the captain.

"Yeah, one that could use reflections to hide its presence." he began, looking over to where the hollow had died.

"That's why we didn't sense it right to way; it was using this ability to shift its existence from an area too far for us to feel it there to right here with us." Toshiro explained calmly.

Rangiku's eyes widened slightly but then her lips curled into a smirk as she stood up and crashed Toshiro's face into her chest; "That's my Captain!" she said proudly, as Toshiro tried and failed to push her away.

"But Hitsugaya-kun…how did you figure all that out just by fighting it?" Orihime asked as the white haired captain managed to make eye contact with Orihime over Rangiku's 'hug of death'.

"When the hollow tried to fool me with its attack from the side –once I focused fully on that hollow, I could sense that it's true presence was right behind me instead of in front." he replied, him still attempting to escape as he spoke.

"It didn't have poison, right? Remember what happened last time when you got stabbed!" Rangiku suddenly said rather seriously, looking at the wound on Toshiro's back. Rukia nodded agreeing to this while Senna places her hands to her hips as if to emphasize Rangiku's question's seriousness.

The white haired captain pushed himself away from her slightly, still unable to get out of her grip completely; "It was low cast hollow, so I doubt it would have much effect anyway."

"Good!" Rangiku merely replied, but then she took on a smirk that made Toshiro sweat drop; "Although...being able to carry you off the battle field due to your paralysis was a pretty good time." she muttered in a giggle.

Once she said this, Senna laughed loudly, Orihime and Rukia blushed lightly, Tatsuki seemed to take on a knowing smirk, while Toshiro began to blush fiercely; "Rangiku!" he yelled in annoyance, causing Rangiku to join in on Senna's actions.

The icy captain sighed heavily to them, but just as he turned around to walk away, a subtle light shined from behind him and strange warmth spread across his body. Toshiro glanced over his shoulder, him seeing Orihime using her Souten Kisshun upon the wound on his back. He blinked his eyes to this, but eventually turned his head away to hide the small smirk that spread on his face.

It only took a few brief moments before his wound was completely healed, everyone remaining quiet the whole time, as if breaking the silence was a crime. As the glow died down and the warmth left his body, Toshiro turned himself around and finally showed his small smirk to her; "Thank you Orihime. You did very well." he said silently to her.

The orange haired teen blinked her eyes to him and quickly waved her hands out in front of her; "I-It was nothing!" she said frantically, obviously being somewhat embarrassed.

Toshiro smirked a bit wider to her and placed a hand to her shoulder; "No...it was far more than that." he said.

Orihime blinked once more, but then smiled back to him and gave a light nod; "Thank you...Hitsugaya-kun." she said, her tone nearly sounding as if she were speaking to her passed brother.

The white haired captain gave a few more moments for his smirk before removing his hand, turning around and speaking over his shoulder to everyone; "I'm heading back."

Immediately following his words, he began walking away and toward the buses, not even paying attention as his lieutenant quickly chased after him and whined; "Aw~! Captain~! Wait for me~!"

The others smiled to this, but soon caught up to them and headed to the buses with the two. But as they walked, Toshiro noticed two falling maple leaves coming almost right in front of him, to which he grabbed both of them and placed them inside his pocket. None of the others noticed him doing this as they were caught up in their own conversations with each other, but he still glanced to each of them as if to make sure of this.

Once they arrived to the group of buses, which had managed to turn themselves around during the time everyone was gone, they all sat down on nearby benches. Though they waited for about a half hour for the rest of the students to come back, they were soon back on the buses and started heading back to the school. The white haired captain let out a sigh as the one that sat next to him on the way back was Rangiku, as she had 'beat' everyone else to the spot.

As he watched the passing landscapes, the bus became much quieter and he felt a weight suddenly press on the top of his shoulder. Toshiro turned his head away from the window and to his shoulder, raising a brow as he saw that Rangiku had actually fallen asleep. This made the icy captain smirk lightly in response; 'She probably lost sleep from being so excited about the trip.' he thought to himself silently.

After a moment, he grabbed the leaves from his pocket and put them inside the bag he had left on the bus; 'I'll give the other glowing leaf to Yoruichi when I get back.' was his last thought, before he closed his eyes and zoned off.

* * *

FYI: In a certain light, maple tree's leaves can glow. (Seriously, I'm not kidding. My friend told me about it and I actually saw it for myself after a little investigating) Also it's tradition in Japan, to bring something from your trip (or just about anywhere you go) to those who are important to you. It holds more meaning if it's something taken from nature than bought from a store...hence the leaves. It's pretty much like 'Even though I was on a trip, I was thinking of you'. So that's why Toshiro did took those with him. ;) Even I didn't understand until my friend Tuli-chan explained it to me...which is basically what I just said here, word for word. :D

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed...the next chapter will be returning to the true story, so no more fillers till after the Amagai arc. And I think the next filler will end up being the 'Summer! Sea! Swimsuit Festival!' piece, so look forward to that one. XD And again Mr. Hourglass, I'm sorry that I can't put your chapter in. TT_TT Well...till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	93. Chapter 93

This is an extra that my friend Tuli-chan created. I liked it so much that I had to put it in...plus this is a perfect way for you guys to know just how much she helps me and how awesome she is. ;) Thank you again Tuli-chan.

* * *

**Chapter 93:**

*Loud music can be heard which has good beat in it.*

Rangiku: *Shouts excited manner.* Welcome to BLEACH C Station! You've just been served with an extra chapter from "Change one Side, Change the Story"! Today your interviewers are Matsumoto Rangiku! *Laughs lightly.* That's me! And my awesome taichou!

Toshiro: …

Rangiku: Taichou! This is radio program! You've to say something, so our listeners will know you're here!

Toshiro:…I'm Hitsugaya Toshiro.

Rangiku: Awww! No fun taichou! *Whines.*

Toshiro:…we'll today interview the 'extra' chapter's writer Tuliharja alias Tuli-chan.

Tuliharja: *Excited manner.* Hello!

Rangiku: Now, let's all congratulate the story's author 'Ice Prince Hitsugaya'! *Applause can be heard.* Ne, taichou.

Toshiro: What it's Matsumoto?

Rangiku: You two have same last name! *Gasp.* Don't say you're royal?

Toshiro: *Tone has hint of annoynce.* Of course not.

Rangiku: Hmm, that would explain your and Yoruichi's close 'relationship'.

Toshiro: *Shocked tone.* Wh-what?

Rangiku and Tuliharja: *Both laugh now.*

Rangiku: Awww! It's fine taichou! Beside! It's cute when you blush!

Toshiro: MATSUMOTO!

-BLEACH, C STATION-

Rangiku: So, Tuli-chan.

Tuliharja: Hai?

Rangiku: Why you wrote this extra chapter in first place?

Tuliharja: Well…If I remember correctly at first I didn't want write it at all, truth to speak…

Rangiku: Eeeeh? Why? *Has clear surprise in her voice.*

Tuliharja: *Can be hear obvious sweat dropping from voice.* Because English isn't my first language, so the grammar isn't the best…

Rangiku: Nonsense! We speak all the time Japanese with taichou.

Toshiro: Actually…we talk English.

Rangiku: *Gasp.* You just broke the forth wall taichou!

Toshiro:…fifth, since this is literature work. *Has stern voice.* What made you change your mind about writing the one-shot Tuliharja?

Tuliharja: Well, Lil'Prince alias Ice Prince Hitsugaya, did convince me write one, because if I recall correctly he was worried about that he wouldn't get any…not to mention he did compliment my writing. He pretty much said the grammar didn't matter but the story behind it and there why he wanted me write one, despite all errors and such I would make. So that why I took the challenge.

Rangiku: Awww! How sweet!

Tuliharja: Yeah, but in the end I just gave the major themes for the chapter.

Toshiro: What does that mean?

Tuliharja: Back then when he put the challenge up, readers couldn't know all twists he would make, so I wrote basically from the canon's base…Which in the end didn't match all the current time and its events.

Rangiku: Like Senna!

Tuliharja: Oh yes! It was delighted surprise when she joined the gang. *Laughs lightly.* I really like her. I wish Lil'Prince would bring her more and maybe pair her up with certain guy…

Rangiku: Ooooh! Do you ship Ichigo and Senna?

Tuliharja: Surprisingly no. In fact, when Senna joined the board I told Lil'Prince not to make her join Toshiro's harem.

Toshiro: *Has shocked tone now.* Ha-harem?

Tuliharja: *Laughs lightly.* Because Senna didn't seem like his type and it would be cooler if she was more like his friend, because Senna just brings life for things!

Toshiro: *Mutters now.* More like messes around…

Tuliharja: So, after I'd written my extra chapter to him, he did read it and added things in it to make it match the current timeline.

Rangiku: Did you re-read after it?

Tuliharja: Welll…Let's put it this way; in the end, this extra chapter turned out more and less one chapter which was written by two people.

Rangiku: Seems you make a good team! Just like taichou and I!

Tuliharja:…well, I DO work with him weekly with his chapters.

Rangiku: Eeeeh? Really?

Toshiro:…Matsumoto. She writes the Shinigami Golden Cups.

Rangiku: *Sound of light bulb lightning can be heard.* That explains then thing! But ne Tuli-chan! What kind of task it's then?

Tuliharja: I usually check his chapter and look all spelling errors, characterizing, how it flows, etc. I kind of give him these days a 'green light' to go on…I'm also sort of his muse and the one who kicks his butt when he has been lazying with the chapter. But we're still good friends, so it's fine.

Toshiro: *Mutters now.* Just like SOMEONE…

Rangiku: What was that taichou? *Has innocent tone.*

Toshiro: Have you done the paperwork I asked before this program?

Rangiku: Well! *Claps hands together.* Where you got the idea to write this Tuli-chan?

Tuliharja: Well, there are two clichés with writing numerous stories; someone has to have birthday, which already had happened and school trip. There is also third cliché, school festival, but I thought he would cover it up…So, I chose school trip. Not to mention the idea came from other manga called 'Fruits Basket' where was similar school trip, so I thought it would be wonderful.

Rangiku: Fruits Basket?

Toshiro: *Has lecture voice now.* It's manga written by Natsuki Takaya where are 23 volumes. It's shojo manga.

Rangiku: Taichou! Have you once again been reading Senna's manga? *Has amused tone.*

Toshiro: Tch.

Tuliharja: *Laughs lightly.* It's good manga, I must say.

Rangiku: Hmm, I must borrow it then! But, did you struggle at all while you wrote?

Tuliharja: Oh yes…The characters' didn't bring any trouble, but I just kept going and going, until I just had to decide I'll end this here. I would had liked to continue it little bit more, but thought it would had been too long if I'd…

Toshiro: What would have it been if you'd continued it?

Tuliharja: Well! At the begin Yoruichi-san mentions 'Morning Star', so I would had added little reference about that at the end and a part where you would give her that glowing leaf. It would've been cute scene!

Rangiku: Awww!

Tuliharja: But I thought it would be more interesting to leave the end 'open' than 'closed', because I like things where a reader has to think little bit…Or, she or he gets opinion to decide how things will go AFTER the last scene…

Rangiku: That's so sweet! But…why didn't I get anything? *Has whining tone.*

Toshiro: You're at the trip. *Mumbles now silently something incoherent after that.*

Rangiku: And that hollow ruined almost everything! *Her voice is still whining and has slight pouting tone also in it.*

Tuliharja: Oh, about that…

Toshiro: Yes?

Tuliharja: I thought the one-shot needed little bit suspense. Besides, it was perfect 'last boost' to end the one-shot after that.

Toshiro: Where you got that idea for that hollow?

Tuliharja: ...I've arachnophobia. I seriously scare spiders and I thought the hollow should be scary…so yeah. But I also thought it needed little bit twist, so it wouldn't be just 'normal' hollow…

Rangiku: It was awful hollow, we all can agree to that. *Sound of flipping hair.* But luckily taichou finished it quickly!

Toshiro: *Sigh.*

Tuliharja: Well, that's Shiro-chan to you.

Toshiro: *Annoyed tone.* It's Hitsugaya-TAICHOU.

Tuliharja: Gomene…

Toshiro: Beside. *Keeps silent moment.* This reminds me from my original question…Did you did that paperwork what I asked you to do Matsumoto?

Rangiku: Welll…we're almost running the time out, so any last words Tuli-chan?

Toshiro: …Matsumoto…

Tuliharja: Keep up the good work Lil'Prince! I'll try to continue to help you best I can! Also, congratulations for getting so far! Get ready for the 100th chapter, since when it hits there, there will be more than likely be surprises!

Toshiro: Matsumoto…

Rangiku: *Has eager tone now.* What kind of surprises?

Tuliharja: Hmm! You've to wait for that. *Laughs lightly.*

Rangiku: Awww! No fun!

Toshiro: MATSUMOTO!

Rangiku: AAAH!

*A crashing sound can be heard.*

Rangiku: *Has now annoyed tone.* Taichou!

Toshiro: …and this was Bleach C Station. Thank you for all listening it. Have a good rest of day. *Has extreme monotone tone when he said that.*

Tuliharja: Thank you for listening and reading! And now…*Suddenly movement of chair can be heard.*

Rangiku: Ah! I want too hug taichou, Tuli-chan! *Quick movement sounds can be heard.* Thank you for all listening! And remember in future read the fic!

Toshiro:…you two! I'M NOT A TEDDY BEAR! *Shouts the last words loudly.*

* * *

And there you have it. ;) Tuli-chan wrote this word for word. ^^ I hope you guys liked it as much as I did. The next chapter _will_ be continuing the story. Till then. Ja Ne...again. XD


	94. Chapter 94

And here we go. Diving back into the main story line...ish. The Amagai arc isn't actually canon...but it is for my story so whatever. ;) Anyway, onto the story. ^^

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**Chapter 94:**

-The next day at the Tenth Division's senkaimon-

The large doors of the senkaimon swung open to reveal Toshiro, Rangiku, Senna, Orihime and Rukia, each of them walking quickly through. But once they were greeted by the two guards before the gate, Toshiro immediately began calling out orders; "Mobilize squads one and two in the Onmitsukido. Have them ready to move out in five minutes."

"Yes sir!" one of the guards said, quickly vanishing in a shunpo.

"If Kurosaki Ichigo comes through those gates...let him through without question. Now get back to your watch." the icy captain said, looking over to the remaining guard.

"Yes sir!" the other guard called with a bow as he hurried back to the senkaimon and closed it.

"Rangiku..." Toshiro began, stopping his movements and looking over to the strawberry blond as she came up in front of him.

"Clear out the training field and take Rukia, Senna and Orihime with you. You'll all be training together for the upcoming war. I'll call on you when I need you." he continued, receiving another 'Yes sir!' from each of the woman, including Orihime.

Once they had all headed in their own direction, Toshiro began speed walking toward the front gate of his division; 'I can leave Karakura town to Madarame and Ayasegawa. And even if they face an enemy too powerful...Abarai should be able to handle it.' he began in his mind.

'Although...his training with Sado has been going rather slow. Kisuke must really want Sado to fully develop his Fullbring as quickly as possible.' he continued as he sped up his pace.

"Hmph...that kid must be pretty worried about how his powers are so similar to a hollow's." Toshiro muttered to himself, his tone sounding as though he were actually sympathetic toward the large teen.

'Whatever the case...Soifon should have sent the messenger by now, so Kurosaki should be here within the hour.' he thought as he neared the gate.

'Ishida will deliver my message to him before he does, so as long as all goes well...I can get this to the lab before time runs out.' as this went through his mind, Toshiro's eyes briefly drifted to a specific spot on his haori.

As the white haired captain arrived to the opened gate, all of the Onmitsukido he ordered for were kneeling before him, to which he stepped forward and spoke in a commanding tone; "Our duty is to serve as guards during the wedding of Kasumioji Rurichiyo and Kannoji Shu. Do not allow anyone unauthorized within the grounds. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" was the loud and echoing response from everyone before the white haired captain.

Toshiro nodded his head very lightly and dismissed all of them with a wave of his hand, to which all of the Onmitsukido members gathered shunpoed away. The moment they disappeared, the icy captain did as well, him heading to the northwestern outskirts of his division. As he reached the corner of the connecting barrier walls, he placed an ice covered hand to a specific place upon it, to which small area glowed briefly. Toshiro immediately vanished in another shunpo, then as he appeared outside his office, he hurried inside and opened the door to the storage room.

But when he opened it, the area before him was that of a dark tunnel instead of a small room filled with ink cartridges, dipping pens and old furniture. The white haired captain quickly made his way down the pitch black stairway, touching certain places upon the walls as he went, each touch giving off a subtle glow from the wall. Once he reached the end of the stairs, the only source of light was from a large glass container that seemed to have a few small white orbs within it.

While the rest of the area was in complete darkness, Toshiro still moved quickly through the room as if the lack of light was no hindrance at all. He went several yards from the entrance before reaching what seemed to be a small glass container, to which he immediately reached into his haori pocket and pulled out the object from within. Toshiro then proceeded to insert the object inside the container before him, the glass opening like a window as his hand came toward it.

Once it was inside, the white haired captain retracted his hand and pressed a button on the pad, which was located just below the container. Immediately after he pushed it, the selected button glowed a bright red and revealed the icy captain's very concentrated expression;"Come on...work damn it." he whispered aloud, his tone being one of impatience.

_"Five days, seventeen hours, twenty minutes and forty eight seconds remaining until completion."_ a computer sounding voice echoed from the pad after a brief silence.

This information made Toshiro let out a heavy sigh, then turn away and toward the way he came in; "Looks like I was and will be right on time." he said silently to himself, calmly walking toward the stairway as he smirked lightly.

-Kasumioji manor-

"Thank you for coming Captain Hitsugaya. We greatly appreciate your help in protecting our beloved 'soon-to-be' leaders of the clan." Gyokaku said, his large lips curled into a smile and his glasses covered eyes being unseen.

Toshiro simply nodded to the man, but seemed to keep his eyes narrowed on him; "Of course...I'm glad to be of assistance to a high class clan such as the Kasumioji." he said in a very emotionless tone.

The two paused for a few moments, both just examining the other thoroughly; "And I do hope that the bride-to-be will get here soon. It'll be a real shame if you have to use a stand-in for the wedding." Toshiro spoke, his expression becoming a knowing one.

"I have no doubt that she'll make it to the wedding." the older looking man spoke, his smile remaining on his face.

Toshiro nodded his head, then looked to the side; "Then I best leave you to the preparations." he began, once again shifting his gaze to Gyokaku, whom nodded back.

"Inform me or one of my men if you require assistance." he finished, his voice making his words sounding more like an order then a request.

The smiling man immediately frowned as he caught onto this, but he nodded once again nonetheless; "I will make sure to do so." he said, just before Toshiro shunpoed away.

As soon as he disappeared a shadowed figure stepped out from behind a corner and came up beside Gyokaku; "You were right Kumoi-sama...she's traveling through the dangai as we speak. She is only with her standard two body guards, we should have her soon." they said, to which the elder man smiled and nodded his head.

"Excellent. Make sure to lock those two nuisances away and take the young Princess somewhere she won't be any trouble." Gyokaku ordered.

"Yes sir." the figure said with a bow, vanishing quickly, not noticing another figure within the shadows that also disappeared soon after.

-Outside the manor-

Toshiro nodded his head, let out a sigh and looked to Soifon; "Well done. Make sure to follow them and inform me of the locations they take the Princess and her guards." he said silently.

"As you command, Captain Hitsugaya." Soifon said with a bow before shunpoing away.

The icy captain looked up to the sky and narrowed his eyes; 'I promised that I'd protect you...and that's exactly what I intend to do.' he thought to himself.

But Toshiro was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar presence appear behind him; "Finished?" was all he asked.

"Yeah..." Yoruichi's voice spoke as said woman came up beside her long time friend; "...though it was difficult to track down all of the students, I erased all their memories of us. Save for Ichigo's friends' of course."

Toshiro glanced over to her, then nodded his head; "Alright...I have Rangiku and the others training already and Soifon tracking Kumoi's men. I should be getting the report of where they'll take Rurichiyo and her guards very soon." he said, it sounding as though he were simply giving a report.

Yoruichi raised her brow to him, but just let out a sigh as she nodded lightly; "You really feel bad about turning them down in escorting her...don't you?" she asked, not looking at the white haired captain as she spoke.

Despite not looking to Yoruichi either, Toshiro just tilted his head down and spoke with a 'self-blaming' tone; "If I had completed my research sooner...I could have helped them more and prevented them being taken in the first place."

"You can't blame yourself for something like this. The very fact that you've created something that can end the war means that it is a top priority." Yoruichi began, offering him a smirk as she turned her head to him.

"Besides...you're helping them anyway. So I think it's the thought that counts in this situation." she finished, widening her smirk in the process.

Toshiro glanced over to her with a raised brow, then curled his lips into a smirk of his own before nodding gently; "I suppose so." was his simple reply.

After a brief silence between them, Yoruichi let out a sigh before starting to walk away; "The wedding will be starting soon. You better get into position." she said, giving Toshiro a wink from over her shoulder.

The icy captain raised a brow to her, but then smirked lightly and let out a quiet chuckle; "Try not to push their training too hard. But also don't let them slack off." he responded before his purple haired friend vanished in a shunpo.

Toshiro let out a sigh before he quickly shunpoed to the top of the highest building within the Kasumioji manor, overlooking the entire area. He immediately noticed the hundreds of men, women and children flooding toward the gates directly before him, as they all wished to be witnesses to the wedding taking place. But the white haired captain quickly shifted his gaze to the left side and saw Yoruichi's leaving form, which was heading directly for his division; 'She's going to let them slack off.' he thought to himself with a knowing sigh.

"Oh well. So long as one of them gets stronger." he muttered out loud before glancing over to his other side, which held nothing of importance to him.

'Things are going to be pretty quiet till Kurosaki gets here.' Toshiro thought as he turned his head to the front gate once more, merely watching the people down below entering the court yard beyond the gate.

It was nearly a half hour later before the wedding itself even began, and then another fifteen before Toshiro felt the familiar spirit energy of Ichigo coming closer; "About time." he whispered to himself in a sigh.

As the icy captain glanced over to the side, he immediately saw the orange haired teen coming toward the manor, him carrying his oversized zanpakuto on his back. Toshiro then tilted his head down at the 'false Rurichiyo' and Shu, both greeting the gathered people within the court yard; "Tch...even when staged nobility is nothing but fanfare." he muttered silently.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo called out as he appeared in a shunpo next to said white haired captain.

Toshiro sighed heavily and glanced over to him; "It's Captain Hitsugaya to you." he claimed in annoyance.

"Whatever...so where is she?" Ichigo asked, his tone sounding rather demanding.

"Away. How long can you hold your hollowfication now?" Toshiro questioned, crossing his arms in the process.

"About twenty seconds. But you didn't tell me-" but the orange haired teen was cut off as Toshiro suddenly spoke once more; "And did you get Ishida's message?"

"Yeah. But you..." Ichigo started but, stopped and let out a heavy sigh before continuing; "Whatever...so who's this Amagai Shusuke? And why can't we trust him?"

The icy captain didn't bother answering as he simply turned around and started walking away, to which Ichigo quickly followed after calling out to him; "Hey! Wait a sec! At least answer one of my questions!"

-Two weeks ago-

Toshiro sat in his office seat with his head resting on his ice covered hand; "This shouldn't be too difficult for Ishida to figure out.

He looked down at the piece of paper in front of him as he read over it's content; '**D**on't be so **o**ver bearing Kenryuu. **N**ot **t**oday anyway. **T**oday's **r**eally not that **u**seless after all...**s**urprisingly. **T**hough...it **s**eems that it'll rain **h**ere soon. So **u**nless you like getting **s**oaked, get an **u**mbrella. Oh, and **K**asumioji...**e**verything is going to be **a**lright. But **m**ake sure **a** **g**uard is **a**round at all times. But **I** promise that you'll be safe.'

"So long as he remembers the first letters of each word I say, he should get this easily. But I suppose I can give him a heads up so he won't mistake my intentions." he said silently, his tone sounding almost bored.

"Give who a heads up?" Rangiku asked as she walked into the office, placing a short stack of papers on the corner of Toshiro's desk.

"And aren't you supposed to be showing Senna around?" Toshiro questioned back with a roll of his eyes.

"I already did...she knows her way around just as good as I do." the strawberry blond began with a smirk.

"But then the a guy from the First gave me these so we could fill out the report of our newly acquired 'squad member' and how we 'saved the world'." she continued, her smirk turning to an annoyed frown as she spoke.

Toshiro sighed heavily to this, then folded up the piece of paper in the center of his desk, froze it solid and shatter it to dust; "This day just never stops." he said in a heavy sigh.

"It doesn't seem like it. But look at it this way...tomorrow will be a nice day, so it'll be perfect to just relax...and head to the hot springs~!" Rangiku claimed with a wide smile.

The white haired captain rolled his eyes in response, then looked up at the ceiling; 'If only I didn't have to go to that captaincy test for Amagai...it's very unlikely that guarding the Oin will be very difficult.' he though to himself.

'But...so long as Kisuke gets those to Shinji on time, I can afford to take a small break after everything is over tomorrow.' he continued, closing his eyes.

But Toshiro's thoughts were shattered as he opened his eyes slightly and came face to face with Rangiku's questionable expression; "Are you okay Captain?" she asked as she was only a few inches away from him.

The icy captain lightly blushed as he quickly closed his eyes again; "Rangiku...why are you standing so close?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"Hmm? Well you didn't answer me when I asked if you were okay so I wanted to see if you fell asleep." the strawberry blond said with blinking eyes.

Toshiro's brow twitched slightly as he kept his eyes closed; "Can you please step away?" he questioned, sounding more as a demand.

Rangiku simply shrugged lightly as she didn't seem to realize any harm in what she was doing, yet she stepped away anyway; "So what were you thinking about Captain?" she asked, crossing her arms under her chest.

The white haired captain finally opened his eyes and stood up on his ice covered feet; "Nothing of importance." he said silently.

"Oh alright...if you don't wanna tell me ya don't have to." Rangiku said in a pout, to which Toshiro raised a brow to her.

"I've been your lieutenant for over a hundred years...and your friend for even longer." she began with a wink.

"So I know exactly when you lie." Rangiku claimed, smirking knowingly to her superior; "I just never say anything because I know you'll eventually tell me anyway." she continued, giving Toshiro another wink.

The icy captain raised his brow higher, then looked down for a few moments; 'Do I?' he thought to himself, his own inner voice seeming ashamed.

After a very brief silence, Toshiro looked to Rangiku with narrowed and determined eyes; "I was-" but he was cut off as the door to the office suddenly swung open and revealed Senna running inside.

"There you are! What's the big idea of just leaving me in the middle of the division to go talk to Rukia?" the purple haired girl demanded, to which the two officers turned their heads toward her.

But just as Toshiro had turned his head back to his lieutenant, she had vanished; "RANGIKU!" he yelled out.

-Present day-

Toshiro and Ichigo stepped foot within a large training area, it appearing to be abandoned for many years as there was overgrowth coming through nearly everything, including the stone-carved stands. As the two glanced around, they saw a tall spectator's box at the far end of this arena, which was at the top of a short set of steps; "Why would they take her to an unused stadium area in the Third Division?" the orange haired teen asked with a raised brow.

The white haired captain glanced over to him and then turned his head back to the tall structure; "Amagai Shusuke is the newly appointed captain of the Third Division." he said, answering both Ichigo's previous and current question with his words.

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly, but then they narrowed and he grabbed his zanpakuto's grip; "Then we better get her before anyone comes along." he claimed, quickly rushing up the stairs and into the building.

Toshiro simply watched him with a raised brow, but then he sighed and slowly began walking in the same direction; "So much like his father." he said to himself as he could hear the clanging of metal and the grunts of people being knocked unconscious.

By the time Toshiro even reached the doorway that lead inside, Ichigo had already come down from the winding staircase within the building. But his eyes quickly shifted down to the small blond girl Ichigo was carrying by her waist; "Hitsugaya-dono!" Rurichiyo called out with a smile.

The icy captain simply smirked lightly to her with a nod, then as he turned around to walk outside, he quickly raised an ice covered hand and blocked the blade of Kifune Makoto; "Just when I thought everything would go smoothly." Toshiro muttered silently.

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Hope you all enjoyed. This is basically a prelude to what is to come, but make sure to pay a lot of attention to what happened in this, cause it is very important. ;) Till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	95. Chapter 95

I don't have much to say right here...so I'll just say thank you to Tuli-chan for your help as always and to every single one of my amazing and awesome reviewers. ;) Oh...and a quick welcome to a fanfic friend that I've helped out a few times. So...welcome to my story and I hope you enjoy it, Little Oni Kitty. =^_^=

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**Chapter 95:**

Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly as Makoto quickly jumped away from him and called out his zanpakuto's release; "Are kurue, Reppu!"

As the red-tinted brown haired man's katana glowed brightly and took the shape of a large, three-bladed weapon connected with a straight pole. While two of the blades extending like arrow points on either end of the pole, the third was in the center and shaped similar to a fan. There was also a silver design across the surface, looking like three arrow points, them becoming larger the farther out they went. The owner of this weapon smirked widely, appearing very similar to Kenpachi before a fight; "I'll surpass you Captain Hitsugaya! And then I'll have to be acknowledged by every shinigami in Soul Society!" he yelled out.

The white haired captain simply stared at him with little interest, while Ichigo had taken on a defensive pose to protect the now very confident noble in his arm. But just as Makoto was about to lift his weapon into the air, Toshiro suddenly appeared before him and sliced both the glasses wearing shinigami and his zanpakuto in half. This caused Makoto's eyes to widen incredibly wide as his body literally fell apart; "I-Imposs...ible..." was all he could say before he died on the spot.

Toshiro wiped his ice covered hand of blood and looked to Ichigo and Rurichiyo as they blinked in surprise at him; "Take her to my division. I'll take down the conspiracy myself." he said walking over to one half of Makoto's zanpakuto and picking it up.

"Eh? How are you gonna do that?" the orange haired teen asked, both he and Rurichiyo looking at him in interest.

"Kifune just gave me exactly what I needed." Toshiro began, flicking one of the silver color arrows on the weapon, which shattered like ceramic and revealed a large gold eye.

"After investigating him...Soifon discovered that he had covered his zanpakuto with a Bakkoto. And since he's been associating with Kumoi for a long time now, it'll make proving the conspiracy as a fact that much easier." he continued, looking over to the two.

Ichigo blinked his eyes to him, but then smirked lightly with a nod of his head; "He he, you really planned this out to the last detail didn't you? I guess it's to be expected of you...huh, Toshiro?"

"You're truly an amazing man Hitsugaya-dono! I wish I could have been your bride!" Rurichiyo claimed, her all but having stars in her eyes as they shined with admiration.

Toshiro raised a brow to them and sweat dropped lightly as he shook his head; "Just get to my division." he muttered out before vanishing in a shunpo.

But as the icy captain went across the roofs of the Seireitei, he looked down to the weapon in his hand and narrowed his eyes; 'It'll just make it easier for Amagai if I take this to the Head Captain, but I doubt his Bakkoto can actually be powerful enough to defeat him in the first place.' he thought to himself.

'Though I've never been one to make assumptions...especially with this type of thing, I'll personally make sure to handle things if I'm wrong.' he continued, quickening his pace.

-The First Division-

Once Toshiro went inside the Head Captain's office, the elder man turned his head toward him, but kept his eyes seemingly closed; "What is it Captain Hitsugaya?" he asked, his tone sounding neutral as if he somehow knew Toshiro's purpose for being there already.

"I've broken the conspiracy around the Kasumioji clan." Toshiro began, going up to the Head Captain's desk and placing the broken weapon on it's surface.

"This is the zanpakuto of Kifune Makuto, whom has been having dealing with the Kasumioji clan's Kumoi Gyokaku...and as you can see, there is a Bakkoto covering it. The Substitute Shinigami and I had come into the area by chance and saw special operatives from the Kasumioji guard working with Kifune." he continued, the old man simply looking down at the large hunk of metal on his desk.

"When we came toward them, they had attacked us...so we had no choice other then to use deadly force. We then discovered that they were all guarding Kasumioji Rurichiyo, the heir to the Kasumioji clan. She told us that she had been taken by her captors, under direct orders from Kumoi." he finished.

The Head Captain remained silent for a long while, just sitting there with his eyes seemingly closed and hand to his bearded chin; "And where was the young Princess when you found her?" he asked in an authoritative tone.

"In an abandoned stadium...within the Third Division." Toshiro answered, giving a brief pause before continuing; "This leads me to believe that Captain Amagai Shusuke has a part in this conspiracy and request for him to be taken in to custody for questioning."

"Very well." the elder man began, tilting his head to Toshiro and opening his eyes slightly.

"The members of the Kasumioji clan have committed high treason! I permit you to take all those that dwell within the Kasumioji manor into custody and confiscate any and all weapons they've created!" he continued, his voice being very forceful.

The white haired captain nodded his head to him, but as he turned around to go he glanced slightly over his shoulder; "And what of Amagai?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I will deal with him myself." the Head Captain said, his tone being dead serious, to which Toshiro simply vanished in a shunpo.

-Tenth Division-

Toshiro suddenly appeared on the training field in a flash, quickly seeing Yoruichi and the other women actually training themselves; "Hmph...surprising." he muttered to himself.

But as he sped walked toward them, he narrowed his eyes and glanced around as if searching for someone; 'Kurosaki hasn't gotten here yet? It may just be him getting lost...or he could have run into Amagai along the way.' he thought, his eyes narrowing even further.

'Either way...I need to hurry and order the arrest.' Toshiro continued just as he reached his friends and subordinates.

"We have a mission." he stated, gaining each of the female's attention, many of them not noticing his presence till now.

"The Kasumioji clan's conspiracy has been unveiled...and now they're all warranted for high treason." he continued, giving a small but success-filled smirk.

"We're to take every last one of them into custody and confiscate any and all weapons they've created." he finished, giving all of them a hard stare.

But when he looked to Orihime, he narrowed his eyes and eventually closed them entirely; "Can you handle being my squad's medical team leader?" he asked.

The orange haired girl blinked her eyes to him, then blushed rather deeply and began fidgeting with her clothes; "Well...I...um...if you don't think I'll be in the way..." she said, trailing off in her uncertainty.

Toshiro simply opened his eyes, walked over to her and placed an icy hand to her shoulder; "You're leading it...only you can be in your way." he said with a small but encouraging smirk.

Orihime blinked to him, then smiled widely and nodded, her confidence seeming to rise increasingly; "I'll do the very best of my ability." she claimed with a nod.

The white haired captain nodded back to her, then looked at the others and stopped on Rangiku; "Inform Soifon of the situation and get the squads ready." was all he said before turning toward the Kasumioji manor to his right.

"Which ones?" the strawberry blond asked with blinking eyes.

"All of them." was all Toshiro said before quickly shunpoing away, being quickly followed by Yoruichi, Rukia and Senna.

Rangiku looked over to Orihime and smiled; "Congrats...you get to go on your mission as a part of the Tenth Division." she claimed with a wink, her tone making it sound as though there would be more to come.

-Across the Seireitei-

Upon arriving outside the manor, Toshiro immediately told one of the guards at the gate to summon Gyokaku, but after a few moments of the man leaving, he and the others just followed after him. They had just stepped foot inside the manor itself as Gyokaku came walking toward the four; "Is there something you wished to speak about Captain Hitsugaya?" he asked with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"As a matter a fact...there is." the icy captain began with a very small but noticeable smirk, to which the opposing man narrowed his eyes from behind his round glasses.

"You are hereby under arrest Kumoi Gyokaku, for high treason." Toshiro continued, causing said man's eyes to widen extremely wide.

"Wh-What?" was all he could say before both Rukia and Senna appeared before him with their katanas pointed to his throat.

"You heard him 'Jiji', you're under arrest." the purple haired girl claimed with a confident smirk.

Gyokaku glared from her to Toshiro, but seemed to decide that resistance was useless and just placed his hands on top of his head. Rukia and Senna then proceeded to lead the elder man outside, to which Toshiro and Yoruichi looked to each other; "I'll handle the smithy on the eastern side. I'll leave the Bakkoto in the manor and finding Rurichiyo's body guards to you." the latter said with a smirk.

The white haired captain nodded his head to her, then as they both went their separate ways, Toshiro felt a familiar spirit energy nearby and quickly shunpoed toward it. Once he reached his destination, the icy captain's eyes widened slightly before narrowing heavily on the blue haired shinigami before him; "Taking the Bakkoto nucleus' already are we?" he asked, glancing down at said weapons on the floor.

Shusuke quickly turned toward Toshiro and narrowed his eyes as well; "Tch. Like I could wait till that fool blew his plans and dragged me down too. But now that I've become powerful enough to defeat you and that bastard Genryusai, I have no reason to be afraid of that anymore." he claimed, taking on a smirk.

Toshiro just crossed his arms and kept his eyes focused on the man; "If you think that...why don't you prove it?" was his response, not showing any emotion in his expression or tone.

The blue haired shinigami simply smirked even wider; "I'd love to. But I'm afraid I'll have to leave you for later." Shusuke began, his voice nearly oozing with overconfidence.

"Although...I suppose I can give you a taste of my true power before I go." he continued, bringing up the small weapon on his side, which had two curving blades in a spade-like formation.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on the weapon, keeping his ice covered hands ready for anything; 'I guess this would be the easiest way to judge if he is a true threat.' he thought quickly to himself.

As Shusuke nicked the tip of one of the blades against the hilt of his zanpakuto, a few green circles radiated out of the weapon, each one rippling the air like water. Then a long green color blade came out from between the two smaller blades, this seeming to give off a very strange power that even Toshiro couldn't identify. The white haired captain simply stayed motionless as he watched this, him just observing all of the man's actions very closely.

But the moment Shusuke stabbed the blade into the ground, Toshiro's eyes narrowed and then immediately widened as he felt his shinigami powers leaving him; "What the..." he whispered out in shock.

"Like it? This Bakkoto seals off all powers of a Shinigami...but since it's incomplete, it's only temporary." the blue haired man laughed out before reaching up to the many sheets of paper in his robes.

Toshiro instantly closed his eyes as he ground his teeth and placed an ice covered hand to the left side of his forehead; "Damn..." he muttered in a growl.

Shusuke smirked widely before throwing the pieces of paper in the air, which all glowed a bright green and surrounded his body; "See you soon." was all he said before vanishing.

The icy captain slowly opened his eyes in a glare, revealing them to be golden, with black sclera. He then removed his hand from his forehead and showed the white and blue-green mask fragment; "Tch! I guess I misjudged the power of the Bakkoto." he said to himself in another growl.

Toshiro then looked down at the multiple Bakkoto laying on the floor, all of which had the gold eye missing from them; 'If he only needed one more nucleus besides all of these. Then that means this will last between fifteen minutes to a half hour.' he thought to himself.

'But it's effects should be nullified due to my hollow powers.' he continued with a strangely thoughtful expression on his face; 'So I should only be like this for a few more minutes.'

The icy captain suddenly heard footsteps coming closer to him, to which he quickly sonidoed out of the room and went further into the manor. Toshiro then went through a set of sliding double doors, closed them behind him and looked around the empty room. He let out a light sigh as he noticed that no one was in the room and heard the foot steps start moving away from him. The white haired captain then placed his ice covered hand to his mask fragment and closed his eyes; "I haven't had to do this in months." he whispered to himself.

A split second after the words left his lips, Toshiro quickly broke the fragment clean off, which made way for a large amount of blood to gush from the wound. This blood rolled down his face, into his eye and onto the floor, but after he dropped the mask piece on the floor, he brought his icy hand up and froze the injury. Once the blood had been frozen, it drifted away from Toshiro's face and fell to the floor as crimson color snow flakes; "Damn...I hate this thing." he muttered to himself, annoyance clear in his tone.

Toshiro let out another sigh and looked at his reflection from his own ice covered hand, allowing him to see the color of his eyes; 'I never thought that I'd ever even have to worry about this.' he thought in aggravation.

'But I'm glad I always have these.' he continued before reaching into his haori pocket and pulling out a thin silver box.

He then opened it and revealed two contact lenses that looked much like his own natural eyes; "I haven't even tested these yet. But I guess there's no time like the present." he muttered as he placed each of them onto his eyes, one after another.

Toshiro quickly closed the box, placed it back into his pocket, then simply waited for the few moments it took for his wound to heal before heading through the doors he came through. But he only took two steps before a sudden voice called out from his right side; "Captain!"

The white haired captain quickly turned to the side and looked directly at Rangiku and Soifon, whom were coming toward him with Orihime close by. But as they neared, Toshiro narrowed his eyes as he noticed that the orange haired teen had a rather panicked expression on her face; "Hitsugaya-kun! Someone took Rurichiyo!"

The three quickly came up to the icy captain, whom just looked to each of them as if expecting one of them to mention something about his eyes. But when no one did, he made a mental sigh of relief; 'It looks like they work after all.' he thought as he looked between each of the woman.

"Did you see who it was?" Toshiro asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes further, him already seeming to know the answer.

"It was Amagai, Captain. I saw Ichigo just reaching the gates of the Tenth when a bright green light appeared before him. And when it subsided...she was gone. But I felt a brief glimpse of his spirit energy, so I know for a fact that it's him." Rangiku responded.

Toshiro uncrossed his arms and looked to the side; "And Kurosaki went after him." he speculated, closing his eyes briefly.

"Yes sir." Soifon said with a light nod.

Toshiro looked between each of them, then down at the floor boards and finally back to the females; "Rangiku, you'll stay here to take care of the remaining arrests within the manor. Soifon, you meet up with Yoruichi at the smithy on the eastern side. Orihime, stay with Rangiku...where she goes, you go. Understood?" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" "Um...y-yeah." they each responded before heading their own ways.

The white haired captain sighed lightly once he was alone once again; "I need to finish Amagai off quickly before he can use his Bakkoto again." he whispered as he could feel his shinigami powers return.

'Otherwise...my secret is finished.' he thought before shunpoing out of the mansion and toward the First Division.

Along the way, he removed the contacts from his eyes and placed them back inside the silver box. But the second he arrived on the bridge that led into the First, Toshiro's eyes narrowed as he saw Ichigo, Shusuke, Rurichiyo and the Head Captain all down below. Both the orange haired teen and the blue haired shinigami having their Bankai activated, but the former had a white and red mask covering his face. The Head Captain was just standing to the side, near of the blond noble, whom was looking at Ichigo with a worried expression.

But it was the strange black armor-like black gauntlet that covered Shusuke's arm that drew Toshiro's attention, it having a dragon-type shape. While it fully encompassed his right arm, the area around his hand seemed to create claws, much like Toshiro's own icy ones. There was also a sash-like strap that went over his left shoulder and down to his waist, it containing five Bakkoto nuclei upon it. Attached to this sash was a long 'tail' that hung freely from his back, but as the icy captain looked at this, he clenched his hands to fists and simply remained stationary.

'If the Head Captain isn't moving then he must have already sealed his shinigami power. So if I come too close, the effects of the Bakkoto will effect me as well.' he thought to himself, just watching from the bridge as he clasped his icy hand over the railing.

'With less then twenty seconds...Kurosaki won't be able to nullify the effects long enough for him to defeat Amagai. If his progression is anything like mine...he'll gain an upper hand on Amagai for the brief few moments he has his mask. But Amagai is barely even hurt...and Kurosaki only has seconds left, so he's finished either way.' he continued, the wood of the railing snapping as his hand clenched down in aggravation.

'Plus with the Head Captain at such a large disadvantage, it's likely that even he may not be strong enough to take on a fully developed Bankai and a Bakkoto without loosing a limb or two.' Toshiro released the broken railing after this thought, which he ended with the closing of his eyes.

"So it's either I let Amagai have his revenge and possibly loose two very important people, plus a noble. Or reveal my true nature and face all of Soul Society as my enemy afterward." he said in a sigh, opening his eyes slowly.

"Hmph...I hate it when I always pick the obvious one. It looks like I hid the secret from them for nothing." he said with a small smirk on his face, quickly jumping from the bridge and down to the four people below.

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And there you have it...very big cliff hanger huh? XD And for those of you that don't know...Kifune's release means 'Rage Violently'. I'm gonna have the zanpakuto commands in japanese from here on out...cause they sound so much cooler that way. ;) I hope nobody minds...I'll always have the translation at the end so you'll know what it is. ^^ Anyway, till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	96. Chapter 96

Getting closer and closer to the 100 mark. ;) I always thought that I'd have over a 1000 reviews when i hit that, but that's okay...I don't mind about such things. But I must give an extra thanks to Tuli-chan for helping me out in this, she not only gave me a lot of inspiration, but a whole section of this chapter. :D Hope you enjoy. ^^ Oh...and before I forget, sorry for not responding to your reviews like I usually do. I've been pressed for time for the last few weeks and I just don't have the time right now. But I promise to start responding again once I get a break from work. ;)

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**Chapter 96:**

Toshiro flipped himself around as he fell through the air, him landing silently on the ground below. Though none of the others noticed him until he took his first step, they all quickly turned to him once his presence was sensed. Ichigo looked over to him through his mask's eye holes with a relieved expression, but also much fatigue from using his hollow powers. Shusuke narrowed his eyes on the white haired captain, but then raised a brow in confusion of how Toshiro had gotten there so quickly.

The Head Captain turned his head to him, but didn't seem to have his eyes open as to prevent anyone from reading his expression. Rurichiyo blinked her eyes in shock, but then smiled widely in relief and confidence, as she showed her faith in the icy captain. But despite all of these looks toward him, Toshiro himself just slowly walked toward the blue haired shinigami.

As he went, each of the onlookers became slightly wide eyed as they saw the icy captain's sclera start to turn black. But just as Rurichiyo was about to question this, a few strange white tears streamed from his left eye and left her at a loss for words. After a brief second of observing, everyone's, including the Head Captain's eyes suddenly widened extremely wide in realization.

"I-Impossible..." Shusuke whispered, him being the only one to formulate words in the state of shock the white haired captain put everyone in.

By the time Toshiro reached the spot directly next to Ichigo, his mask fragment had fully formed from the white tears from his eye and his eyes themselves had become hollow-like. Though Ichigo was the least surprised from this, he was still fairly stunned at the fact that Toshiro had allowed his secret to be seen by the Head Captain himself. The old man of which was as wide eyed as he could manage, almost seeming to be doubting what his eyes were seeing.

Rurichiyo was nearly trembling as her already wide eyes just kept becoming wider, the small blond being completely dumbfounded. All the while, Shusuke had a face of pure astonishment, not sure if he were dreaming or if he was under an illusion; "This can't be..." he muttered, him still being the only one to manage to put any of the thoughts swarming through each of their heads into words.

"Kurosaki..." Toshiro started suddenly, his voice sounding completely hollowfied.

"Y-Yeah?" Ichigo asked, his own voice sounding the same, yet the icy captain's seemed almost darker.

"Take Rurichiyo to my division and stay there." the white haired captain said, him narrowing his eyes before continuing; "I can't guarantee your safety if you come back."

Ichigo looked at Toshiro with a brief expression of fear, but he quickly shook it away and quickly went to the blond noble. He then picked her up in one of his arms, gave a fleeting glance to the remaining three people before shunpoing away with a; "Good luck."

Though Shusuke had finally snapped himself from his shock and readied for the upcoming fight, the Head Captain had closed his eyes once more and remained completely silent. All the while, Toshiro simply let out a silent sigh before narrowed his eyes on the blue haired shinigami; "Shall we commence?" he asked in an almost bored tone.

Shusuke glared at him for a moment as he shifted his body to a fighting position, yet he suddenly spoke up in a somewhat confused and rather angry manner; "What the hell are you Hitsugaya? How did you become like that?"

Toshiro merely stared at him for a moment, but then he smirked and glanced over to the Head Captain as he had cracked an eye open to the Bakkoto wielding shinigami's question. The icy captain returned his golden eyes to Shusuke and let out a very silent chuckle before he spoke; "If you can land a single strike to any part of my body...I'll tell you exactly how this happened to me."

But just before the blue haired shinigami could respond, Toshiro suddenly appeared behind him with his arms crossed and a cold smirk on his face; "But I guess that'll mean you'll never know huh?" was all Shusuke heard before a powerful elbow was slammed into his spinal cord.

As this impact hit, Shusuke's eyes widened extremely wide from the pain of his back, which felt as though it would break completely in half. He had also let out a loud gasp as all the air was knocked from his lungs and strained to take in a breath. But he failed to do this as the shock of the hit placed too much stress on his body to finish his breath.

Despite Shusuke's spine remaining intact, the blow had blasted him straight off of the court yard, through the air and down to the rest of the Seireitei. The court yard itself being uplifted from the force of Toshiro's strike, even knocking some of the debris out and onto the buildings below. But as he was starting to descend, the blue haired shinigami flipped his body around and started to steady himself on his feet. He then ground his teeth, narrowed his eyes as he seemed to wait for the white haired captain to follow after him.

Yet his expression turned to horror as he felt something cold grip his shoulder; "You seriously can't think that I'm that slow." Toshiro whispered darkly from behind him.

The blue haired man wasn't able to even blink before he was immediately sent flying back in the opposite direct by a powerful palm to his already bruising back. The icy captain simply watched with an emotionless look on his face as he listened to Shusuke's loud scream in pain; "Maybe I should go easy on him." he said sarcastically, sounding almost sadistic in his tone.

The moment Shusuke came back toward the court yard, Toshiro appeared in a sonido directly in front of him within a split second. This caused the blue haired shinigami's eyes to widen once again, but they showed more fear in them then hatred. Though the Bakkoto wielding shinigami tried to stop himself, once he came within a few feet of the white haired captain, Toshiro raised an icy covered hand and caught him by the throat. Shusuke choked loudly as he finally dropped the enlarged sword that made up his Bankai and attempted to force himself free of Toshiro's grip.

Yet his effort was in vain as the icy captain's hand remained unmoving as he slowly choked the blue haired man; "You're really pathetic...you know that?" he asked rhetorically in his hollow-like tone.

As Toshiro held him by the throat he started to loosen his grip, to allow the blue haired man some air. But then he suddenly began to sink his icy claws into the man's flesh, drawing blood and for a loud shriek of pain to come from the blue haired shinigami. This only seemed to bring a smirk of Toshiro face as he just stared at him with colder eyes then the ice that covered his skin; "I thought you would be at least a little bit of entertainment for me. But I guess not." Toshiro said silently in an almost disappointing sigh.

All this time, the Head Captain remained completely still, with his expression unchanging throughout the entirety of the one sided battle. But once Toshiro effortlessly tossed Shusuke to the ground, next to his zanpakuto, he finally opened both his eyes slightly and watched on. The icy captain then crouched slightly to be nearly at eye level with Shusuke as he brought himself up to his knees; "Maybe..." icy captain began, him gaining a dark grin that made chills go through shinigami before him.

"Maybe…I could show you little bit of my powers, before you become entirely useless. At the very least...you'll be able to catch a glimpse of a few of my best techniques before you die." his tone being that of mockery and sarcasm as it was obviously Toshiro was now fully toying with Shusuke.

This made the blue haired man literally begin to tremble, him now realizing that he had no chance of victory and was doomed to die at the icy hands of the nightmare that was Toshiro Hitsugaya. Yet said captain merely straightened his posture and began flexing his muscles as if they hadn't been used in a long time; 'It'll only be about six to seven minutes before the first shinigami approach. Now that my spirit energy can be sensed as an arrancar's, they'll be swarming like flies.' he thought to himself.

"Looks like I'll just have to make every second count." he muttered in a sadistic tone, giving a glance toward the Head Captain as if to urge him to watch closely.

Cracking his neck, the icy captain placed his thumb and middle finger together, like he were about to snap his fingers. But as a strange white colored, electric-like circle surged around his thumb and middle fingers, he gave an amused smirk toward Shusuke as the man began to slowly stand to his feet. The blue haired man then slowly made his way to his Bankai released zanpakuto and picked it up in his left hand; "If I'm going to die...it'll be fighting." was all he said with narrowed eyes.

Toshiro closed his eyes for a moment as a smirk crossed his features before he spoke; "I can respect that...as a former shinigami that is."

He then opened his eyes quickly and snapped his icy fingers loudly, this action sent a white ball of energy directly into Shusuke. Which had blasted him backward, through a wall behind him and also burned a large amount of his chest. This had left a heavy third degree burn that caused Shusuke to scream out in pain, which echoed loudly across Seireitei. But Toshiro didn't even wait till the man finished his calls of pain and curses toward him before he came up and kicked him hard in the face.

"So damn noisy." he began with an annoyed tone, despite his expression being emotionless; "And that was called a bala just so you know. Though it's not nearly as powerful as a cero, its speed is twenty times faster." his voice now sounding like a teacher explaining something to an unintelligent student.

"But I guess it was a bit too fast for you huh?" he continued, his tone becoming somewhat mocking.

Shusuke growled as he struggled to his feet, using his zanpakuto as leverage, all the while breathing heavily in pain. As Toshiro just watched this, he smirks lightly and glanced over to the Head Captain as his expression was still unchanging; 'Hmph...looks like he's just going to observe. Probably to seek out a weakness.' he thought with narrowed eyes.

The icy captain then turned his attention back to the blue haired shinigami and held out his hand once more; "Shall I show it to you again?" he asked as a small, but dark smirk spread across his face.

Though Toshiro paused for a brief few moments, which Shusuke used reposition himself in a fighting stance, he simply widened his smirk; "Try and keep up this time." was all he said before snapping his fingers once more.

Once again, a ball of white energy went hurling toward the blue haired shinigami, only this time it seemed slightly slower. This allowed Shusuke to move his large zanpakuto in the way and block the blast, but the force had still pushed him backward a few yards before he stopped himself. As the two made eye contact, Toshiro's smirk only seemed to widen even more as if he were having fun. This expression made Shusuke glare heavily toward him, but he still didn't make a move as he knew that it would spell more pain and possibly death to him.

The white haired captain chuckled silently as he seemed to read the man's thought just through his expression; "I guess it'll be boring if I use the same thing over and over again...so let's move on." he said, his smirk becoming wider and even more sadistic.

As Shusuke narrowed his eyes as he tried to prepare himself for the next attack, the Head Captain hardened his gaze as he seemed to be watching very carefully. The white haired captain then smirked lightly as he shifted himself into a position that showed much of his experience as a martial artist. But as faint sparks of white electricity seemed to flow around his hands and feet, Toshiro suddenly vanished in a sonido.

Shusuke didn't even have time to react before the icy captain appeared a few feet in the air on his right side and kicked him across the face. This had sent him flying across the court yard, yet ice never met flesh, as an explosion seemed to occur just before they could connect. The blue haired man wailed out in pain from this, his face now having third degree burns on it, which also left his right eye useless as it had literally been burned to blindness.

As Shusuke's body slammed hard into the ground, his screaming was cut short and could only make breathless grunts as he just tumbled to a halt. Once he had stopped and started to breathe hard in pain, his whole body began trembling from the excruciating feeling of his burned body. But his pain dulled as fear set in when he felt an icy presence right in front of him; "I can generate a bala or cero at any spot on my body, which makes it perfect for combining it with hakuda." Toshiro said, no emotion portrayed in his voice.

The blue haired man ground his teeth together as clutched at the still burning side of his face with a shaking hand; "Damn you...Hitsugaya..." was all he could muster.

Toshiro simply crossed his arms, tilted his head down and closed his eyes; "Hmph...you didn't last very long. Maybe I should send you on to your next life so you can meet your father and tell him you failed." he said with a dark and knowing tone.

To the white haired captain's words, the Head Captain's and Shusuke's eyes widened heavily, but the latter had suddenly jumped to his feet and swung his large zanpakuto in a blind fury. Toshiro simply smirked lightly to this, simply allowing the weapon to strike him upon the cheek. This making the Head Captain's eyes widen even more, only this time in interest, the blade not even breaking Toshiro's skin as it just seeming to grind against him.

"He he, did I hit a nerve?" he asked with a mocking smirk and tone, to which Shusuke pressed down harder.

"I guess having your father dying by the Head Captain's hand would be enough to make anyone want to kill him." Toshiro continued, shifting his eyes over to said elder man.

The Head Captain himself, just stared in shock as he seemed to realize whom Shusuke Amagai really was. But then he simply closed his eyes as if to hide the hint of shame that began rising into them. This made Toshiro smirk lightly and chuckle before moving his gaze back to the blue haired shinigami, whom was still pressing his blade against his cheek. The white haired captain merely sighed and tapped his other cheek; "It's called a hierro. An Arrancar's armor if you will." Toshiro began silently.

"It's my outer skin...it's layered with high spiritual hardness that makes it much more difficult to pierce. Though I usually try to keep this ability from coming forth, without my shinigami powers to suppress it...I can't help it anymore." he continued, grabbing the blade and moving it away from his cheek.

Though the blue haired man continued to pushed forward in his rage, Toshiro still moved his zanpakuto away with very little effort; "But aside from that...I'll show you one more thing that I think you'll find interesting." the icy captain said with a nearly mocking tone.

Just before the Bakkoto wielding shinigami could retract his blade to make another attack, Toshiro pushed it away from him and brought his arm back for a strike. The white haired captain then sent a quick palm toward stomach, it having the same explosion as his previous strike. This blow knocked the already injured shinigami directly into yet another wall, this one giving way immediately and burying him in the rubble. The icy captain let out a sigh and shook his head, giving a glance over to the still silent Head Captain, whom had now become like a statue in the court yard.

But as Toshiro shifted his gaze back to Shusuke, he smirked lightly as he just watched in light amusement when the blue haired man removed the rumble off his body and stood to his feet. The icy captain simply shifted his body to a fighting position, As he did this, Shusuke glared heavily at him with his only good eye; "I'll kill you! You son of a bitch!" he scream out in raw anger.

"Hmph. Come and try." Toshiro said with a dark smirk on his face and narrowed eyes.

No sooner had the words left his lips, Shusuke immediately lifted his zanpakuto and slammed it to the ground. This action sent an enormous wave of fire toward Toshiro, but once it came within a yard from the white haired captain, the entire attack froze over and shattered to nothing. Shusuke's rage flickered for a brief moment as he was shocked to this; "I-Impossible..." he uttered out.

Despite Shusuke recovering quickly, just as he was about to send another fire attack toward Toshiro, he suddenly extended one of his hands. This action sent a white color ball of energy hurling from his palm and straight at Shusuke. Though the blue haired man managed to place his large zanpakuto in the way to block, the force of the blow from the bala had knocked him back and to the ground. But Toshiro's attack continued on even as he fell, him throwing a few more palms through the air, which in turn sent multiple balas toward the shinigami.

Shusuke once again placed his large weapon in front of him, but each time a bala hit against it, he was slid back a few more feet, eventually ending up right at the edge of the court yard. As he noticed this, he quickly jumped to the side and dodged away from the last bala coming toward him, which put a bit more distance between him and the edge. Yet the icy captain simply smirked as he jumped into the air, spun his body around and swung a leg in a downward, roundhouse kick in the air.

'Let's see how he fairs against this.' Toshiro thought to himself as he did this.

As this happened, a large amount of spirit energy gathered around his icy foot, creating an arc of white energy that hurled toward Shusuke. The blue haired man narrowed his eyes heavily, placed his large weapon in front of his to block once more and ground his teeth in anticipation. But the moment the blast made contact with it, the Bankai released zanpakuto cracked and knocked him backward. As he flew back, Toshiro suddenly appeared behind him and sent a normal, yet powerful punch into his back, finally breaking it in half.

Shusuke screamed out in pain as his body flew forward and crashed into the ground, him no longer able to move at all. The Head Captain opened his eyes slightly, only for them to narrow on Toshiro as he walked up to the injured shinigami with an annoyed expression; "Hmph, not bad Amagai. Even though I wanted to show more...it looks like your body can't take much more." the icy captain claimed, his tone sounding emotionless with his hollow-like voice.

Shusuke looked at Toshiro with a one eyed glare, his neck unable to move either; "D-Damn you..." the blue haired shinigami managed out weakly, yet angrily.

"A pity really. I was looking forward to using my hollow powers a bit more before having to face all of Soul Society when they decide to hunt me down." Toshiro said with an almost bored sigh, him not even seeming to be paying any attention to Shusuke.

As he spoke these words, the Head Captain's eyes opened slightly more, seeming to be considering this idea. But then his eyes widened slightly as Toshiro extended his left hand and point two fingers at Shusuke; "Oh well. The least I can do right now is rid Soul Society of you first." the white haired captain said as white energy began to slowly gather at his ice covered finger tips.

Though Shusuke's expression was filled with anger, there also seemed to be a slight hint of fear, it being obvious to him that his life would end here and now. Despite seeing this the Head Captain remained motionless, but as his eyes closed once more, they showed a knowing gleam in them. Toshiro however was continuing to gather spirit energy into the cero he was creating, seeming to be taking as much time as possible to make Shusuke's despair last longer.

"Farewell...Amagai Shusuke." Toshiro whispered out as his cero charged fully, it only being slightly larger then a basketball.

But just as he was about to fire, a sudden figure appeared before him, grabbed his wrist and wrapped an arm around his neck. Toshiro could only blink his eyes as he simply stared at the chest of Yoruichi just before his face was pulled into it; "That's enough Toshiro. You don't need to go any further." she whispered in a very calming voice.

The icy captain mentally paused as he seemed to have an inner struggle of his hollow instinct to kill Shusuke and his logical side that agreed with Yoruichi's words. But after a brief moment, he closed his eyes and allowed the still charged cero to dissipate to nothing; "It's all over Yoruichi." he muttered silently, obviously speaking of his secret being revealed.

The purple haired woman released his wrist and wrapped both arms around his neck as she hugged him; "Well if the whole Soul Society turns against you even after everything you've done for it...then the hell with them." she claimed with a very serious tone, this seeming more directed toward the head Captain then anyone else.

A brief moment after her words, every captain and lieutenant of the Gotei Thirteen began appearing all around them in shunpoes, the first ones being Soifon, Byakuya and Rangiku. But due to Yoruichi continuing to hug him, no one was able to see his mask fragment, his eyes, nor his hollow hole. Yet Soifon's words made it impossible for that to continue; "I can still sense the Arrancar's spirit energy, it's very close by."

"He he, Arrancar pops up in Seireitei and everyone comes running." Rangiku said with a light laugh, looking over to Toshiro and Yoruichi with a raised brow.

"Well? Where is it?" Mayuri began, his tone sounding annoyed as he looked around the area with his daughter behind him; "I'm in the middle of an experiment! I don't have time for 'hide-and-seek'!"

Yoruichi glanced around to everyone as she seemed to hold onto Toshiro very protectively as if not wanting his secret to be known to all of them. But she immediately looked to the icy captain in her grasp as he placed a hand to her arm and tilted his head up to look at her; "It's okay." was all he said before Yoruichi released her hold on him.

As she did this, Rangiku's eyes widened extremely wide and she took a step backward as if she'd just been slapped; "I-Impossible..." she whispered in shock.

Despite her whispering this, everyone looked at her expression and immediately looked to Toshiro as well, to which they each shared a similar look as her. But Mayuri's seemed to quickly turn to interest within a tenth of a second; "Remarkable!" he exclaimed loudly in excitement.

Byakuya's eyes were very wide as he showed a very rare sign of shock, him literally being unable to speak as he stared at his long time sensei. Soifon nearly began trembling as she couldn't believe what she was seeing; "I-It can't be...there's just no way." she said to herself.

But before anyone could speak, Toshiro took a few steps forward and looked to everyone around him before he spoke; "I was transformed into 'this' a hundred years ago by Aizen. Back during the time that Rukongai citizens disappeared and when Shinji and the others were banished." he began, many of the shinigami around him looking at him with a mixture of shock and interest.

"I went with Kisuke to retrieve his lieutenant after loosing contact with the Ninth. But I arrived much sooner and had witnessed Shinji's and the others hollowfication. I fought against Aizen, Tosen and Ichimaru, but lost and even became infected by Aizen's Hollowfying virus." Toshiro continued with a matter-a-fact tone, causing everyone to shift their expression to more interested them surprised.

"I attempted to stop it from spreading by overpowering it with my spirit energy, but it was too late and all I managed to do was force the process from killing me. But that had also caused my hollowfication to become irreversible and made my hollow side more dominant." he said, crossing his arms, tilting his head down slightly and closing his eyes.

As everyone listened to his words, they all seemed to have a bit of sympathy for the white haired captain, save for Mayuri, whom appeared to simply want to dissect him. Also, the Head Captain seemed to remain stone faced as he kept his eyes closed and didn't show any emotion. But Toshiro just continued on with his explanation, not looking at anyone as he did; "Though Kisuke was able to use the Hogyoku to balance my shinigami and hollow powers to a completely even level, I retained my arrancar-like form."

To his words of Kisuke, Soifon actually let out an amused huff, as if she wasn't surprised at how little the former Twelfth Division Captain was able to do. Though no one seemed noticed this, Toshiro cracked an eye open at her, but simply remained silent as he had finished his story. As all of the shinigami took this information in, Mayuri was the first to speak; "So how did you hide your hollow side so well without it being detectable even among all the Captains of the Gotei Thirteen?"

"I had learned to completely block them with my shinigami power. Though it took almost a month, I managed to do it." he began, suddenly giving a small smirk as he opened his eyes.

"But I guess no one really found it odd that I had suddenly went into training the very next day after that happened." he continued, sounding slightly amused in his hollow-like voice.

Most of the people present allowed a smirk on their faces as well, them nearly forgetting the fact that they were speaking to a newly revealed arrancar. Yet everyone returned to ponder this fact immediately following Mayuri's next question; "And what about the physical signs?"

"I can brake my fragment off completely and seal my hollow hole with the ice I use to make my clones. But with my ability to block my hollow powers with my shinigami, my eyes never change color and my voice remains normal." Toshiro said, his expression going back to emotionless.

It was at this point that Shusuke suddenly shifted slightly on the ground, which drew everyone's attention; "Who cares...he's everything we despise..." the blue haired man began weakly, him only able to partly move his right arm.

"He should be executed." he continued, which seemed to make everyone remember the fact that despite Toshiro being a captain and a friend, he was still an arrancar, a shinigami's enemy.

A long silence stretched between everyone, each one giving a doubtful look to one another, but this was all broken as Jushiro had suddenly spoke up; "Just tell me one thing Toshiro..."

His starting words gained all of the shinigami's attention and Toshiro's as well; "...why didn't you tell anyone about Aizen? You knew for a hundred years...why not tell someone?" the white haired man finished.

Toshiro stayed quiet for a moment, making all of the people around him turn to him once again; "Would you have believed me?" the icy captain began, causing everyone's eyes to widen slightly.

"Would any of you have believed me?" he continued, looking around to all those present as they looked at him in shock.

"Aizen was known as a great man that no one thought could do any wrong. And I had no proof to show what he had done except for what he did to me." Toshiro claimed, continuing to look at the shinigami around him.

"If I had revealed my secret to anyone...I would have been executed on the spot with no hope of ever being able to reveal Aizen for who he really was. That's how Soul Society worked back then." he continued, seeming to be leading up to a point with his last comment.

"It wasn't until the arrival of Kurosaki Ichigo that any of you became tolerable of having a shinigami-hollow hybrid around as an ally. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but..." Toshiro said, letting out a sigh as if he was actually embarrassed to have to say his next words; "...I believe Kurosaki Ichigo has truly changed Soul Society. And for the better."

Nearly everyone in the vicinity seemed to blink their eyes to Toshiro's words, yet they all shared a physical or mental nod toward them. But Shusuke suddenly spoke up again and caused the rest of the shinigami to realize the true depth of the icy captain's words; "Tch! There's no way Soul Society could allow something like that! You're both abominations! And you'll both be executed!"

Toshiro only seemed to smirk lightly to this, but then he glanced around to the rest of the shinigami; "True. So..." he began, giving everyone a hard stare as he asked his next question.

"...what are you going to do now?"

* * *

Ha ha, sorry...I can't help with the cliff hangers. But some times they just come because I run out of room for the chapter. =/ Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this and look forward to the next chapter. The Amagai arc is just about finished, so the next chapter will probably end it completely and start up the Arrancar arc once more. ;) Till next time everyone! Ja Ne. ^^


	97. Chapter 97

Well...here's the close of the Amagai arc. I hope you all enjoyed the ride and this as it's end. ;) Next stop...the rest of the Arrancar arc! :D

* * *

**Chapter 97:**

Toshiro stood with Yoruichi on the very top spire within the First Division, this structure over looking all of Seireitei as complete silence filled the air. Not even the gently blowing wind seemed to disrupt the quiet around them, as it blew around the two like a soft river flowing over a couple of smooth stones. But this tranquil state lasted only a few more moments as the purple haired woman spoke up silently; "I must say...I didn't see that coming."

-Ten minutes ago-

"So...what are you going to do?" Toshiro asked, narrowing his eyes on all of the shinigami around him.

Though no one spoke, all of them were looking back and forth to one another as if none of them could find a true answer. Yet this indecision was broken as Rangiku suddenly walked toward Toshiro, her body language and expression seemed as though she would slap him. But the second she reached him, the strawberry blond immediately hugged him tightly, this obviously being different than others she has given him, yet also the same.

"I don't care what you are Captain. You are my Captain and I will follow you even if it means turning against Soul Society." Rangiku said without any doubt in her tone.

Toshiro could only stare at her as she then released her hug and kneeled down to him as if stating her loyalty. But just as he looked to everyone else, he saw Soifon and even Byakuya coming toward him as well, both kneeling before him. Yet only the raven haired noble stood back to his feet and spoke; "We both agree. You are our comrade and will never allow you to be executed." he began with his normal tone.

"Not while I still breathe." he continued, his eyes narrowing as his tone seemed even more forceful then usual.

"Same with me." Soifon stated, looking up to Toshiro with a determined expression; "They will have to kill me a thousand times over before I allow anyone even come close to you Captain Hitsugaya."

Said person looked between the two as the shorter one finally stood up and both walked to either side of him. This prompt Rangiku to stand up as well and stand out in front of him with her eyes narrowed, but she stood back as Toshiro placed a hand to her shoulder. While the white haired captain gave each of the three a small smirk, Yoruichi had a wide smile as she crossed her arms and gave a slight nod of approval.

After looking around to one another once more, the remaining shinigami seemed to come a silent agreement as they all shifted their eyes directly to Toshiro. Even though most of their expressions were seemingly accepting, the icy captain remained on guard; "Just tell me one thing Toshiro..." Jushiro began in a serious tone, him seeming to take it upon himself to speak for everyone.

Toshiro glanced over to him and narrowed his eyes; "What would that be?" he questioned, remaining slightly tense as he and his 'group' were still out numbered.

"...are you sure you don't want a surprise party for your birthday?" Jushiro asked, him suddenly gaining a warm smile.

The icy captain raised a brow and slightly sweat dropped; "I'm positive. It's not much of a surprise if I know it's coming you know." he answered.

The long white haired captain looked up as if in thought, but eventually nodded his head and smirked; "I suppose. But that means I just need to get you twice as much candy." he claimed, keeping his smile.

Toshiro sighed heavily and shook his head; "No...that's okay. You've given me plenty of candy over the years. I don't really need anymore." he said, holding back a chuckle.

"Come now...we're both 'Shiro-chan' after all. I need to make sure you have more then enough." Jushiro stated in a matter-a-fact tone.

He and Toshiro suddenly became silent as they just exchanged looks for a moment, to which they eventually nodded as if they understood one another completely. Immediately following this, Shunsui spoke up as he tilted his hat up; "I've never been one to turn on a friend. Especially one that has so many years ahead of him. Besides..."

Toshiro's eyes twitched to his obvious gesture to his youthful appearance, which he considered part of his height. But he remained silent as the man continued on with a wide smirk; "...I still haven't gotten to go out drinking with him yet."

"Nor have I." Shuhei suddenly said, taking a step forward as he gave a smirk toward Toshiro.

"I'd like to join that party when it happens." Kira said as he smirked and offered a nod toward the white haired captain.

"Hmm, it would be a true shame to lose such a valued friend and comrade." Retsu said as she smiled and nodded toward him as well.

"And I would hate to lose the opportunity to dissect you. Your whole body would be a gold mine for my research!" Mayuri called out with much enthusiasm, which only made nearly everyone sweat drop.

"Hmph, I will merely accept you...for now." Sajin began, gaining everyone's attention as he narrowed his golden eyes on Toshiro.

"But I still don't trust you at all. So you better not do anything that will harm anyone in Soul Society or the World of the Living...or I will not hesitate to kill you." he continued, nearly baring his teeth at the white haired captain as a deafening silence spread over everyone.

"Because I don't know about anyone else...but this simply made me more suspicious of your past actions. So if you step out of line, I'll make sure you'll pay for it." the anamorphic wolf claimed before starting to walk away.

"Tch! Well I could care less what you are or what you did!" a sudden voice declared, which broke the spell of silence between the two captains.

"So long as I can have a good fight against you...that's all I care about!" Kenpachi continued with a wide grin on his face, making Toshiro and most of the others smirk lightly, while Sajin just grunted his displeasure before leaving.

"Yay! Snowball-chan gets to stay!" Yachiru claimed as she popped up from over her captain's shoulder, her seeming to know where everyone's answers were leading.

Toshiro looked around to everyone else as they gave similar expressions of acceptance toward him, to which he couldn't help the smirk that spread on his face. But then they all turned their eyes to the Head Captain as he remained silent and unmoving during this whole time; "Captain Hitsugaya..." he spoke suddenly in a neutral tone.

"...it may take some time for all of us to put our full trust in you after all this. But for now, I will inform Central 46 of this event and leave out a few minor details in my report. I merely hope that in the future, you will make sure your subordinate has her paperwork in on time...rather then three hours after it's due." he finished, to which all eyes focused on Rangiku, whom blinked and gulped down nervously.

Toshiro merely smirked lightly, yet 'evilly' as he glance over to his strawberry blond lieutenant; "Oh believe me Head Captain Yamamoto...I will." he spoke.

But just before anyone could chuckle or laugh to this, it was broken by the sound of Shusuke's voice; "You've got to be kidding me! He's an Arrancar! He's everything Soul Society fights against! Are you seriously going to lock me away, a shinigami, over one of them?"

"You hypocritical idiots! You're destroying everything the Gotei Thirteen stands fo-!" but his continuing words were cut short as Yoruichi suddenly appeared in front of him and knocked him unconscious with a single blow to the back of his burned neck.

"Sorry...I couldn't listen to that guy anymore." she said, giving a shrug and a sheepish smile.

After most of the shinigami around them shared a laugh or chuckle, the Head Captain turned and started walking away, which gained everyone's attention; "You're all dismissed. Return to your normal duties." he said before vanishing in a shunpo.

After his words, all of the captains and lieutenants went over to Toshiro, giving him a short few words of his current situation and wishing him luck. Only Mayuri had told him something different, which had consisted of dissecting him and even dissecting what he had dissected. Yet the white haired captain merely remained mostly silent and accepted their words with a 'Thank you'.

Once they had all taken their leave, a group of Onmitsukido members came by and took Shusuke's unconscious body away. After they vanished in shunpoes, Toshiro smirked lightly to this and let out a silent breath as he could feel his shinigami powers beginning to return. Though he didn't reverse, remove or cover any of his hollow apparel, he allowed his voice to return to it's normal tone as he turned to Yoruichi and the others; "Thank you." he spoke with a silent, yet sincere tone.

These words caused each of the four to blink at first, but while the first two woman smiled toward him, the petite woman and the raven haired man gave a nod. Toshiro scanned them once more as he continued on; "I'm grateful to all of you for standing up with for me."

"It was the least we could do Captain. You're very important to m-us after all." she stated with a wider smile, quickly correcting herself before anyone could catch her true mistake.

Toshiro gave a small nod to her, but then he sighs heavily as Yoruichi suddenly came up behind him and hugged him into her chest; "I'm so glad...I get to keep my Ice Prince!" she claimed with a giggle.

Byakuya briefly closed his eyes as the faintest sign of a smirk appeared on his face, but it didn't last as he opened his eyes and looked to the icy captain with his normal expression; "I must return to my division for now. Let me know if there is anything you need." he said in a fairly humble tone before bowing and vanishing in a shunpo.

Soifon looked from Byakuya to Toshiro, then bowed at her waist; "Forgive me...but I must finish the arrest of the Kasumioji Clan. I will report to you immediately after I finish Captain Hitsugaya."

The icy captain gave her a nod; "I'll be waiting at the Tenth." he spoke, to which Soifon bowed more and gave a 'Yes sir!' before shunpoing away.

"That means I get to stay here too~!" Rangiku claimed as she tore Toshiro away from Yoruichi's grasp and hugged him into her chest.

This caused Toshiro to sigh heavily in annoyance, but this only increased as Yoruichi quickly tried to do the same. But just as they were about ready to start fighting over hugging him, Toshiro suddenly felt icy to the touch; "Yoruichi...Rangiku..." he growled out.

Yoruichi and Rangiku blinked their eyes, then tilted their heads down slightly to look at the white haired captain and sweat dropped to his growling voice. They then started to back away slowly as if thinking that if they move too fast he'll come right after them; "C-Captain..." was all Rangiku uttered before quickly running away with a fake, frightened scream.

The purple haired woman was about to do the same, but she ended up being stopped by a wall, to which Toshiro walked up behind her. Yoruichi gulped down to him with a slightly nervous sweat drop, yet the white haired captain just turned away and crossed his arms; "Lucky for you two...I'm not especially in a bad mood." was all he said.

Yoruichi blinked her eyes to him, but then smirked widely to him and just hugged him all over again; "There's the Ice Prince I know! Always a softie~!" she called out as his face was shoved into her chest.

Though Toshiro let out another annoyed sigh, he eventually gained a small smirk on his face as he felt a cool breeze flowing around them. Once Yoruichi released her hug, Toshiro looked around them and took notice of the fact that she shunpoed them to the top of the tallest spire in the First Division. He then looked over to her with a slightly wider smirk as they shared a gaze with one another, before glancing over at the Seireitei below them. After a few moments of silence passed between them, Yoruichi looked to Toshiro once more and smirked lightly to him; "I must say...I didn't see that coming." she said silently.

Toshiro turned to her as well and nodded lightly before speaking; "Well...I guess I've made an impression." he said, to which Yoruichi looked to him with blinking eyes.

"I even figured that Komamura would say something along the lines of what he did. He's predictable like that." he continued with a light chuckle.

Yoruichi smiled and chuckled as well; "He he...well you've had quite a lot of time to learn all about hi-" but she was cut off as Rangiku suddenly appeared in a shunpo right beside the two.

"Aw~! So mean Captain~! I ran almost a whole mile before I realized you weren't following me~!" the strawberry blond claimed with a pout.

Toshiro simply glanced over to her with a raised brow, but then looked away with a small smirk; "Well, you should have realized that you never would have gotten that far if I were." was all he said.

Rangiku huffed and pouted once more as she crossed her arms under her chest; "But I've been getting faster~! I thought it might have just been my improvement~!" she whined with a heavily pronounced bottom lip.

The icy captain just sighed as he responded without looking to her; "Well you can show that to me when I come to check on the training that you, Rukia, Senna and Orihime should be getting back to."

The strawberry blond blinked her eyes to him, but then quickly looked away and spoke with a brief stutter; "W-Well...we thought that we could call it a day since we've already done so much and would be overworking ourselves if we trained any harder."

Yoruichi held back a giggle to her words as she could tell that Rangiku simply wanted to go out drinking for the remainder of the night. Toshiro however knew this immediately just by the tone of her voice, to which he glanced over to her with a raised brow; "And did all of you agree to that...or was it just you?" he asked simply.

Rangiku made brief eye contact, but quickly broke it as she turned her head to the side; "O-Of course!" she exclaimed in a fairly obvious way that told that she wasn't being serious.

The white haired captain rolled his eyes and looked away; "I'll let this slip...this one time." he said, giving his lieutenant a hard stare for his last few words.

But she didn't see it as she had immediately hugged him into her chest after the first few words he spoke; "Aw~! Thank you so much Captain~!" she all but squealed before quickly running toward the edge.

Yet, as soon as she reached it, she suddenly stopped and looked over her shoulder to Toshiro; "But remember...you still owe me that drink~! So make sure to put some thought into when and where you give it to me~!" she sang before vanishing in a shunpo.

Toshiro let out a heavy sigh, while Yoruichi just let out a silent giggle as she spoke; "He he...she still hasn't forgotten, huh?"

"Nope. The one thing that she has a good memory with is someone owing her a drink." Toshiro said in yet another sigh, but also a small smirk on his face.

The dark skinned woman smirked widely and chuckled; "Of course. It's especially nice when it comes from someone close." she said this with a whisper for the last part, which didn't allow Toshiro to hear it very well.

"Hmm? What was that?" he asked, raising a brow to her.

"Oh...nothing much." Yoruichi said with a knowing giggle that seemed to only spur Toshiro's interest.

"What did you say?" he questioned, now turning to her fully with his brow still raised.

Yoruichi just laughed quietly before giving him a playful wink and jumping down from the spire; "I'll never tell~!" she called out as she went.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on her and jumped as well; 'I hate it when she does this.' he thought, but the growing smirk on his face told the complete opposite.

-The next day at the Kasumioji manor-

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Toshiro asked as he stood before Rurichiyo, Kenryuu and Enryuu, to two latter kneeling down before him.

"Of course. I greatly appreciate everything that you've done and hope to see you again soon, Hitsugaya-dono. But I cannot accept your offer of Onmitsukido security. As I told Ichigo before he went back home..." the blond began, giving a light yet rather sad sigh.

"...I wish to bring the Kasumioji clan back to it's former glory and needing any extra security would show that I haven't succeeded. I want to make this clan safe and strong enough to stand on it's own. I hope you understand, Hitsugaya-dono." she continued, now offering a small smile toward him.

Toshiro nodded slightly to her as he just looked at her for a moment with his normal turquoise eyes, him having returned to his usual outward look; "I understand. And I wish you luck Rurichiyo." he said.

The young noble smiled a bit wider to him, then she walked up and gave him a short hug, her being only slightly shorter then him so she was able to wrap her arms around him easily. But though it was a brief hug, it held an obvious feeling of thankfulness; "I'll do my very best. Thank you Hitsugaya-dono."

Kenryuu and Enryuu just looked from their Princess' actions, then over to each other as they were at a loss of what to do. The white haired captain however, just blinked his eyes to her hug, but then smirked lightly and gave another nod before turning away and walking out of the manor. Once he exited the gate, he was met by Rangiku and Senna, the latter seeming to be examining him closely while the former spoke; "I'm guessing she didn't go for the guard?"

Toshiro nodded his head to her as he continued walking pass them, to which the two followed quickly behind; "Yeah...but I think she'll do fine without it." he said with a small smirk.

Despite the two nodding in agreement, Toshiro could feel Senna's watchful eyes continuing to look over him as if he had something on him that kept moving. After a few more moments, he finally stopped and looked to her; "Do you really have to keep looking for a fault in my disguise?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Of course! Now that I know about what you are...I'm determined to try and find a clue that you let slip! That way I can claim that I knew about it before hand!" the purple haired girl claimed with an upbeat tone.

The white haired captain raised his brow higher to her as he spoke to her once more; "But you didn't."

"So! I'm still gonna do it for bragging rights!" Senna exclaimed with a proud smirk, making Toshiro and even Rangiku sweat drop.

"Whatever you say Senna." was all the icy captain responded with before turning around and starting to walk once more.

"I'll find it! I know you had to have left something out!" the orange eyed girl called out as she followed with a smiling Rangiku.

As Toshiro walked, he glanced over his shoulder and allowed a small smirk on his face; 'Looks like things are back to normal.' he thought, turning his head away.

But as he listened to the two woman behind him start discussing of how there might be a clue underneath his shihakusho, he sighed heavily and shook his head; 'At least as normal as things can be around here.'

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And there ya have it. Stay tuned for the next epic installment...The remainder of the Arrancar arc. ;) Coming next Wednesday (hopefully). Btw, if anyone is going to participate with the 'extra-chapter competition'...let me know in either your review or a pm. Cause I'd like to plan ahead of how many I'll be dealing with. I don't want to make room if no one will contribute. So let me know. Anyway, till next time everyone. Ja Ne. ;)


	98. Chapter 98

Alright, here we go. The continuation of the Arrancar Arc. ;) A quick thanks to Tuli-chan for her help yet again and to each of my newer reviewers, hope to see you all in the future. ^^

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**Chapter 98:**

-World of the Living, the next morning-

Toshiro sat with Kisuke inside his shop's small dinning area, the two being all alone and in complete silence as they just looked at one another. The icy captain having his elbow placed on the round table before them, using his hand to support his head as he leaned on it by the side of his forehead. The blond had his hands placed inside his sleeves, while only one of his eyes were visible from under his hat.

But as they sat in silence for a long while, Kisuke eventually brought one of his hands up, adjusted his hat so both his eyes could be seen and spoke; "My oh my...I never expected you to just give your secret out so freely."

The white haired captain just smirked lightly and shrugged lightly; "I pretty much already knew how everyone would react. I've been watching every one of them for nearly a hundred years." he claimed confidently.

"But?" Kisuke questioned as if knowing that there was more to his friend's words them what he just said.

"There was one person that I couldn't predict." Toshiro said with a silent sigh of self-disappointment, lowering his eyes to the wooden table.

The blond shop owner simply smirked and nodded his head to his words before speaking his own in a knowing way; "The Head Captain."

Toshiro merely nodded back to him and looked back to Kisuke; "Yeah. He hasn't shown any sign of his 'true' personality, so all I had to go off of was how he usually acts. And judging by that...I had a 50/50 chance of being accepted and being hunted down." he said, his voice still rather silent, yet this time he also seemed almost relieved.

The blond man chuckled lightly and looked to the side with a small smile; "He is quite the 'tricky' old man, huh?" he asked with an amused tone.

The icy captain let out a quiet chuckle as he gave another nod to his blond friend, but as he lifted his head away from his hand, he gave a somewhat amused smirk and spoke; "So...tell me about this 'Arrancar Rebellion' that happened while I was away."

Kisuke returned his friend's smirk, brought his fan out of his sleeve, then opened it up and placed it in front of his face; "It wasn't really much of a 'rebellion' in the first place. More of like, Aizen letting his disobedient subordinates get themselves killed without having to do anything." he said, his hidden smirk widening.

Toshiro smirked wider as well and just crossed his arms; "Hmph, figures. He never was one to dirty his hands if he didn't have to. I just wonder if those two are alright after fighting those arrancar."

The blond shop owner began fanning himself and looked to the side briefly before turning back to him; "Oh Ikkaku and Yumichika are completely fine." he claimed with a halfway upbeat tone.

To this, the white haired captain let out a sigh and shifted his gaze in the direction Kisuke's had just been seconds ago; "I see..." he began, his voice void of his previous amusement.

"...how bad is it?" he continued, narrowing his eyes without looking back at his long time friend across the table.

"Well...they both got banged up really good. I wouldn't be surprised if they're in a coma for a few years. I mean those small scratches on their legs could be a life and death situation that could require decades of healing." Kisuke claimed, now sounding overly dramatic in his tone.

Toshiro quickly turned toward the blond and raised a brow, then he sighed and shook his head; "You enjoyed that...didn't you?" he asked as his lips curled back into a small smirk.

"He he...well I couldn't help it. You're incredibly protective over those two, it's just too easy." Kisuke said with a full smile from behind his fan.

"Hmph. Well pardon me for wanting to look after them." the icy captain said with a roll of his eyes, yet even his tone sounded sarcastic.

The blond smiled even wider to his friend's words, quickly taking on a dramatic pose with the back of one hand on his forehead, while the other clenched at his heart; "Oh mighty Toshiro~! Please 'look after me'~!" he called out in a woman-like voice before laughing, to which Toshiro did as well.

"Well all things considered...I think I'd just leave you behind." the white haired captain claimed as both began laughing once more.

As they continued to laugh and chuckle together, they eventually calmed down and took a few deep breaths. Once the two let out a silent sigh in near unison, they became silent for a moment before Yoruichi suddenly came walking into the room with a pout; "Why do I always miss out?" she demanded with a crossing of her arms.

"Hmph...you usually don't." Toshiro muttered with a small smirk on his face, to which Yoruichi blinked to him.

"Yeah, you're the one that usually starts the thing that people miss out on." Kisuke claimed, him nodding toward his white haired friend's comment.

The tan woman looked between the two of them and pouted heavier then before; "Now you're teaming up on me~? So mean you two~!" she whined.

The three shared a few moments of chuckling and giggling, but eventually became silent as Yoruichi came over and sat down next to them. When they each shared a glace toward one another, the blond and purple haired friends shifted both their gazes at the white haired captain. Whom of which had looked down at the table and let out a rather tired sigh; "We've run out of time...haven't we?" he questioned, yet already seemed to know the answer.

Kisuke looked down and even tilted his hat down so no one could see his eyes; "It appears so." he halfway whispered.

"I guess it was just a waste to even bother sending Orihime and the others away to train. It won't make a difference whatsoever...they've only had two days." Toshiro said in a light sigh.

"The fact that Aizen's willing to make sacrifices within his own army...means he's confident enough in the rest of his forces to make a move against Soul Society any time he wants." Yoruichi said as she too tilted her head down.

"He doesn't know the extent of many of our powers, but he's intelligent enough to prepare for the worst." Toshiro said quietly, bringing his head up just enough to look around to his two friends.

"Yeah...but we have Kurosaki-san back to his training...plus our 'secret weapon'." the blond man began, giving the others a smirk as they both looked to him; "And he's never gonna see it coming." he continued with a wink.

Though Toshiro nodded his head lightly as he gained a small smirk of his own, while Yoruichi just glanced between the two and raised a brow; "What 'secret weapon'?" she asked.

Kisuke looked from her to Toshiro and tilted his head as if questioning if they should tell her now, to which the icy captain just gave a nod. As both males looked to Yoruichi and narrowed their eyes seriously, she did the same; "We've both been working on something that will end this war for good." Kisuke began in a serious tone.

But then his tone turned rather light as he continued on, yet both of the others could tell that it was still no less important; "It's a brilliant idea at that. Of course...it's originally Toshiro's, as he had already started before even asking for my help."

Yoruichi blinked her eyes to the blond's words, then looked over to Toshiro and tilted her head; "You've already been working on it? For how long?" she asked, raising her brow midway through.

Toshiro let out a breath as he didn't even bother looking at her as he answered; "Ever since the day we split up."

Both Kisuke and Yoruichi blinked their eyes in slight shock as they could only stare at him, hoping for him to elaborate of his words. The white haired captain looked down slightly as he let out a silent breath; "I guess it's about time I told you...well...both of you..." he began, to which the room became deafeningly silent.

Yoruichi and Kisuke narrowed their eyes on their friend as he closed his eyes briefly and continued on; "...what I've really been doing for the past one hundred years."

-Later on the day in the Karakura park-

A large garganta suddenly began to open with a loud tear, just above the area that the crater from Ulquiorra's and Yammy's first arrival had been. As it opened completely, it revealed Grimmjow, Yammy and two other arrancar beside them, both being very different from each other. The first was a male with an almost child-like body, with a thin and fragile physique that didn't appear strong whatsoever. He had light blond hair, which parted to one side and had tips that fanned out from his face.

He only had two teeth that were visible as his expression seemed to be in a permanent, yet strange smile. This arrancar also had multiple freckles covering his cheeks and bright purple eyes that appearing almost glazed over. The remains of his Hollow mask consisted of a three-point tiara on the top of his head, and he wore the normal white Arrancar jacket, which had large arm cuffs upon the sleeves and a hole in the center of the chest. This had revealed his Hollow hole and the tip of a mark on his chest, yet the rest was covered by the jacket.

The second was a rather youthful appearing male, with jaw length black hair, which was cut uneven on his bangs. He had lavender color eyes, while having three pink diamonds tattooed in a row, just above his left eyebrow. The remains of his Hollow mask were a top row of teeth, which rested on the left side of his head. His attire consisted of long sleeves that covered his hands entirely and his Espada tattoo of the number '6' was displayed on his right hip.

This arrancar shifted his gaze over to Grimmjow, simply smiling widely, yet cockily as he spoke in a somewhat feminine voice; "So..._former_ Sexta, where are the shinigami reinforcements that you claimed to be here in the World of the Living?"

Grimmjow glanced over to the raven haired person next to him, but quickly looked away as he stepped forward; "Like I care. The person I want to fight isn't among the group of shinigami." was all he said before jumping out of the garganta and through the air, revealing his missing left arm.

"Hey! Wait Grimmjow!" Yammy called out in annoyance, but was too late to stop the blue haired arrancar.

As Grimmjow flew through the air, he looked back in shock as he suddenly realized that he had just passed Toshiro along the way. Yet he quickly continued on anyway as he muttered 'next time' under his breath, which had only caused the icy captain to smirk lightly. Toshiro himself simply walking through the air and toward the three remaining arrancar, whom each stepped away from the closing garganta behind them. But as they all eyed him with narrowed eyes, Yammy seemed to be almost on the edge of frightened, obviously remembering their previous encounter.

'Kurosaki should be able to handle Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow. His powers weren't at their full strength against Amagai, so if he was able to hold him off for even twenty seconds, he should be able to hold Jaegerjaquez back till I take care of these guys.' Toshiro thought to himself as he came within a few yards of the three arrancar.

"I assume you know who I am. So how about we can just skip the introduction." the icy captain said with an emotionless expression as he shifted his body into a fighting position.

"My oh my...such a pity that I'll have to kill someone before even giving my name." the raven haired espada claimed in a near whine.

Toshiro looked over to him and raised a brow; "Well...regale me." was all he said as he then crossed his arms and seemed to become relaxed.

"Antenor Luppi, pleasure to meet you." the man introduced with a smile, one that seemed to look down on everyone but himself.

The white haired captain just smirked and glanced over to the blond haired arrancar; "And who might 'that' be?" he questioned, his tone sounding as though he would end the conversation very soon.

"That's Aizen-sama's new pet...Margela Wonderweiss." Luppi answered, his smile still remaining on his face while he spoke.

The second these words left his lips, Toshiro suddenly appeared behind him and spoke in an almost dark tone; "I could really care less of what your names are I just wanted to see if you were truly as over confident as you seemed."

Just before Luppi or anyone else could turn around Toshiro suddenly slashed him deeply across the back, making a large amount of blood to gush from the wound. There was even a trail of the crimson liquid running from the icy tips of Toshiro's claws, to the wound he had just created. Gravity not taking it's full effect as the move was quicker then the blink of an eye and didn't give way to the laws of physics till a split second later.

"And it looks like I was right." Toshiro said, his tone sounding halfway amused as he quickly blocked a bala coming from Yammy with his ice covered hand.

"I'll pay you back for the last time you son of a bitch!" the large espada called out with a very angry tone.

But just as both Luppi and Yammy came toward him with a unified attack, he suddenly vanished just before either of them could even come close to hitting him. The two quickly looked around to find him, but couldn't see Toshiro at all as they seemed to search in nearly every directly. But when Wonderweiss let out a strange groan, they turned toward him and noticed that he was pointing to an area just above their heads. Though both arrancar attempted to move away from the attack they knew was coming, only Luppi was quick enough to escape Toshiro's arched, downward kick.

This attack had landed a blow directly on Yammy's head, which had literally cracked under the stress and lead the rest of his body hurling straight into the ground. As Wonderweiss just watched this with his continuous, yet strange smile, Luppi's eyes became wide in shock as he backed away slightly from Toshiro. The icy captain himself just giving him a glance as he narrowed his eyes slightly; "Aren't you gonna use your release form against me?" he asked.

The raven haired man narrowed his eyes, ground his teeth and grabbed his zanpakuto at his side; "Tch! I'll show you my true power! You're nothing compared to me! Kubire! Trepadora!" he called out as his feminine-like voice changed to a deeper and masculine one.

Toshiro merely smirked lightly as he crossed his arms and watched a large amount of smoke cover the arrancar's body; 'I expected this guy to be easy to manipulate...but this is ridiculous. My guess is that Aizen gave him his rank to simply make Jaegerjaquez more determined to get his status back.' he thought as he glanced down at where Yammy laid unconscious.

'This one is weak, slow and very loud. Yet I can sense an enormous amount of power within him...it must have something to do with his release form. But even then...he can't just be the Diez Espada with that kind of power. There must be something else about that one.' he continued with narrowed eyes, now shifting his head over to Wonderweiss, whom seemed to take it upon himself to try and catch a dragonfly.

'And I don't even know what 'that' is supposed to be. I can't sense anything special about him whatsoever. As if he is just a simple minded hollow that just so happened to be transformed into an arrancar on a whim. But I doubt Aizen would create anything without a reason, so he must have some purpose to play. I'll just kill him just to be safe.' as Toshiro thought this, he turned back to Luppi, just as four large, white tentacles suddenly came toward him.

The icy captain easily dodged out of the way of each of them, but then spun himself around and swung a kick toward where yet another tentacle came at him. His ice covered foot made contact with the extra limb and knocked it right back toward it's owner, to which Luppi had to move out of the way of his own tentacle to dodge. Toshiro then landed gracefully on the air and smirked lightly once more, this seeming to only further the raven haired man's anger.

"I'll kill you!" Luppi called out as the smoke completely cleared and revealed all eight tentacles protruding from his back.

The Sexta Espada's outward appearance hadn't changed much, save for the vest-like armor that covered his chest and the mask fragment now becoming like a crown upon his head. Toshiro merely smirked a bit wider as he seemed to prepare himself for the upcoming attack, which had come only a brief second after the raven haired arrancar's words. Each of the eight limbs came hurling at the white haired captain from all different directions, with only split seconds separating each one from the next.

But as each of them came at him, Toshiro expertly flipped himself around or off of each tentacle to dodge the next. Once he had made it through the onslaught, Luppi ground his teeth and quickly sent another barrage of attacks toward the icy captain; "I'm not done yet!" he yelled out in his frustration.

Toshiro himself just watched every limb closely as they shifted formation into a spinning assault, each one coming at him from the same direction. But the white haired captain just sighed heavily and stood completely still, allowing every one of the tentacles to hit him. Luppi laughed loudly as he didn't see Toshiro at all from beyond his limbs; "Ha! I knew you couldn't be stronger then me! I'm the Sexta Espada! I won't be beaten by a lowly captain!" he called out with an almost maniacal smile on his face.

"Hmph...'lowly captain', eh?" Toshiro spoke up as he brought his arm up and easily pushed all eight of the tentacles away, turning Luppi's expression to one of horror.

"Aizen really didn't tell you who I am then. 'Cause if he saw you as any use to him...he would have told you to do one thing if you see me." he continued on as the raven haired arrancar narrowed his eyes and readied his limbs for another attack.

"And what would that be?" Luppi asked as his body posture basically told Toshiro that he was going to attack the second he spoke.

This had only made the icy captain smirk invisibly, then briefly close his eyes before snapping them open in a heavily narrowed position; "Run."

But the same instant Toshiro said this, he suddenly appeared behind Luppi and placed an ice covered hand to his back. This causing every inch of Luppi's body to suddenly freeze in position, making the raven haired arrancar try to show his shock, yet he wasn't able to. The white haired captain took his time as he walked out in front of his opponent, allowing him to glance between the only other two arrancar around. Both of whom were still in the same place as the previous time that he looked, which caused him to smirk lightly in amusement as he walked before Luppi.

"Sorry. But you're far too predictable...even if it could be considered eight-against-one." he said in a silent sigh.

Luppi let out a strained and frighted gasp as none of his muscles could move, this making Toshiro nearly show his smirk; "I froze the blood in your body. But since you don't actually have a heart...you can't die from this. So I'll just give you a swift death instead of making you..." he began, his arm becoming a blur as it suddenly rose up and snapped off to the side.

Though nothing happened at first, a brief moment later, Luppi's head peeled away from the rest of his body and dropped to the ground below. This was soon joined by the rest of his body, which disintegrated soon after impact; "...suffer." Toshiro finished as he just watched Luppi's remains vanish.

The icy captain sighed as he froze the blood on his hand, which shattered away as he turned his attention to the still unconscious Yammy; "I guess he can wait...he's not exactly going anywhere."

But after he said this, he felt a surge of spirit energy coming from within the town itself, it belonging to Ichigo. Toshiro narrowed his eyes and shifted his whole body toward this phenomenon; "For someone that's only able to use a mask for about twenty seconds...his spirit energy is extremely high. Much higher then even I predicted...he must not have his Substitute Shinigami Badge anywhere nearby." he muttered to himself.

But as he was about to head toward Ichigo, he stopped as he heard Wonderweiss let out another strange groan. Toshiro turned back toward the arrancar and narrowed his eyes further; 'I need to see Kurosaki's power first hand so I know how powerful he's become and judge how much he can really take in this upcoming fight. But I also need to kill off more of Aizen's army so this war can swing to our side.' he thought to him as he looked down and eventually closed his eyes.

'I knew I shouldn't have explained the last hundred years to them...then I could have at least asked for some help.' he thought, grinding his teeth as he recalled how both his friends had left the room almost immediately after he finished his words.

But after a brief moment, he smirked lightly, yet sadly as he then closed his eyes and released the tension in his body; "Hmph...but I guess I can't blame them for being upset with me and leaving. I probably wouldn't want to be around someone like me either." he muttered silently.

Toshiro let out a sigh and looked over to Wonderweiss; "I guess I'll just leave you till next time. And if you cause a large threat...then I'll deal with you myself." he claimed before heading directly toward Ichigo and Grimmjow.

As he went, he could feel both combatants' spirit energies spiking, though Ichigo's remained considerable higher. The white haired captain narrowed his eyes slightly as he continued on, him even moving a bit faster as he shunpoed along; 'Kurosaki's spirit energy seems even more powerful then it did against Amagai. Though he didn't have his full strength back then...it stands to reason that he shouldn't be this powerful.' he thought.

Upon arriving directly above the clashing opponents, Toshiro's eyes narrowed heavily as he counted in his mind; 'He's had his mask on for no less then seventeen seconds, but it doesn't appear to be even close to breaking. He could barely keep it from shattering when I interrupted his fight with Amagai, but now...it seems like he's become even better.' he continued in his mind.

As Ichigo and Grimmjow swung their katanas toward one another, the orange haired teen seemed to overpower his enemy as the blue haired arrancar was pushed back. But as he slid back, Ichigo suddenly appeared behind him in a shunpo and sent a Getsuga Tensho directly into his back. This blasted Grimmjow forward and into the ground as he let out a growling scream of pain, his body creating a crater in the ground ten feet in radius and two feet deep. Ichigo simply stood in the air for a moment as no expression could be seen on his mask covered face before shunpoing down toward his opponent.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes further on this fight, watching Ichigo's every move; 'His progress is ridiculous. It's only been one day since that incident in Soul Society...yet he's become powerful enough to beat Jaegerjaquez this easily. Despite having only one arm...his power level should have still been around par with Kurosaki's. It's almost like he's-' but he cut his thoughts short as his eyes widened slightly, as if realizing something important.

"Could he really be just like his father in that too?" he questioned before narrowing his eyes on the orange haired teen as he slashed at Grimmjow, only to be blocked weakly by said arrancar's blade.

'If that's the case...then I know exactly what to do to get Kurosaki ready for the final fight.' Toshiro thought as he gained a small but knowing smirk.

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Well...I don't have much else to say besides...*sniff*...is no one really going to make a contribution for my contest? =/ I'm kinda sad now...but I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. Oh great...now I'm hungry for cookies. XD But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that someone else takes into consideration of making their own chapter. ;) Till next time, Ja Ne.


	99. Chapter 99

Just one more till the big 100...I'm getting chills already. XD A quick, but big thanks to Tuli-chan for helping me again. Thank you~! :D Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I had bit of a struggle with it at first (it took me forever cause I didn't have much time to work on it this week), but I think it turned out okay. :)

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**Chapter 99:**

Toshiro stood on the air just above Ichigo and Grimmjow, the two down below swinging their katana's toward one another in a complete blur to the normal eye. Though the icy captain had his arms crossed, his eyes were very focused as he just watched them fight, which seemed to lean toward the orange haired teen's favor. But as they continued on, the blue haired arrancar seemed to start moving slower as his injuries were starting to take their effect.

'Jaegerjaquez will probably release his zanpakuto soon if this keeps up, then Kurosaki will have no chance at all. But Kurosaki has improved quite well. He's held his hollowfication for over-' but Toshiro's thought's were cut short as he saw Ichigo's mask suddenly crack and shatter, just as the teen seemed ready to end the fight.

The white haired captain narrowed his eyes, then sighed silently and shook his head in halfway amusement; "I guess he hasn't improved as much as I expected. But twelve seconds within less then a day is far better then I would have thought...even for him." he spoke aloud to himself.

But immediately after the mask broke away from Ichigo's face, Grimmjow suddenly took on a smirk and kicked the teen in his stomach hard. This blow sent Ichigo flying backward and directly into a telephone pole, which bent completely in half from the force. Though Ichigo let out a gasp of pain, it was also filled with exhaustion, as if showing that wearing his mask had drained him of energy. Grimmjow however was grinning widely as he came right up to the orange haired teen; "Tch! Looks like you blew your chance to beat me! Now you're finished, Shinigami!" he called out, vanishing in a sonido.

Grimmjow appeared behind Ichigo just as the teen was standing back up, to which the arrancar sent a knee straight into his back. Just as Ichigo lost his breath from this hit, he then had his face smashed in by an elbow to his face, breaking his nose and causing blood to start flowing out of it. But the blue haired arrancar's assault wasn't finished, he used the moment of both his attacks to knock Ichigo down to the ground and raise his katana for a finishing blow.

"It's over, Shinigami!" Grimmjow claimed with a wide grin, to which Ichigo looked at him with tired, weak and yet somewhat shocked eyes.

Just as Grimmjow swung his zanpakuto down at the teen, his blade was suddenly stopped by Toshiro as he immediately shunpoed down toward them and raised a single icy hand. Despite receiving a heavy glare from the arrancar before him, Ichigo had a simple expression of thanks in his eyes before falling unconscious from exhaustion. All the while, Toshiro himself just stared at the blue haired man with a blank and mostly emotionless look on his face.

"Tch...I was just thinking of going to find you. So...what? Those three weaklings couldn't hold you off long enough for me to finish this fight?" Grimmjow all but growled at Toshiro.

"Hmph, I killed the only threat if that's what you mean." the icy captain said, gaining a small smirk as he spoke.

"Ha! As if that 'freak' could be considered a threat!" Grimmjow began as he pressed his zanpakuto down harder; "I could have beaten him with a single blow!"

Toshiro merely smirked lightly as his arm barely moved under the pressure; "It's true. He was very weak...especially for the Sexta Espada." he said, his expression remaining unchanging.

Grimmjow smirked wider as he quickly pushed away from Toshiro, him jumping a few feet away before he suddenly charged at the icy captain with a battle cry. As he came closer the icy captain moved just slightly out of the way of the arrancar's blade, but then he had to raise a hand up to block a knee toward his midsection. After blocking this blow, Grimmjow smirked widely and looked at Toshiro; "I'm gonna make sure to kill you this time!" he called out as he drew back for another attack.

The white haired captain narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the blue haired arrancar carefully; 'I still have my limiter active. If it weren't for me using that technique against the other arrancar, I might have had to use some of my hollow power to beat him. But this is a different story...Jaegerjaquez fights with hakuda just like I do. And though my skills are beyond his, just his power alone might be too much at only twenty percent power.' he thought to himself, quickly having to block a roundhouse kick from the side as Grimmjow suddenly appeared there.

'But...I could simply take some away instead of even having to worry about using my hollow power.' Toshiro continued, pushing the arrancar away quickly and placing his ice covered thumb and middle finger together on both hands.

As Grimmjow landed on the ground, he narrowed his eyes on the white haired captain, him wondering what his opponent was about to do. Though Toshiro was waiting for the blue haired arrancar to come at him, the attack never came; 'He's not taking me lightly. Smart.' he thought quickly as he allowed a small smirk to curl his lips.

After a brief moment of silence and unmoving, Toshiro suddenly scrapped some of the ice from his fingers with his clawed thumbs and vanished, yet he never shunpoed or even sonidoed. While one of the ice shards landed on the ground far off to Grimmjow's right, the other dropped only a few feet off to his left. But he wasn't able to pay any attention as Toshiro had appeared right in front of him, to which he raised his blade up to block whatever attack was coming.

But as Toshiro's fist came forward, ice made contact with steel, yet the steel cracked heavily and knocked Grimmjow back dozens of yards before he was able to balance himself. Once he did, his eyes widened as he heard Toshiro shunpo directly behind him, to which he moved his zanpakuto to his back. This action allowed him to keep the icy captain's clawed foot from ripping his back open, but the force had still knocked him forward a few yards before stopping.

Grimmjow quickly spun himself around and narrowed his eyes on Toshiro, whom had just stood there after landing on his ice covered feet. But the blue haired arrancar didn't bother to wait for another attack as he held out his zanpakuto clutched fist and charged a cero; "I don't know how your speed and strength suddenly increased, but it won't help you now!" he yelled out, firing the cero quickly.

Toshiro merely held out a hand and blocked the crimson red blast, but he quickly brought his other icy hand up and blocked a second cero that came from his side. As he did this, Grimmjow merely smirked as he sonidoed from one side of Toshiro to another and fired continuous ceros. This made Toshiro narrow his eyes and block or deflect each one; 'His attack strategy changed. He's favoring long distance attacks...or is he?' he thought to himself as he looked up, despite a new cero hurling toward him.

The moment he tilted his head up, Grimmjow appeared there in a sonido, swinging a powerful downward kick toward him; 'I thought so.' was all Toshiro thought before he stuck two of his fingers from either hand toward the cero and Grimmjow.

Once the cero made contact, it seemed to be absorbed into his hand, to which it was suddenly shot right back out of his other two fingers, only it was twice as powerful. This made Grimmjow's eyes widen slightly, but narrow quickly and sonido out of the way; "Tch! Not bad. I had no idea you could do something like that." the blue haired arrancar spoke from off to the side.

The icy captain looked over to Grimmjow with an emotionless expression, but then he raised a brow to him and shifted his body to face him completely; "Tell me something Jaegerjaquez...why do you follow Aizen?" he asked, making Grimmjow to raise a brow in confusion.

"Eh? Why? Because I'm going to become King! He's on the winning side so of course I'm gonna join him. Once this war is over I'll-" but the blue haired arrancar's words were cut off by Toshiro's.

"Be left behind in Aizen's rule." the icy captain began; "Once you've fulfilled your purpose to him...you'll be disposed of."

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes on Toshiro and ground his teeth together; "Tch! I don't think so...I'll kill him before that!" he exclaimed, jumping at his opponent with a powerful swing of his blade.

Toshiro swiftly moved out of the way of this attack, then continued to repeat this action as Grimmjow kept his attack going; "I'll become King and cut down anyone in my path!" the arrancar called out as he continued his barrage of slashes and thrusts.

"How foolish." the white haired captain muttered, grabbing Grimmjow's blade as it swung at his head, stopping it immediately.

This made Grimmjow narrow his eyes and ready himself to block or dodge an attack, yet nothing ever came. But as he was about to make a follow up attack, he was slightly taken off guard as Toshiro just spoke to him calmly; "If you kill everyone...then what good is a 'King'? A ruler needs people to rule or there is not even a point of one existing."

Toshiro's words caused the blue haired arrancar narrow his eyes even more, but then he grinned widely and gave his response by retracting his zanpakuto and started swinging it toward Toshiro once more. Though he simply restarted his swinging and thrusting assault, it was at a much faster rate then before and made the white haired captain move faster.

After a few more swings of his blade, Grimmjow suddenly threw in a powerful, roundhouse kick toward Toshiro's head. The icy captain ducking away from the attack and delivering a strong palm into the arrancar's chest, knocking him back and into a side street. Once Grimmjow recovered, Toshiro seemed to take on a very confident smirk as if he had just accomplished much more then just knocking the blue haired man back with his blow.

Yet this seemed to go unnoticed by Grimmjow as he simply charged right back toward the icy captain and slashed down at him. Toshiro moved out of the way of the blade, but as it hit the ground, it shattered the pavement around them and kicked up a thick cloud of dirt. Though neither was able to see the other, Toshiro could sense the blue haired arrancar sonido to his side, to which he turned in that direction. But as he narrowed his eyes to make sure not to miss the attack he knew would be coming, his eyes widened slightly as instead of a blade a ball of red spirit energy came right toward him.

'Bala!' he thought quickly, swiftly moving away from the attack, yet a small portion of the blast caught part of his face.

This had burned that part of his skin, yet he immediately had to duck out of the way of a slash from behind. Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly as his eyebrow twitched from the burn just off to the side of it; 'I guess I let my guard down a bit after placing my ice shards on him.' he thought to himself in a split second.

Grimmjow grinned down at him as he jumped into the air and shot down another bala toward Toshiro, whom flipped himself out of the way. The white haired captain once again took on an emotionless expression as he quickly spun around and sent a roundhouse kick right at where Grimmjow suddenly appeared in a sonido. Though the blue haired arrancar was unable to dodge, he reduced the damage by firing off a bala right into Toshiro's foot as it connected with him.

As Toshiro's opponent flew backward and into the side of a building, the icy captain appeared directly in front of him; "You're quite good, Jaegerjaquez. You managed to catch me off guard for a brief second there. But then I think it was more of my own fault then it was of your doing." he said looking down at the arrancar as he quickly got himself back up, despite his injuries from both Ichigo and Toshiro.

"But you're definitely tough...I'll give you that." Toshiro continued before he raised one of his ice covered hands.

Grimmjow quickly jumped into the air as he readied for an attack, yet Toshiro slightly surprised him once again as nothing ever came. This simply making Toshiro's small smirk come back to his face as he pointed his hand toward Grimmjow once more; "Sorry...but you're finished." was all he said before Grimmjow suddenly started falling toward the ground.

Once the blue haired arrancar's feet hit the pavement, it shattered slightly and left him seemingly stuck in place; "Wh-What the hell did you do to my feet?! They feel heavy as hell!" he exclaimed in a growl.

"Hmph...you really should have payed more attention to those ice shards I scraped off." Toshiro began as he easily walked toward him, yet stayed out of his katana's reach.

"I placed them in precise locations so you'd step on them. But I guess that still wouldn't explain why it's so hard to move." he continued, letting out a sigh as if he were tired of explaining something simple.

This had only made Grimmjow narrow his eyes even more as he dragged his feet closer as to try and still attempt an attack. Yet every inch he made forward, Toshiro would just take back as if he was keen on keeping just the right distance away from him. But after a moment, the blue haired man seemed to give up for the moment as he just settled on a glare toward Toshiro. The icy captain of which had now crossed his arms as if to show that he wasn't going to fight any further, yet he also appeared to be on guard in case of any surprise balas or ceros.

"I won't go into details, so I'll just tell you outright...I can control not only the flow of water and ice, but it's density as well. But though there is a limit...just one of those shards can weigh up to three hundred pounds, or about one hundred and thirty six kilograms...which ever you prefer." Toshiro said, making Grimmjow's eyes widen slightly.

"So right now...its as if you have enormous weights on your feet. You have no chance of winning even if you do manage to get used to it. The added weight will slow your movements and allow too many openings." he continued on, now making the blue haired arrancar to narrowed his eyes heavily on him.

"Damn it..." Grimmjow muttered as he raised his katana up slightly, it blade starting to glow a faint blue; "Damn you! I'll kill you! You son of a bitch!"

But just as the arrancar was about to say something, a pale hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and stopped him in his tracks. He quickly turned his head toward the newcomer, but his glare only turned deeper as he saw that it was Ulquiorra, who's name he immediately growled out angrily. But the pale espada remained emotionless as he looked at Grimmjow and spoke; "The mission is complete. We're going back."

Immediately following his words, a garganta opened in the sky above them and shot down a beam of yellow light. This ray surrounded the two arrancar, while Toshiro was exactly a single inch from the outside of it, simply watching as they rose from the ground before him. As they did, Ulquiorra seemed to give the icy captain a very hard stare, to which he returned it; 'What is it?' Toshiro mouthed toward him.

But once Ulquiorra responded with his own lipped message, Toshiro's eyes widened, then narrowed heavily before he shunpoed away, leaving Ichigo unconscious in the street. Each of the arrancar had just vanished within the garganta when Toshiro came up to Kisuke's shop, him ignoring the look Tessai gave him as he came in. Though he had a passing thought of Kisuke or Yoruichi telling him about his past actions while he was out, it was very brief as he just kept going.

Toshiro reached the underground training area, where Kisuke could be seen nearby with Yoruichi, then seeming to be talking about something. Yet he continued on, even as both of them looked to him with slightly narrowed eyes, though Yoruichi's softened very slightly as she saw the small burn on the side of his face. But when they saw that Toshiro was ignoring them, they immediately began to follow him until he stopped in front of the area that Kisuke created his senkaimon.

This made both of the others raise a brow to one another in question, but when a set of senkaimon doors opened and revealed Rukia, Senna and Rangiku walking out, they simply watched closely. Though the white haired captain had his eyes fixed on the three, he seemed to be looking as something else, as if there where someone other then Rukia, Senna and Rangiku with them. But as they each looked at Toshiro, Rangiku was about to speak, but was cut off as he just grabbed at the air and vanished in a shunpo.

This confused all of them and made everyone look at each other with a raised brow in question; "What's up with him?" Senna asked casually.

"We didn't even get to tell him that Orihime disappeared." she continued with blinking eyes as she just crossed her arms.

-Orihime's apartment-

"He told me that he's known you for a very long time and that I would be safe while I was there." a familiar burnt orange haired teen said silently.

"You don't even have to go Orihime. I will do something about these." he said with a nearly desperate tone, gesturing to the silver bracelet on her wrist.

"He said that they would self destruct the moment anyone tries to remove them or if I'm not in Hueco Mundo by midnight tonight." the teen girl said, sounding somewhat sad.

"I know that there is time till then, but I don't want to risk anyone getting hurt over me. If there is a chance to make sure those bombs inside Rukia-chan, Senna-chan and Rangiku-chan don't go off...then I'm willing to do this for them." she continued, making Toshiro look down slightly.

"I'm sorry for making you worry about me like this. But I promise that I'll be okay. Ulquiorra-san said that if I am an ally to you then he will keep me from harm." she claimed with a small smile.

Toshiro looked to her and narrowed his eyes slightly, but nodded all the same; "Alright Orihime, this is your decision and I'll let you take it. But I will promise you this..." he began, his narrowed eyes being filled with determination.

"...I will bring you back." he finished, making Orihime blink her eyes, but then smile widely and immediately hug him tightly.

"Thank you Hitsugaya-kun. You're like my other Onii-chan." she said with a soft voice and a few happy tears roll down her cheeks.

The white haired captain gave a small smile as he returned her hug with one arm; ''Onii-chan' huh? Hmph...I should have told her about seeing her brother a long time ago...but I guess that's something best to been seen and not told.' he thought silently to himself before they broke away.

As Orihime wiped her tears away, she gave a smile to him and looked to the side briefly; "So...how is everyone? Are they alright?" she asked, making Toshiro stop midway through a nod as he suddenly remembered a certain orange haired teen laying in the street unconscious.

"Well...mostly." was all he responded before sweat dropping lightly.

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And there you have it. :) I'm glad that I can continue the Arrancar arc, it's one of my favorites so I made a lot of interesting and clever ideas for it, even more so then any of the others that I've done so far. ^^ Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and remember to review...now that I think about it, there are like 203 people that favorited this story and only a few actually review. Not that I mind, I love all of my constant reviewers, you guys are awesome! :D So are everyone that favors and places this story and even me on their alerts, but I would like to see what all of you think of my story. I know you liked it enough favor it and such, but I wouldn't mind even a small review saying what you liked most about the chapter or something. ^^ Well...I think I rambled on long enough. XD I'll just wait and see what happens...so...till next time everyone. ;D Ja Ne.


	100. Chapter 100

I can't believe it...the day has finally come for my 100th chapter. :D I feel a bit giddy right now. XD I figured I could do something a bit special in this chapter and though it's not much, I still hope you like it. Please enjoy. ;)

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**Chapter 100:**

After that incident in Kisuke's underground training area, Toshiro was only seen dropping Ichigo's unconscious body off at his home before he suddenly disappeared completely. No one was able to sense his spirit energy, nor his presence anywhere in Karakura town till the next morning. But even then, it was incredibly faint and vanished soon after, this making Rangiku, Senna, Rukia and even Yoruichi rather worried. Despite the fact that the latter had not gone out to look for him with the others, she dwelt on the thought of something happening to her white haired friend the whole time.

But the day seemed to move especially slow for Rangiku, Senna, Rukia, Renji, whom had finally come out of his training with Kisuke, and Ichigo, who had been called over by Rukia. The Head Captain and Jushiro having contacted them through the transceiver inside Orihime's house and speculated on the burnt orange haired teen's whereabouts. Though it began with the proposition of her death, Ichigo was completely against the idea, which was backed by the full explanation of the events that took place inside the Dangai by Rangiku.

-The previous day, within the Precipice World-

Rangiku, Orihime, Senna and Rukia all ran through the Dangai as quickly as possible without getting separated. Though the human teen was much slower then the rest, she managed to keep up enough for them to make much progress through the strange realm. But just as their destination was in sight, they suddenly stopped as a tear appeared in the space before them, to which each of them stopped as a garganta opened in front of the group. But despite seeing this, all four of the woman got themselves ready to fight, yet only Senna and Rukia drew their blades.

"It appears that Aizen was correct in his assumption." Ulquiorra claimed as he stepped out of the garganta, his eyes being slightly narrowed, while his hands were placed inside his pockets.

"Who are you?" Rukia demanded as each of the women narrowed their eyes on him carefully.

"Cifer Ulquiorra. And I'm here to take Inoue Orihime with me." the raven haired espada spoke in his emotionless tone.

Immediately following his words, each of the females' eyes widened slightly before Rangiku suddenly shunpoed behind Ulquiorra. She then spun a roundhouse kick toward the arrancar's head, to which he dodged rather easily and sent a countering back kick at her. Rangiku's narrowed eyes widened slightly as she quickly moved away from the attack, yet she moved farther then necessary as Rukia came forward with her katana. Ulquiorra looking over to the raven haired girl with an emotionless expression, but quickly sensed Senna coming up behind him and narrowed his eyes slightly.

He immediately flipped into the air so he was upside down, Rukia and Senna missing him as they stopped their attacks before hitting each other. Ulquiorra then brought one of his hands out of his pockets and began charging a cero at the two girls, but was stopped as a strange yellow beam of light hit his finger away. The pale arrancar turned his head slightly as he noticed that the attack came from Orihime, whom had both arms out in front of her and a very concentrated expression.

As this happened, Rangiku shunpoed behind him, then readied her hand to stab a deadly blow into Ulquiorra's back. But just as she was a few inches away, the arrancar vanished from her sight, reappeared a few feet away from the group and narrowed his eyes on them. Each of the women gathered together, returned the espada's expression and readied themselves for another attack. After a brief second of silence, Ulquiorra spoke up silently, yet still emotionlessly; "It appears I will have to use more force then I originally believed."

Following these words, Rangiku and the others shifted themselves quickly to more of a fighting position as they all prepared themselves. But as Ulquiorra brought his second hand out of his pocket, he vanished in a much faster sonido then before, to which only Rangiku was able to follow. Yet even the strawberry blond wasn't able to stop him fast enough before he hit both Rukia and Senna on the base of their necks at the same time. This made the remaining two women to widen their eyes, but only one of them had attacked quickly enough to keep the espada from moving any further.

As Rangiku came forward with a fist, Ulquiorra raised one of his hands and caught the blow easily, the attack causing a percussion wave that shook the ground and walls around them. But the strawberry blond wasn't finished as she used her free hand to grab her zanpakuto, unsheathe it and bring it up. Though Ulquiorra sonidoed back to escape what he thought would be a slash, his eyes narrowed as Rangiku merely smirked and uttered out her release commend; "Unare, Haineko."

Immediately following this, Orihime stepped back slightly as the blade on the lieutenant's katana dissolved into ash and swirled around Rangiku. Though the pale arrancar just watched this with an emotionless expression, his eyes seemed to be extremely focused as to not let a single piece of ash escape his sight. The strawberry blond looked at the raven haired espada carefully for a moment, appearing not to want to make any mistakes. But after a moment, she gave a quick smile of reassurance toward Orihime and sent half of the ash swirling around her toward Ulquiorra.

As the ash hurled toward him, the dark haired arrancar narrowed his eyes and seemingly didn't move a muscle as it surrounded him. Though it appeared that Rangiku would finish him off, she suddenly moved her hand to the side, to which the ash followed and attacked Ulquiorra, whom came out of the shadows to attack her. This action made the arrancar's eyes briefly widen as his opponent's narrowed slightly, with a small smirk spreading on her face.

As he continued forward, he brought his hand slightly, making sure to keep it out of Orihime's sight and began charging a light green color cero. The orange haired teen herself could only watch as the two came closer to one another with their attacks, neither halting, nor hesitating. But once Ulquiorra's cero fired and Rangiku's ash reached him, the two locked their narrowed eyes just before they were both blasted backward by their respectful attacks.

Orihime's eyes widened as she quickly ran toward Rangiku, whom was slightly burned on her clothes and skin, yet not as much as it seemed she should be. Despite this, the orange haired girl immediately brought out her Soten Kisshun and began healing Rangiku's wounds. The lieutenant herself giving her a small smile and a dismissive wave; "Don't worry about me Orihime-chan. I'll be fine...I've had much wor-" but she cut herself short as she looked beyond Orihime and saw a nearly unscratched Ulquiorra walking up to them casually.

"Was that the best you had?" the espada questioned silently, both woman looking somewhat shocked toward him as only the sleeves of his jacket were torn.

Though neither of them responded, Rangiku suddenly vanished from Orihime's Soten Kisshun and appeared before Ulquiorra. She then proceeded to punch him hard in the stomach, which blasted an even more powerful percussion wave then before, yet the raven haired arrancar didn't move from his spot. Though Rangiku and even Orihime could tell that the attack hurt him, his expression stayed the same as he grabbed the strawberry blond's wrist tightly.

Rangiku narrowed her eyes and attempted to get away, but Ulquiorra's grip was too tight for her to move away from. Yet she just brought her other hand out and summoned the ash once more, to which it swirled around both of them; "I'm not gonna let you hurt her." she claimed as her eyes narrowed dangerously on Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra remained emotionless, even as the ash hurled toward him, tearing at his clothes and even some of her own hand. Yet none of the ash pierced through his hierro, nor loosened his grip, this shocking Rangiku as she just reformed her katana in her hand and made a quick thrust toward his chest. But he still didn't release her wrist despite this and simply bent his knees slightly as it came toward him. This had made both Rangiku and Orihime blink slightly in confusion, the former not remembering the placement of his hollow hole and the latter not being able to see it in the dark.

As Rangiku's blade pierced through the darkness and toward Ulquiorra, she narrowed her eyes heavily. But when she didn't feel any resistance against her blade while it went through his chest, her eyes widened in realization and quickly tried to pull away. The espada simply grabbed her by the throat and lifted her feet off the ground, this making Rangiku just let go of her katana. Which had just slipped out of Ulquiorra's hollow hole and dropped to the ground, all the while, the strawberry blond attempted to force him to release her with her free hand. But her effort was futile as even her enormous strength couldn't get him to let go, this simply making her clench her teeth angrily and try harder.

"Rangiku-chan!" Orihime called out as she rushed toward the two quickly, readying her Koten Zanshun along the way.

But as Ulquiorra glanced toward the orange haired teen, he caught a glimpse of the lieutenant's badge on Rangiku's waist, to which his eyes narrowed and he just let her go. This made both women blink and for Orihime to stop briefly, but when Rangiku's consciousness was lost as the espada hit her on the base of her neck, she started running toward them once more. As soon as Orihime brought her attacking power forward, Ulquiorra suddenly appeared directly in front of her, causing a sudden wave of fear to freeze her body in place.

"You have no chance against me. None of them were able to even pierce my hierro, you won't fare any better." the raven haired arrancar said silently, still in his emotionless tone.

Orihime seemed to shake her fear away as she narrowed her eyes and brought her hands up slightly, this time in a defensive way; "I still won't give up. Or let you hurt my friends any further." she spoke in a determined voice.

But she could only look in shock and horror as Ulquiorra appeared to each of her friends and impaled them all in the back with his bare hand. She immediately brought her Soten Kisshun out once more, only this time it covered all three of them and then turned to Ulquiorra again with narrowed eyes. The pale espada just looked back to her silently, his jacket being torn heavily, revealing his pale chest, which had his number '4' espada tattoo and his hollow hole, the last two making Orihime shiver slightly.

"I have place small explosive devices inside of each of them...which are set to explode at midnight tonight." Ulquiorra began, making Orihime's eyes widen heavily in shock.

"If you don't want them all to die...you will come with me." he continued, to which the orange haired teen gained a somewhat frightened expression.

"You're not able to reject them as you have no idea of where they are. So you'll have no chance to save then on your own." the arrancar said.

Orihime looked down, clenched her hands and ground her teeth slightly; "And what guarantee do I have that you'll even let them live?" she asked as she turned her gaze to him once more.

Ulquiorra remained emotionless in his expression, yet something within his eyes seemed to make the young teen blink her eyes. But it was his next words that truly shocked her completely; "I am an old acquaintance of Hitsugaya Toshiro's. I will not harm any ally of his."

"As such of why I didn't kill his lieutenant right then, despite her being an obvious threat." he continued, Orihime's eyes now blinking.

"But Aizen's threat still stands regardless. I shall destroy all of them if I must." the raven haired arrancar said.

The grey eyed teen looked to him a bit nervously as if unsure of what the espada's intentions were; "If I go with you...then you'll spare their lives, right?" was all she could manage, to which Ulquiorra just nodded.

"Yes...and I will make sure you are also safe. Any ally of Hitsugaya's, is also mine." despite the arrancar's words seemed as though they would be heartfelt, his voice and expression remained emotionless.

This just made Orihime blinks her eyes toward him, but then look to the side and nod her head; "Alright. I'll go...but only because you'll let them go." she claimed, gesturing to the three shinigami unconscious within her Soten Kisshun.

Ulquiorra briefly closed his eyes, as if nodding his head in acceptance, then walked to the orange haired teen and handed her a silver bracelet; "This is a special device that will surround you in a spiritual barrier so only we arrancar will be aware of your presence. At the same time, you will be able to past through physical objects at will." he said as Orihime took the bracelet into her hands.

"You're allowed till midnight tonight to stay in the Human World, so wear this so long as you're there." Ulquiorra spoke somewhat silently.

His words made Orihime look from the silver object to him as he continued; "And know that this device also has an explosive within it. So if you're not at the designated area by midnight or attempt to escape...you will be eliminated immediately."

The teen looked slightly shocked at him, then back to the bracelet as she had yet to put it on, causing her to wonder why he would tell her this before hand. But she just took in a breath and placed the silver jewelry in place on her wrist; "I'll be there." was all she said, her voice being in a near whisper.

Ulquiorra nodded lightly in response, turned around and opened a garganta before him; "You've been given permission to seek out one person to say good-bye to within your giving time frame. Finish whatever business you have and meet me at the place we're we first appeared. And remember...only one person."

-Present day-

Though Rangiku had only reached to the point of her falling unconscious, the Head Captain seemed to fill in the blanks with his own theories, which had lead to Orihime's declaration of becoming a traitor. This had outraged Ichigo to the point of nearly threatening the elder man, but had been stopped by Renji as he grabbed him roughly by the shoulder.

"Stop it! Anything else you say will just make things worse for her." he claimed, him seeming to be one of the only people to remain mostly calm.

Ichigo looked back to him with narrowed eyes but just gave a light nod as he seemed to stand down, to which Renji took a step forward. He took in a quick breath before looking at the Head Captain on the large screen and speaking in a formal tone; "We understand Head Captain Yamamoto. I, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division Abarai Renji will take responsibility of going to Hueco Mundo and bringing back the traitor Inoue Orihime."

Though the red haired shinigami and Ichigo shared a smirking glance with one another, their eyes widened as the Head Captain spoke up; "That request is denied."

"The arrancar are preparing for war...and therefore, we must do the same. We cannot divide our forces for the sake of one person." he continued in a very authoritative voice.

"All members of Captain Hitsugaya's advanced squad are to return to Soul Society immediately to fortify our defenses." he finished, slamming his staff to the floor boards beneath him.

"But...we can't just abandon Inoue. She's our friend and we can't leave her at the enemies mercy!" Rukia claimed, her expression being fairly angry about how things have gone.

"The weight of one life cannot compare to that of every life in Karakura Town...nor that of everyone in the entire world!" the Head Captain said in a commanding tone.

"I'm very sorry...but I'm afraid I won't be able to comply with that order, Head Captain." Rukia said, to which Senna, Rangiku, Renji and Ichigo all nodded their heads.

"How can we even think about saving the world, if we can't even save one friend?" the purple haired shinigami claimed, narrowing her eyes on the older man.

The Head Captain was silent for a very brief moment before opening his eyes very slightly; "I expected that some of you would disagree to my order. Fortunately I have already made special arrangements to take care of such objections." he said.

Immediately following his words, a senkaimon appeared directly behind all of them, which gained their attention with wide eyes. What followed after the doors of the spirit gate opened were Byakuya and Kenpachi, both of which had very serious expressions of their features. Though most those gather looked at the two in shock, Ichigo just looked down and closed his eyes as if in deep thought about something.

"Nii-sama..." Rukia whispered at the same time that Renji muttered; "Captain..."

"You are all to return to Soul Society, now." Byakuya stated quietly, yet forcefully as he seemed to keep his main focus on Rangiku as as she just stared at him with a hard gaze.

"We already got Ikkaku and Yumichika from Urahara's place...and now it's you're turn. So let's go." Kenpachi said, sounding very bored as he removed his arms from his sleeves and crossed his arms beneath his clothes.

As each of the occupants of the room looked to one another, they each seemed set their focus on Rangiku as besides Toshiro, she and Renji were the highest ranking officers in their squad. The strawberry blond herself just let out a sigh and began walking toward the senkaimon; "I guess we best follow orders. 'Return to Soul Society'." was all she said before walking past Byakuya and Kenpachi, giving a slight glare toward the former.

Each of the others looked slightly shocked to her, but gave a short glance over to Ichigo as they followed Rangiku's lead. Rukia and Senna stayed behind for a few more brief moments, both seeming to be apologizing to him many times in their minds before going with the others into the senkaimon. Once it closed and left Ichigo all on his own, he just tilted his head up slightly and took on a very determined smirk; "If Soul Society won't help...I know who will." he said to himself.

-Urahara Shop, later on that night-

Ichigo, Chad, Uryu and Kisuke each appeared within the underground training area and walked across the desert-like area. But as they went, none of them noticed the shadowy figure standing in the shadows of a very large rock formation. This person being Toshiro, yet his appearance seemed slightly different as he now had dual silver chains, forming an 'X' across his chest instead of his usual green sash. Though the silver star-like clip was still in it's place in the center of his chest, it almost appeared more polished then it had been before.

Along with this, he now had two crisscrossing zanpakuto on his back, the one over his right shoulder having the usual light blue grip, while the other was light purple. Despite the guards on both katanas' being the same four point star, where Toshiro's normal zanpakuto had protrusions of its design, the other had the design with holes between the gaps.

As Toshiro just watched silently, the group headed between two rock formations, which had large wooden planks sticking out of them twenty feet up. But he quickly looked to the side as he sensed two familiar presences behind him; "Hitsugaya-sama...everything is set." Yin reported.

"They've already arrived into the World of the Living and should be here very shortly." Yang said as both kneeled down to him as he turned.

"Alright...lead them right here as quickly and quietly as you can." Toshiro said as he looked to them with his eyes slightly narrowed.

Immediately following his words, the two arrancar nodded to him and quickly vanished in sonidos. But as Toshiro turned toward Kisuke once more, he saw the blond jump onto one of the wooded planks and kneel down. A few seconds later after what the icy captain could only guess was an incantation, both the planks glowed a brilliant blue and a garganta suddenly opened between them. The icy captain narrowed his eyes slightly to this, but then smirked lightly as he whispered to himself; "He actually did it...he he, you never seize to amaze me Kisuke."

But as Ichigo and the other two jumped through it, the garganta closed soon after and left the area in complete silence. Toshiro then glanced over to where Yin and Yang suddenly reappeared, but shifted his gaze over to Rangiku, Renji, Rukia and Senna as they came up behind them, smirking lightly as he did. Though each of them quickly noticed his slightly changed attire, none of them said a word, till the purple haired girl spoke up.

"Love the double zanpakuto look you've got going." she claimed with a wide grin, giving him a thumbs up in approval.

Toshiro sighed lightly to her, but eventually nodded lightly and allowed a small smirk to curl his lips once more; "Well...I assume you've figured out the plan by now." he spoke up, looking to each of them.

"Of course. Invade Hueco Mundo with Ichigo, save Orihime-chan and get to the World of the Living before the fighting starts." Rangiku claimed, her tone sounding as though it would be simple.

"So...where do we start?" Rukia asked, getting down to business with her eyes slightly narrowed.

"First...we're going to visit an old friend of mine." the icy captain said, giving a slightly mysterious smirk to each of those around him, causing all of them to raise a brow in question.

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Yes...the special addition was Toshiro's new look. He was going to have that a little bit later on, but what the hell...I think it'll be a cooler addition if he takes it on now. ;D I hope you guys liked it, an fyi...my friend Tuli-chan is making a little special of her own for this chapter in her review, so as soon as you've read this...go and read her review, I know I am. ;3 Till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	101. Chapter 101

After such a long time of waiting...here it is. At last. XD Now...lets begin class with 'Chapter 101'. ;D I know...that was lame. XD And sorry about it not appearing for so long, I replaced the previous chapter, but it didn't show up as an update, so I deleted the chapter and put this up. Sorry for the confusion. =/

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**Chapter 101:**

-Hueco Mundo-

"I still can't believe you can open an actual garganta." Senna said for what seemed to be the hundredth time as she, Toshiro, Rangiku, Renji and Rukia came out of the dark portal.

"I am half hollow after all. It would actually be pretty strange if I couldn't." was all Toshiro said as they took a few steps away from the closing garganta.

Senna merely shrugged lightly, then glanced around at the white sand of the vast desert that made up the world of the hollows; "Huh...so this is Hueco Mundo, I never thought it would look like this." she commented with an awed tone.

"What did you expect?" Toshiro asked as he shifted his gaze over to the purple haired girl, whom looked to him with blinking eyes and another shrug.

"I don't know...I guess something like a giant forest with all the hollows just kinda running around everywhere?" she said as if suggesting that it could have been a logical setting for Hueco Mundo.

The icy captain just raised a brow to her as the others did as well, but though Toshiro and Rangiku gave her a questioning glance, Renji and Rukia just looked at her with a slightly agreeing expression. But then the white haired captain sighed heavily and shook his head; "This isn't a safari." he muttered silently.

Despite his words, Senna just looked away and turned her head toward a large palace-like building far out in the distance; "Whoa...is that Las Noches?" she asked in a halfway whisper as she took on an amazed expression.

"Yeah...and though it doesn't seem like it would be that far, it's easily twenty miles away." Toshiro said, making each of the others look between him and the facility with slight shock.

"But it looks so huge even from this distance, how can we be so far away? Is it really that big?" Renji questioned as he stepped forward and squinted his eyes lightly at Las Noches.

Toshiro merely nodded lightly to his words and glanced over toward Rangiku as she gave him a questioning looking; "How do you know so much about Las Noches?" she asked before crossing her arms under her chest.

The white haired captain gave a light smirk toward her, then turned away and spoke up in a fairly silent tone; "Well this is like a second home to me."

Everyone around him blinked their eyes in slight shock, but then their looks turned to rather sympathetic ones as despite Toshiro being used to his 'species', they all felt bad for him in their own way. But they were snapped out of this moment as the icy captain turned to them and spoke in an authoritative tone toward Rangiku; "You take Senna, Rukia and Abarai and head to Las Noches. I'll find Kurosaki, Ishida and Sado. Then we'll meet up outside the walls and break in."

The strawberry blond gave him a nod and looked to the others as they started to run toward the palace-like building. But she quickly stopped for a moment and looked back to Toshiro with a raised brow; "By the way Captain...who's the 'old friend' that you mentioned before we got here?" she questioned.

Though the white haired captain was silent for a moment as he looked to her and gave a small, yet knowing smirk as he responded; "You'll see when I bring him."

Immediately following this, both Tenth Division officers ran off in separate directions, the higher ranking of the two eventually vanishing in a shunpo. Then he reappeared near of a large hole in the sand, it showing a deep tunnel running into the ground, to which he just jumped right into it. Though it felt as though he fell for a long time, Toshiro hadn't gone more then twenty or so feet before he touched soil rock, rather than the usual sand from above.

Toshiro glanced around his surroundings, but merely saw a large cavern before him, causing him to let out a silent breath; 'I guess I shouldn't be surprised that hollows wouldn't be in every cave like last time.' he thought to himself, simply walking toward where he could see a small amount of light coming through one of the pathways.

As he went he felt a sudden spike of spirit energy from above, to which Toshiro looked up and raised a brow; "Great they're getting in trouble already." he muttered with a sigh.

"I guess I should get Kurosaki and the others before Ashido...but I think he needs my help more then they do at the moment." the icy captain continued, turning toward the small light before him and came out to the exit of the cave.

He then gazed upon the large underground forest before him, each of the 'trees' being a silvery, quartz-like substance that stretched from the ground all the way to the top of the 'roof'. Though there were a great many holes at the top to allow the constant moon light to come through, the furthest anything or anyone could see was a few hundred feet before pitch black. As Toshiro looked around, he could hear a faint howl of a Menos Grande out in the distance, to which he allowed a smirk to curl his lips and whispered a few silent words to himself; "Home sweet home."

After Toshiro said this, he suddenly vanished in a shunpo, going through the vast forest with extreme speed that allowed him to go unnoticed by the hundreds of hollows on the ground. But he eventually stopped after arriving at the entrance to a rather small looking cave, the entrance only looking large enough for a smaller sized hollow. Toshiro immediately walked inside, glanced around as he did and merely smirked as he saw a blue kido spell near the ceiling that lit the area around him.

Though there wasn't much to see within the cave, save for the small piles of grown food and then engraved 'bed' within one of the cave walls, Toshiro continued on through the small cavern. But he had to stop quite suddenly as he nearly placed his icy foot over a nearly invisible trap, which he could now see was attached to the kido spell above. The icy captain shifted his foot away, then put it down in what he could tell was a 'safe' area of the ground, which was only a few inches away.

"Hmph...clever idea Ashido. Hollow comes in, activate the trap, the kido explodes and down comes tons of rock and ruble to crush whatever was dumb enough to come inside." he commented to himself as he carefully looked around the room for more traps.

"Thanks...but it's only a temporary solution till I can develop a kido to also keep me from being crushed in case it's while I'm sleeping." a voice spoke up from the entrance.

Toshiro looked over toward the sound and smirked as there stood a tall shinigami with a long fur coat draped over their shoulders. This coat also had multiple hollow masks upon it with the largest one being directly over his back. Though this person wore a gazelle's skull-like mask over their face, Toshiro could easily identify them as a male. But as the shinigami came into the cave, he removed his mask and revealed a very serious expression over a still fairly youthful face and somewhat long, yet dull red hair.

"Well I don't know if there is a kido that could help with that Ashido. But I'm sure that you'd wake up long before anything could even get a hundred feet of this place." Toshiro said confidently with a smirk.

"Thanks to you of course, Captain Hitsugaya. If you hadn't met me in the forest all those years ago, I might not have survived for as long as I have." the red haired man said with a faint smile.

The white haired captain just smirked to him and shook his head lightly; "No...you would have lived. It just would have been a bit harder." he said with a silent chuckle.

Ashido chuckle lightly back to Toshiro as the two walked toward each other and clasped their hands together and shook them slightly; "It's good to see you again my friend." he said as his small smile returned to his face.

"And you as well." Toshiro responded as he too smiled lightly, to which they broke their hand shake a part soon afterward.

"So what brings you back here after all this time?" Ashido questioned as he walked further into the cave and set down on the 'bed' to the side.

"I need your help with something." the icy captain said as he just shifted his body around so he could face the red haired shinigami, whom looked to him in silence as if waiting for him to continue.

"I'm here to get someone important back and destroy Aizen." Toshiro claimed with a determined expression as he narrowed his eyes heavily.

Ashido raised a brow to him for a moment after hearing his words, then spoke in a questioning tone; "So you finally mean to kill him?"

The icy captain merely smirked rather darkly as he gave a light nod to the man's suggestion; "Well of course I'm going to kill him...but the word 'kill' doesn't even come close to describing of what I'm going to do to him."

After Toshiro said this, Ashido had a cold shiver run up his spine as he had seen first hand of how cruel and rather frightening he could be. He then narrowed his eyes on the white haired captain and nodded his head to him; "Alright. I'm with you Captain Hitsugaya." was all he said before standing up, him leaving the mask and fur coat on the bed.

Toshiro looked down at the items as Ashido left them behind, to which he spoke up as the red haired shinigami walked to the exit; "You're not going take those with you?"

"I won't be needing them anymore. After Aizen is defeated, the hollows will go back to their usual behavior...I probably won't be needed here anymore." Ashido said as he came out of the cave and turned to look at Toshiro as he followed.

"I see you're finally ready to return to Soul Society." the icy captain said with a small smirk on his face.

"Yeah...I think I am. After all, I wasn't here because I needed to...it was because I wanted to." the red haired man said as he pointed his hand out toward the cave's opening.

"To honor the comrades you lost." Toshiro whispered out silently, to which Ashido nodded his head lightly.

"I think I've done well to honor their memory. And I will definitely be sure to give them a proper burial when I get back." the shinigami said as a red kido spell formed within his hand.

A brief moment after the kido reached the size of a basketball, it shot into the cave and hit the floating kido within. This created a large blast that Toshiro and Ashido watched from afar, them shunpoing a safe distance away immediately after the latter used his kido.

As they looked to one another and turned around, they saw a sea of hollows of nearly every size and class heading right for them. The two then smirked to each other and just before they shunpoed into the fray, Ashido spoke to Toshiro with a rather light tone; "Just like old times, eh?"

As they unsheathed their zanpakuto, the two sliced and slashed at every hollow that came close enough to them. Though they both wore emotionless, yet rather cold expressions on their features, they gave each of the masked monsters a swift death by only one slash to the face. Despite little blood being spilled on the ground, their katanas were nearly covered in the red liquid after slaying the hundredth hollow. Yet no matter how many they killed, there was always one or two to take it's place, but the icy captain and the red haired shinigami simply kept going without any sign of tiring.

After only about several minutes of this slaughter, the two had single-handedly killed exactly a thousand hollows a piece, yet after hitting this mark, both vanished without a trace. This made the hollows look around for them in confusion, but Toshiro and Ashido were long gone as they shunpoed through the forest. The red haired man glanced over to the white haired captain and smirked; "Thank you Captain Hitsugaya."

Toshiro looked over to him and gave a mirroring smirk back to him and nodded his head; "Of course. It was the least I could do to help with your final act of honoring your friends. I assume that's what you meant when you mentioned the old times." he said knowingly.

Following his words, Toshiro looked to the side and changed their direction, making Ashido go with him quickly; "So who are you looking for exactly?" the red haired man asked as he could tell that they were heading away from Las Noches and toward a faint gathering of mixed spiritual pressures.

"A few friends of mine." was all Toshiro commented before they landed on the branch of one of the trees, giving them an overhead view of the owners of the spirit energies.

They belonged to Ichigo, Ishida, Chad and four strange hollow-like beings, whom all varied in appearance and size. The first was just a large, purple worm-like hollow that had a simple plate-shaped mask on his head with a pair of horns on either side. The second was a strange yellow, white, pink and black hollow with a tiki type mask that seemed to serve as it's true head rather then a mere mask. It had a fairly large body, but with small hands and feet that made the onlookers raise a brow of how bizarre it appeared.

The third was a white and purple hollow, which had a insect shaped mask that seemed to take up it's entire head, save for the few clumps of blond hair could be seen from the back. There was cloth eye patch attached to just above it's right eye, this somehow managing to cover the whole thing despite the cloth being smaller then its other eye. But save for this, the only other thing that this hollow had was a loin cloth, something of which made him appear just as strange as the other two.

Toshiro and Ashido then shifted their gaze to the last of the group, which was a small female child with short blue-green hair, hazel color eyes and a strange skull fragment atop her head. This immediately telling the two that this child was an arrancar and that the previous two were likely as well. But as Ichigo stood out before the small arrancar in a guarding stance, hundreds of hollows came up around them, their golden eyes seeming to glow in the darkness.

Ichigo ground his teeth as he glared around to all of the hollows coming closer to them, him readying his large zanpakuto out in front of him. Uryu had a similar expression, save for the fact that he seemed a bit calmer then the orange haired teen, but he was no less ready as he brought his blue bow up and prepared a reishi made arrow. Chad on the other hand seemed perfectly calm, but the small bead of sweat falling off his face showed his nervousness, despite his right arm having transformed into it's Fullbring form.

"One more valiant act?" Ashido questioned with a shrug as a smirk curled his lips.

The icy captain glanced over to him and returned his shrug; " Sure...why not." was all he said before they once again unsheathed their zanpakuto and shunpoed down toward the hollows.

Though it only took a brief second for Toshiro and Ashido to appear before Ichigo and the others, it took only one second more for every hollow around them to disintegrate after dozens of cuts appeared on their bodies. This caused Ichigo's and everyone else's eyes widen in shock to not only the display, but the two's arrival as well. While Ichigo, Uryu and Chad focused mainly on Ashido as they had never seen him before, the others were looking at Toshiro as he seemed to be the most intimidating with his duel zanpakuto.

"Toshiro! What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked as he turned his focus on the captain, whom sheathed his katanas along with Ashido.

"To help obviously." Toshiro responded as he crossed his arms, to which Ichigo raised a brow to him.

"But how did you get here?" Ichigo asked in a confused tone, making the white haired captain return his raised brow.

"I can open a garganta at will...how did you end up down here?" the icy captain countered, keeping his arms cross as his tone seemed like a taunting one.

Ichigo looked at him with a slightly aggravated expression as he had just insulted him in a few different ways; "Why you..." he growled out, but frowned and looked away as Uryu stepped in and turned to Toshiro.

"We were attacked by an arrancar made of sand and got sent down here only a few minutes after coming here. And we do appreciate the help Hitsugaya." Uryu started, giving a glance to Ichigo as if telling him not to start a fight.

"But I heard that Soul Society refused to rescue rescue Inoue. If you're helping us, then you're going against orders." the quincy said with slightly narrowed and almost testing eyes.

This made Toshiro merely smirk and give a nod to him; "I know. And don't worry about your father, he's more understanding then you think. And what's the story behind those four? " he responded with a knowing tone in the beginning, then a questioning glance toward the hollows to the side.

Uryu blinked to him for a moment before nodding back and following his gaze; "We met these guys on the surface only a few seconds after we got here. They just kinda started following us around...after running right into us." he said with a light sweat drop at the end.

Toshiro raised a brow over to Uryu, then looked back to the strange arrangement of arrancar and hollow, all of whom smiled and just waved to him; "I'm Arrancar Nel Tu. Day're my brothers Dondochakka and Pesche, and dis is our pet...Bawabawa!" the small girl claimed, gesturing from herself to the two other arrancar beside her and finally to the worm-like hollow behind them.

The white haired captain raised a brow to each one, and sighed heavily; "I'm Hitsugaya Toshiro and this is Kano Ashido. He's a good friend of mine and has been here for probably even longer then I've been alive." he said before turning around and starting to walk away, him figuring that the 'meet and greet' was finished.

To this introduction, Ichigo, Uryu and Chad blinked their eyes in surprise, but the arrancar and single hollow seemed to start panicking at the sight of the red haired shinigami. This caused Toshiro to stop in his tracks of leading the way back to the surface and look back to them as they ran around in circles; "It's the bad guy!" "He's gonna get us!" "Someone save us, de ariusu!" were only a few of the things they yelled out.

Toshiro took in a deep breath before sighing heavily and rolling his eyes; "Calm down." he began in a fairly calm tone, which surprisingly made each of them stop in their tracks.

"He's not here to kill or hurt any of you. So he's not a 'bad guy', he's a friend that's here to help. Now lets go before any more hollows decide to pass through here." he continued, crossing his arms as he looked at each of them.

"To where?" Nel questioned with a tilt of her head a few blinks of her large eyes.

"Las Noches." was all Toshiro responded with.

Each of the arrancar just quivered to this and talked among themselves about how they were going to die, to which Toshiro sighed heavily once more; "If you're going to come with us, you better stay close...so long as you're with me or my subordinates, you'll definitely be safe." he said confidently.

Nel and her 'brothers' gulped down and nodded as well; "Wead da way." Nel said a bit nervously, yet still childishly.

Ichigo just blinked his eyes to Toshiro and raised a brow; "Who else came?" the orange haired teen asked.

"You'll see..." Toshiro started, turning around and starting to walk away; "...now lets go." he finished before suddenly starting to run off in the opposite direction.

Despite hearing a few arguments from the shinigami representative about slowing down, Toshiro didn't listen, nor bother to look over his shoulder, him able to hear the sounds of everyone behind him. However, he could tell that there was one set of footsteps missing, save for the worm-like hollow's for obvious reasons, causing him to glance over and notice Ichigo carrying Nel on his shoulder. Toshiro held back a smirk at the scene and simply looked out in front him him once more; "He's a natural older brother." he muttered to himself.

Yet as he continued on, his eyes narrowed slightly as the gears in his mind began turning; 'Although...there is definitely something strange about that girl. I can sense a large and very strong spirit energy dwelling within her. Plus that crack in her mask seems way too old for someone that young.'

But he brought himself away from his thoughts as he came up toward the tunnel he had come in from, to which he stopped at the opening and widened his eyes slightly; "W-What are you doing out here?" he questioned as a figure stepped out of the shadows.

"What? You didn't really think I was just going to stay behind and miss out did you?" the person spoke as they grinned widely.

"Besides, I wasn't about to wait for you to come visit me again before I come visit you." they continued as they placed their real and prosthetic hands on their hips.

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Alright, and there you have it. After two weeks of waiting. XD I hope you guys enjoyed it and will be glad to know that I fixed the problems with my software and more then likely won't have to go through that again. *sigh* Hopefully. And just so everyone knows...all the events that happened between Ichigo entering Hueco Mundo and him fighting Aizen were all in one day! That's how it is in canon and that's how I plan to do it. So...no time skips. ;) But things might seem a bit rushed at certain points cause...come on, there is too much happening in just one freaking day. =/ Anyway, till next time everyone...and remember to make your contributions for the 'Idea Contest' in either your review or PM. ;) Ja Ne. ;D


	102. Chapter 102

Alright, here's the next chapter...I hope you guys enjoy. Nuff said...who the hell said that anyway? =/

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**Chapter 102:**

Toshiro stood there silently with Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka, while Bawabawa merely slithered its way over. Though everyone looked at the raven haired woman before them, whom was smirking toward the group, they all had different expressions on their features. Most of which consisted of a shocked or confused expression, this look belonging to everyone, save for the icy captain. Whom of which simply had slightly narrowed eyes and a single question radiating through them; 'What are you doing here?'

But as if reading this inquiry through Toshiro's eyes, Kukaku walked closer toward him and grinned; "Once I caught wind of what you are, I had to see it for myself." she whispered as her grin simply widened.

The white haired captain raised a brow to her at first, but let out sigh and just looked at the white cape-like cloak draped over her shoulders. It having a chin high collar, with a golden string leading from one side to the other, while a black hook shaped design was sewn upon the back. Yet seeing this only made Toshiro's eyes narrow once more before he spoke up; "Wearing the Shiba cloak I see."

The raven haired woman smirked to him once more and nodded; "Well of course. I am the Head of the clan, so it's only right for me to wear it." she claimed in a rather proud manner.

Toshiro gave a small smirk to her words and nodded back; "Alright...let's get going before anything heads our way." he said, walking toward the tunnel as Kukaku stepped aside.

But he stopped as he heard a comment from Nel; "She'z kinda scary."

As soon as she said this, Toshiro groaned and sweat dropped; "Oh great..." he muttered to himself.

He then turned around just in time to see Kukaku appearing right in front of the small girl with a raised fist; "What was that? Little girl?" she questioned with an evil grin that made Nel scream and run behind Ichigo.

The orange haired teen however seemed just as frightened of the raven haired woman as the small arrancar clinging to his leg; "Eh he he...she didn't mean anything by it." he said with a nervous laugh as he gave a glance to Toshiro as if pleading for assistance.

But the icy captain had already placed an icy hand to Kukaku's shoulder and shook his head; "Come on...we've gotta get moving." he said calmly.

Kukaku sighed heavily but backed away from the frightened two, not bothering to notice all of the sweat drops coming from Uryu, Chad, Pesche and Dondochakka. Nor even the unreadable expressions of Ashido or even Bawabawa, yet she did happen to notice the friendly tone Toshiro used as he spoke to Nel; "Don't worry...she's an old and very good friend of mine, she won't really hurt you."

"Speak for yourself." Ichigo whispered under his breath, earning him a bone chilling glance from Kukaku, which had immediately silenced him.

As Nel looked from Ichigo to Kukaku and then finally to Toshiro, she eventually gave a light nod; "Alwight..." was all she said before coming out from behind Ichigo's leg.

"But if you say anything other than a compliment about me...then I'll send you both flying." Kukaku claimed from the side as she raised her fist up slightly once more.

Her words made Ichigo gulp down and give a quick nod, while Nel quickly hid behind Toshiro instead, to which the raven haired woman grinned widely; "Smart move kid." she commented before turning around and heading for the tunnel.

"Come on now! Let's get a move on!" she continued as she went, to which everyone sweat dropped lightly and just followed along.

Though each of them and the arrancar made their way through the tunnel, they had slight difficulty with Bawabawa due to his size. Though this problem was easily solved by Toshiro blasting a large enough hole for him to fit through with kido, Dondochakka simply swallowed the hollow into his mouth. The strange arrancar claiming that he could contain many things within his stomach, which even included his own zanpakuto.

"Why didn't you just say that in the beginning?" Ichigo questioned with a halfhearted aggravated tone.

Yet regardless of this, the group made their way out of the tunnel and onto the white sand of Hueco Mundo, to which Toshiro offered Kukaku and Ichigo his icy hands. This confused the two, but Kukaku immediately took it without question, however, the orange haired teen couldn't seem to help himself; "Um...what are you doing?"

Toshiro sighed heavily as he just looked at Ichigo's raised brow in annoyance; "I'm going to get all of us to Las Noches faster then just walking...now just cooperate and take my hand already." he all but ordered in an irritated tone.

Ichigo blinked his eyes, yet he did as he was told and took Toshiro's hand, whom looked to the others and spoke in a very serious tone; "Form a chain...and hang on as tightly as you possibly can."

Once he spoke, the others quickly did as Toshiro said and grasped one another's hands. Save for Kukaku and Nel, the former outright refusing to hold anyone else's hand, while the latter just clung to Ichigo's collar. But the second Ichigo informed the icy captain that they were ready, the only thing that followed was the disappearance of the whole group and the faint sound of a scream. Though it was unclear as to whom it belonged to, the answer became clear as they all suddenly appeared before the wall of Las Noches.

"AHHHHHH-!" Pesche cut himself short as he realized that they were no longer in motion; "Ehem...well, that was quite fun." he chuckled out nervously.

"Actually it was." Ichigo began as he smirked to Toshiro, each of them releasing their hands, save for Kukaku.

"I've never gone that fast before...it was actually rather exhilarating." the orange haired teen claimed, nearly sounding like a child that rode on the best roller coaster ever.

Despite appearing more mature, Uryu had a slightly similar expression on his face, while their tan friend kept his usual look. Though Pesche was shaken up, Dondochakka actually seemed to be dizzy as he wobbled around as if having a hard time standing or seeing, or possibly both. Nel on the other hand had a full-out smile on her face as she jumped down from Ichigo's shoulder and leapt onto Toshiro's; "Can we do that again?!" she asked childishly, her excitement making her look very cute.

Toshiro raised a brow to her, letting out a sigh as he looked to the side; "Maybe later." he muttered, almost immediately regretting it as Nel hugged his neck tightly and squealed, her somehow reaching beneath the ice.

"Yay! I can't wait!" she exclaimed happily, Toshiro groaning in the process as he dislodged her from him and set her down on the sand.

Toshiro then looked around the area and narrowed his eyes, noticing a few figures coming closer toward them; "There they are." he muttered silently.

After he said this, Ichigo and the others looked toward the approaching people and raised a brow; "Is that Ruki-?" but the orange haired teen began, but was cut off as one of the figures appeared right in front of him.

"You idiot!" Rukia yelled out as she punched Ichigo right across the face, sending the teen tumbling back and into the side of the wall around Las Noches.

"You were actually going to come here alone and fight everyone by yourself!" she continued with a very annoyed tone.

"But I-" Ichigo began, but was cut off once more as Rukia smacked him again.

"You should have waited for us! We're your friends. And that's what we're here for." the raven haired girl claimed, crossing her arms across her chest.

Toshiro and many of the others just watched this with a light sweat drop, but Ichigo himself just looked at Rukia with a bit of a shocked expression before nodding lightly in response. As he did this, Rukia gave a nod back, but then blinked her eyes over to Nel and her group; "Um...who are these guys?" she asked, now raising a brow as Rangiku and the others walked over.

Ichigo sweat dropped lightly as she took a glance over to Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka, whom waved to Rukia and her group; "Don't ask." was all he said before turning to Toshiro as the icy captain cleared his throat.

This action gained everyone's attention, regardless of Renji and Senna about to ask Kukaku of whom she was; "Now that the fun is over...let's go." he said in an authoritative voice.

Immediately following his words, he placed an icy hand to the surface of the wall, which began freezing over ten feet in every direction. As soon as this happened, Toshiro clenched his icy claws and shattered the wall completely, revealing a long, dark and frost covered tunnel. But while each of them peered inside, Rangiku looked over to Kukaku with a raised brow as if suspicious of her arrival; "Hello again." she said in a fairly obvious jealous tone.

"Hey." was all the raven haired woman said as she also had the same tone as the strawberry blond.

Though Toshiro noticed this, all he did was sigh and immediately start walking through the hole in the wall, it being a nearly perfect square all the way through. Rangiku and Kukaku instantly looked from each other to Toshiro, whom they caught up to quickly, went up to either side of him and took both his arms into their own. This caused everyone outside to sweat drop and blink a few times, yet Ashido merely followed after them quickly.

"Um...will someone fill me in on who all these other people are?" Senna asked as she glanced over to Ichigo and the others.

The orange haired teen let out a breath before just shaking his head to her; "Trust me...you don't really wanna know." he muttered before he and everyone else headed into the tunnel, which had a light but very cold breeze flowing through it.

But as they went on, the area became too dark for anyone to even see the walls around them, to which Ichigo spoke up in the darkness; "How do we tell where we're going? There's no way of seeing where we even are."

"Just leave that to me." Renji claimed confidently as he brought both his hands out; "Shakkaho!"

As he did this, a bright red kido spell appeared in his hands, but while Ichigo and his group looked at it, the crimson flame went from being almost a foot across to a few inches. But while they all sweat dropped to this, a much brighter light appeared from out in front of them, it being blue in color and generated from Kukaku's real hand. Renji looked from her kido to his own and allowed it to diminish with a defeated expression; "I still have such a long way to go." he muttered to himself.

Rukia patted him on the back gently with a sigh; "We'll keep working on it." she said as they once again continued forward.

Though the tunnel itself was covered in a thin layer of frost, they all noticed the few holes in the floor and ceiling as it showing a vent system within the wall itself. But they soon saw a dim light at the end of the long tunnel, which grew brighter as they went further and revealed a wide open area as soon as they reached the end. This area was filled with many grey colored, cylinder shaped buildings, which were all connected to one another through long open bridges.

But it was the simulated blue sky above them that shocked many of the people in the group, but had only made Toshiro sigh heavily; 'Hmph, you really enjoy stealing Kisuke's ideas...don't you Aizen.' he thought to himself.

Just as Toshiro took a few steps forward, a strong spirit energy was felt flowing around them, each of their eyes narrowing or widening as it eventually seemed to die down after a moment. The icy captain then turned around and faced everyone as they looked at him with expecting expressions on their features; "Since there is no way to truly tell where Inoue is located...we're going to split up from here. Abarai, Ishida...you two head toward that building over there." he began pointing an icy claw over to a large green colored dome over fifty feet in height, rising out of the sand.

"Kuchiki, Senna...both of you will head to that building to the east." he continued, now gesturing toward a hundred foot tower with an oversized square top that seemed to have large black bars around it.

"Kurosaki, Sado...you two go to that one to the west." Toshiro said, shifting his icy claw to a small grey color dome to the side, which had more probability of leading underground due to its small size compared to many of the other structures.

But before the orange haired teen could argue, Toshiro silenced him as he merely continued on; "Matsumoto, Shiba...you two will handle that one over there." he said, pointing over toward yet another small building that looked nearly identical to the one he'd ordered Ichigo and Chad to go to, only in the opposite direction.

It was when he used the last names of his lieutenant and friend that they all realized that this was a very serious situation and they needed to listen to him carefully. This also making Ichigo hold back his argument as he and everyone else just looked at Toshiro with slightly or heavily narrowed eyes. But as he turned away, they raised a brow slightly, but didn't have to wait long before he spoke once more; "Kano...you're coming with me. We're going to pay a visit to a few people...and make a few recruits."

"'Recruits'? What do you mean, Captain?" Rangiku asked with a slightly raised brow, which she shared with everyone else around them.

"You'll see soon enough." was all he said before turning toward Nel and her group; "You three _should_ just go back, but since I know you probably won't...you should also split up and go with one of them."

"I'm going wit Itsygo!" Nel called out as she suddenly appeared on said teen's shoulder and hugged his neck tightly, nearly chocking Ichigo in the process.

But just before either of the other two arrancar could say whom they decided to go with, Toshiro suddenly called out; "Go!" before he suddenly vanished with Ashido in shunpoes.

Immediately following this, everyone else either disappeared or started running off in the direction they were told to. Pesche and Dondochakka looked to each other, then around as they noticed that only Renji, Uryu, Ichigo and Chad were traveling on foot. They then began following after Renji and Uryu, despite calling out to Nel, whom was going in the complete opposite direction.

As Toshiro and Ashido went on their way, the former suddenly changed direction as a faint sign of a strong spiritual pressure could be felt exactly where he was now heading. This made the red haired shinigami follow him quickly and come up beside the icy captain; "Is that one of the people we're looking for?" he asked in a near whisper.

Toshiro nodded his head lightly as they continued on, once again going into a shunpo and allowing them to reach their destination within seconds. As they both stopped, the two looked up at the forty floor structure before them, it appearing similar to many of the other buildings around, only much bigger. But neither remained outside for long as they quickly headed inside, to which Toshiro navigated them through the many long hallways. Though each of the hallways appeared the same with grey tiles, white walls and the many rows of small torches along them, the icy captain seemed to know exactly where he was going.

Though Ashido followed along, he began looking around their surroundings with narrowed eyes as if expecting that they were lost, everything looking exactly the same no matter where they went. Yet the pair soon came up to yet another long hallway, this one having multiple doors along the walls, with a torch between each one; "So who is it that we're here to meet?" the red haired shinigami questioned.

The white haired captain glanced over to him as they walked past multiple doors, both of them eventually stopping before one of them; "You'll find out in three...two...one." Toshiro said, letting out the last number with a sigh as the door suddenly opened without either of them even reaching for the nob.

As soon as this happened, Ashido reached toward his zanpakuto for a fight, but then he blinked in surprise as a white blur zoomed past his sight and went right into Toshiro. He quickly shifted his gaze over to the icy captain and blinked once again as he saw a short, blond, female arrancar hugging him tightly; "About time you got here!" the arrancar exclaimed with a smile.

But before the red haired shinigami could say anything, Toshiro spoke up first, him gesturing toward the arrancar hugging him; "Ashido...this is Gingerbuck Lilynette. Lilynette...this is Kano Ashido."

Lilynette gave a glance over to Ashido, whom bowed slightly in greeting, to which she just gave him a small wave; "Yo." she said before returning to her hug.

The white haired captain let out a sigh as he inched his way into the room, allowing Ashido to come in and close the door; "Sorry I took so long." Toshiro said as he placed an icy hand to her helmet covered head, despite them being nearly the same height.

"Well...I'm sure you can guess that I haven't gotten much more sleep since our last meeting." a voice claimed from off to the side.

Toshiro turned his attention over to the brown haired Espada, whom was laying on a mound of green pillows, to which he smirked lightly toward him; "I see you haven't changed much."

"Not really." Coyote said, glancing toward Ashido and waving; "Hey. I'm Starrk Coyote, you must be the Kano Ashido that I just heard about three seconds ago."

Ashido gave a nod and another light bow in greeting, but then he shifted his gaze over to Toshiro as he finally pried himself free of Lilynette's grasp. The white haired captain then let out a breath as he glanced between Coyote and the blond haired arrancar; "Are you two ready?" he questioned, him confident that they would already know what he was referring to, to which they both gave a nod.

"Yeah...we are. But unfortunately, we weren't able to find anyone to join our side without it becoming too obvious that we were causing an uprising." Coyote claimed with a halfway bored, halfway annoyed tone.

"That's alright. I came here for that main reason. Though it's going to take quite a lot of creative work...I believe that we'll be able to get at least two other Espada on our side." Toshiro said, him taking on a small smirk.

His words made Ashido blink in shock, him slightly hesitant to be working with beings that he's spent hundreds of years killing to stay alive. Yet he seemed to push these thoughts aside as he smirked widely to Lilynette's question; "Are we finally going to start our resistance against Aizen?"

After she said this, Toshiro just gave her a nod, to which she grinned and placed her hands on her hips; "About time! I've been getting seriously annoyed with that bastard's talk about becoming 'God'!" Lilynette exclaimed, raising a fist into the air.

Toshiro and Ashido merely smirked wider to this and gave a small nod; 'Yep...she hasn't changed at all.' the former thought to himself before glancing over to Ashido.

"You seem to be getting used to this already." was all he said to his red haired friend, receiving another smirk and a shrug in response.

After this exchange, Toshiro then walked over to Coyote, reached into his haori pocket and pulled a small object out of it; "By the way...I have something for you, just in case." Toshiro said as he held placed the item into Coyote's hand as he brought it up to receive whatever it was he was being offered.

Though it was difficult to see, both Lilynette and Ashido saw a small white object being dropped into Coyote's gloved hand, making them raise a brow in question. The brown haired espada simply placed the object inside his coat pocket and gave a light nod to Toshiro, whom returned the gesture and turned back to the other two; "But we're not going to act just yet. I still need a little more time before I'll be able to truly kill Aizen once and for all." he spoke with a very serious tone.

Each of the people around him gave a light nod, Coyote standing up from his spot on the cushions as he made this gesture; "So what do you need us to do?" the espada questioned.

"For now..." Toshiro began, narrowing his eyes slightly on each of them; "...we're going to recruit or kill as many arrancar as we possibly can."

Ashido gave a light nod to his words, then looked to Coyote; "Who would be the easiest to convert to our cause?" he asked.

The brown haired espada looked up thoughtfully as he placed his hands in his pockets, then let out a sigh before responding; "More than likely...the Privaron Espada."

Lilynette nodded in agreement to his words before turning to Toshiro; "If anyone would want to rise against Aizen, it would be them." she claimed with a wide smirk.

Toshiro raised a brow lightly to them, before taking on a light smirk and speaking in an interested tone; "And where are these 'Privaron Espada'?"

"Probably fighting against your friends by now." the brown haired espada claimed as he turned his head slightly just before all of them felt surges of spirit energy.

Each of the spiritual pressures were from all but one of the pairs Toshiro split everyone up in, the missing one being Rukia and Senna. But along with each of them, three other spirit energies could be felt, which each of them figured were the enemies they were facing. As they all felt this, Coyote shrugged his shoulders lazily and sighed; "I guess I spoke at just the right time." he muttered, bringing one of his hands up and scratch the top of his head.

"Hmph...for once." Lilynette commented silently, making both Toshiro and Ashido smirk lightly, to which the latter turned to the former and spoke up.

"I can tell why you guys became such fast friends." the red haired man's words made Toshiro look to him with a raised brow, but then he gave another smirk and a nod.

But they immediately turned to Lilynette as she huffed and spoke up; "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Toshiro merely looked to the side as if pretending not to hear her, while Ashido merely looked at her for a while before doing the same thing; "Nothing." was all he said, to which Lilynette let out a halfway growl.

"You better tell me or I'll-!" but she was cut off as she heard Toshiro and even Coyote stopped themselves midway through a chuckle; "What are you two laughing about?"

Toshiro merely smirked over to her and gave a quick glance toward Ashido; "Nothing...it's just nice to see that you're making new friends." he said, widening his smirk lightly as he saw Lilynette actually blush slightly in embarrassment.

"Shut up!" was all she could manage you yell out.

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And there you have it. Great big happy family...for now. XD Till next time everyone. Ja Ne. ^^


	103. Chapter 103

And here it is, the next chapter. ;) I'll have to warn you...it jumps around a lot. And though I was thinking about changing it depending on whether or not you guys liked it this way. It looks like I'll have to make it this way anyway, so I just hope guys don't mind the layout. Oh...and a quick thank you to Tuli-chan for her help with this chapter and the ending big time. ^^ Anyway, on to the story.**  
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**Chapter 103:**

-Ichigo, Chad and Nel-

"Are we there yet?" the small arrancar girl asked for what seemed to be the twelfth time, causing the two teens to roll their eyes and groan.

"No Nel...we're not there yet." Ichigo said with an annoyed tone as he didn't bother looking to the girl on his shoulder.

But as they continued on, with only the sound being their feet hitting the sand, Nel suddenly spoke up once again and made both teen to sweat drop; "Are we there now?"

Yet they had indeed reached their destination quite quickly as the three came up before the small building and entered. Once they did, they were faced with a long, white and grey hallway, which had a fairly high ceiling and support beams going from one wall to another. But as they looked around briefly, they each noticed that the hallway lead directly to a flight of steps, confirming their idea of this building going underground.

They immediately made their way to the stairway, went down the steps and saw a split in the hallway only a few dozen feet before them. Ichigo walked up to the 'Y' before them, him looking down both paths before turning to Chad and narrowing eyes; "I guess we're going to have to split up from here." he said with a light shrug.

The tan teen gave a short shrug as he walked over to his friend and spoke up in his normal deep voice; "It would be the best way to make sure that we don't leave any place unchecked. But...Hitsugaya seemed very keen on pairing us together, rather than to just have us all go separate ways. If he believed that any of us could stand up alone against our enemies, he would have sent us all on our own."

Ichigo blinked his eyes at first, but then gave a light nod to Chad's words; "I guess you're right. We shouldn't be rash and be careful when it comes to our own safety." he said as he looked down the left hallway.

"We can't save Inoue if we're injured or dead." Chad added with a light nod before they both turned their heads to the right pathway.

"Lets head this way and see where it takes us." Ichigo said, to which the tan teen gave a nod.

But just before they could start on their way, Nel suddenly yanked on Ichigo's hair and made him stop and yell to her; "What are you doing?!" he demanded.

"Nel thinks we should go that way!" she declared, pointing to the other hallway.

"We've already decided to this wa-" but Ichigo was cut off as Nel suddenly grabbed his zanpakuto and started running down the left hallway.

"Hey! Give that back!" the orange haired teen called out as he chased after the arrancar girl, whom had a smile on her face while she ran.

"This seems awfully familiar." Chad commented with a sweat drop before going after them quickly.

None of them noticing the figure standing on one of the beams near the ceiling with a wide smirk on its face; "Wise choice to follow the lady, niños." it spoke with an almost amused tone.

-Uryu and Renji-

"Are they still following us?" the red haired shinigami questioned with a sigh.

"I'm not even going to bother looking." the quincy responded as he just sweat dropped heavily when they both heard the voices of Pesche and Dondochakka calling out for Nel.

"Why did they decide to come with us anyway?" Renji asked, looking over to his companion as they kept running.

"I have no idea...we don't even have Nel with us." Uryu said as the two continued along, to which they reached the large dome within a few moments.

"This place better have plenty of hallways." the quincy claimed as they headed toward the large double doors nearby.

"Yeah. I'm halfway hoping that they'll just get lost somewhere inside." Renji said as they went through the doors and inside the building.

What they saw was merely one long hallway that lead into a large open area, which split off into three other different paths. But the two just quickly hid behind the doors, there being just enough of a gap between them and the wall for the pair to fit through. To which Pesche and Dondochakka just went bursting inside and ran through the hall, not even realizing that they had passed Renji and Uryu. They had kept going right through the open area and down another pathway, while calling out Nel's name the entire way.

As the two stepped out from behind the doors, they just watched the arrancar run and let out a heavy sigh; "Only halfway?" Uryu asked as he looked over to Renji, whom just nodded.

"Yeah...the other half is hoping that they will just give up on following us and head toward Ichigo." the red haired shinigami replied, to which the quincy raised a brow and nodded lightly.

But after a few moments, they eventually made their way to the open area and after a short debate of which path to follow, they both agreed to go to the one on the left. This decision being very quickly reached after hearing the calling of 'Nel' from the other, to which they had immediately ran to the left hallway.

After following this for a long while, they eventually came to yet another wide open area, which appeared to be even larger than the previous one. Once they got there, they quickly noticed that there was no other way out, to which they were about to head back the way they came. But they immediately stopped as they heard a large bang and a shake of the ground, to which the two turned their heads and saw a large hollow standing in the middle of the room.

Renji and Uryu glanced over to one another before sharing a smirk and charging after the hollow as it came toward them as well. Yet neither noticed the pink haired figure standing in the exit's archway with an interested smile on their face; "Oh~. Two new experiments just waiting to be examined. I'm getting all excited just by thinking of what I'll be able to test on them." they said silently.

-Rukia and Senna-

They climbed and climbed the long winding stairway for what seemed like hours, yet neither could tell where the end would finally appear as everything was enclosed. The purple haired girl seemed to appear the most annoyed as she would whine about her feet hurting and make up drastic amounts of time that they had been running. Yet despite this, they had continued up the steps and only stopped once, which had only been a few more yards from where a large metal door could be seen.

"About time." Senna muttered silently, her and Rukia walking up to the door after they decided they had enough rest.

"Well we would have been here much sooner if you didn't complain the whole way." the raven haired girl commented, to which Senna merely shrugged lightly.

"Though it's probably a good thing that we did rest for a bit." Rukia began as she placed her hand on the handle of the door, both shinigami reaching for their zanpakuto in the process.

"Now we're a bit rested so we can fight at full strength." she continued as they looked to one another, sharing a quick nod before swinging the door open and running inside with their katanas at the ready.

But when they charged inside, all they saw was a large empty room that held nearly no light within. From what they could see, there were a few open levels to the room, but there was nothing on the floor. Aside from the only other door in the room, there was nothing else, no furniture, no rugs or even a place to sleep.

"Boy, if this is how everyone here has to live...I'd quit in a heart beat." Senna commented with a raised brow as she continued to glance around.

Though Rukia nodded lightly in agreement to her words, both she and the purple haired girl stayed on guard with their zanpakuto out in front of them. Which allowed them to immediately notice the sudden appearance of a figure behind them, whom had immediately closed the door. They swiftly turned around and slashed toward this person but they missed as they had vanished in a sonido. But the two shifted their gazed to one of the other levels as they saw the figure appear there, to which they narrowed their eyes.

"Who are you?" Rukia demanded as she stepped forward.

"It's been a while..." the figure spoke up in an almost amused tone, it making the raven haired girl's eyes widen in complete and total shock; "...Kuchiki."

Immediately following these words, the figure took a step forward into the little light nearby and revealed Kaien Shiba. He wore a white dress-like garb that covered his entire body, even serving as a set of hakama pants. He also had a white, frilly noble-type coat that had an extremely high collar and wide sleeves, along with a single white glove on his left hand.

But while Senna stared at this man with suspicion and a very watchful eye, Rukia had an expression of both horror and joy, yet she couldn't seem to figure out which to focus on. Yet both females blinked their eyes as 'Kaien' suddenly appeared before them and smirked lightly; "My name is Arruruerie. Espada number 9, Arruruerie Aaroniero." he said silently as he gazed upon the two shinigami.

"K-Kaien...dono..." was all Rukia could manage as she looked at the man in front of her.

Senna looked over to her and raised a brow, but seemed to stay on her guard just in case; "You know this guy?" she asked rather confused.

Rukia looked from Aaroniero to the floor and finally back to him; "Are you truly Kaien-dono?" she demanded with narrowed eyes as she seemed somewhat doubtful.

To this question, Aaroniero just smirked lightly to her and nodded, but his expression seem almost like it was made from someone else's face. Yet while Rukia couldn't seem to see it as she smiled widely, Senna merely narrowed her eyes further and kept her guard completely up. Aaroniero noticed this, blinked his eyes to her and tilted his head to the side; "What's wrong with you?" he asked, it still being apparent to Senna that he was simply acting off of what felt right.

"What's wrong with me?" Senna questioned back as she took on a grin; "What's wrong with you? Making a dumb charade of some guy that Rukia apparently knows."

Rukia blinked her eyes to the purple haired girl's words, but then turned back to Aaroniero as he seemed to narrow his eyes slightly on them. But as he was about to respond, he seemed to notice a very small black spot on the blade of Senna's katana. Yet he quickly spoke up after a brief moment of a very tense silence; "What are you talking about? I am 'some guy' that Kuchiki knows."

After he spoke, Rukia seemed to be slightly more suspicious then she had been before, while Senna merely remained just as distrustful toward him. This made a very small twitch appear in Aaroniero's expression, something of which both female's notice. To which he eventually sighed lightly and spoke up in a rather annoyed tone, rather than the friendly one he had been using; "I guess this disguise won't work with both of you here."

"Oh well...your death is sealed anyway." he continued as he grabbed the katana at his waist, which had been hidden by his jacket.

"I just won't have as much fun as I would have liked." Aaroniero finished, Rukia and Senna quickly shunpoing to either side of him, the former releasing her zanpakuto as she and her partner swung their katanas down at him.

-Rangiku and Kukaku-

"So why are you getting so close to the Captain for?" the strawberry blond questioned as the two jumped away from a large yellow, yo-yo shaped disc.

"He's been my best friend for longer then you've even known him. I should be asking you that question!" the raven haired woman countered as they flipped away from yet another attack.

"What in the hell are you two even talking about?!" the purple haired arrancar called out in annoyance as she retracted her weapon and step it up for another attack.

This very youthful woman had short purple hair, with eyes of the same color, black fingernails and light purple teardrop markings on each of her cheeks. Her outfit consisted of a frilly dress with large, poofy sleeves that cut off at her shoulder and a pair of knee-high boots. She also wore fingerless, evening-style gloves, as well as leg warmers that attached to garters at her thighs. There were even a set of small wings on her back, but it appeared to be merely a part of her outfit then her actual body.

The remains of her Hollow mask was positioned in her hair, right above the left side of her forehead, which resembled a spiked hairpin. She was Cirucci Sanderwicci, Privaron Espada number 105 and a former Espada. But while she had a nearly permanent scowl on her face at the moment, she seemed to be more confused toward her opponents then actually mad.

"None of your business!" both women called out in an annoyed tone, which made the arrancar actually pause in her attack before going through with it.

Rangiku and Kukaku once again dodged out of the way from the disc, but the latter suddenly appeared beside the long yellow strand that connected the weapon and the grip in the arrancar's hand. She then proceeded to grab the line and yank it so hard that it went right above its wielder, yet she had an almost bored expression as she did this. Immediately following her actions, the strawberry blond appeared above it and sent a downward kick into it, her having the same kind of look on her face.

This caused the arrancar to jump away as her own weapon came hurling down at her, but when she got herself to ready an attack, she was suddenly punched in the face by both women. Cirucci breathed out heavily as she slowly got to her feet and glared at the two as they were looking to each other and still arguing.

"Well I've been with him nearly every day for over a hundred years! If anything...I should be the one to get closest to him!" Rangiku claimed with a near growl as she and Kukaku were standing off against each other.

"Yeah right! There is no way that I'll let you get closer then me! 'Cause it doesn't matter about the amount...it's the quality." the raven haired woman said as they narrowed their eyes on one another.

Though Cirucci had just been punched by the two, she still couldn't seem to bring herself to attack them as they argued, her hesitating each time to listen to what they would say next. But as she stood back and listened, they eventually turned to her and raised a brow; "If you're just going to sit there and listen...answer us this question!" Kukaku suddenly demanded, to which the arrancar blinked lightly for a moment.

"Which one of us do you think is better?" Rangiku asked as she and Kukaku stood side-by-side with each other and just waited for Cirucci to answer.

The female arrancar looked from one to the other and just raised a brow; "How am I supposed to know? I have no idea who the hell you people are." she said with a near sigh.

The two looked from her to each other with blinking eyes before they turned their attention back to Cirucci; "Well you're no help." Rangiku commented with a sigh.

"Yeah...no kidding." Kukaku said, rolling her eyes slightly as she and the strawberry blond turned away from the arrancar.

Cirucci herself just frowned deeply to their comments and quickly swung her weapon toward them with a; "Shut up!"

But she had missed by a long way as Rangiku and Kukaku just shunpoed out of the way and behind their 'opponent', whom immediately attempted to attack the pair once more. As the disc came at them, Rangiku merely crossed her arms and smirked lightly, while Kukaku gave a similar expression before extending her real arm. Cirucci smirked lightly to this as she quickly jerked the handle in her hand upward, to which the disc followed and then hooked back down toward the two.

Yet while the arrancar watched with confidence as neither of her opponents moved, she became wide eyed as she noticed a kido spell developing within Kukaku's hand. Just before it was fired, Cirucci immediately charged a quick, pink colored cero and blasted it at the raven haired woman's kido, to which they exploded on impact. As this happened, a smoke cloud appeared and screened all three of the females' sight, none of them able to see one another.

Yet regardless of this, Cirucci moved through the smoke quickly and headed right for where she could sense the two shinigami's spirit energy. But the moment she reached them and readied a surprise attack from behind, Kukaku suddenly vanished from sight. This caused her slightly narrowed eyes to widen as she had to bring her disc-shaped weapon on her left side in order to block the powerful punch the raven haired woman sent her way.

Once Kukaku's fist made contact, Cirucci's eyes widened even further as her weapon was knocked right into her and sent them both right into the floor. As she hit, the impact was enough to blow all of the smoke away and even make a dust cloud around her, which had blocked the angered expression that spread on her face. But she eventually took on a small smirk as she used the thick dust around her to block her next move from view. This attack coming from under the floor as her disc bursted out from below Rangiku, whom was still standing with her arms crossed.

But as the strawberry jumped away from the disc, the weapon quickly changed direction and followed right after her; "You're not getting away!" the arrancar called out with a wide smirk.

This caused Rangiku to narrow her eyes lightly, then stop herself in midair and simply back hand the disc as it reached her. Cirucci's eyes widened to this, but then they became even wider as she swiftly turned around, only to watch as Kukaku sent a punch right into her face. This hit knocking her backward and straight into the nearest wall, to which her form seemed to just crumple into it; "D-Damn it..." she muttered out, a bit of blood dripping off of her forehead, it being cut after some of the rubble fell on top of her.

As she stood up, she ground her teeth angrily, her actually not being hurt very badly, yet her eyes widened slightly all over again as she heard a short conversation between her two opponents. Both of whom didn't have a single scratch on them; "Why did you hit her so hard?" the strawberry blond questioned.

"Hard? I used a pinky finger's strength at most. And why are we taking it so easy on her anyway? Sure she's actually pretty good, but aren't we supposed to be killing these guys?" Kukaku questioned back.

Following these words, both woman suddenly appeared before the arrancar, whom fell back on the floor out of surprise, yet her expression quickly turned to a glare. She then gripped her handle tightly as if to be ready for an attack; "Why haven't you killed me if that's your goal?! What the hell do you want?!" she demanded, narrowing her eyes even further.

Kukaku just sighed and looked to the side, obviously leaving the explanation to Rangiku, whom still had her arms crossed as she looked down to the arrancar. But she cleared her throat in an almost business type manner before speaking; "Well...my Captain told us that he was going to recruit a few people, so me and Kukaku decided that we'd help him out." she said, gesturing from herself, to the raven haired woman beside her at the end.

"It took a little while to reach an agreement, but we both decided that I would try to do the recruiting...and she'd be the one to 'dispose' of the 'failures'." she continued, giving a glance toward Kukaku as she sweat dropped lightly.

Cirucci blinked lightly for a brief moment before she narrowed her eyes and nearly bared her teeth at the pair; "Are you crazy?! I'd never join a Shinigami! I only follow Aizen because he's the new leader of Las Noches! I still have my pride you know!" she claimed, her tone sounding as though she had been insulted.

Rangiku and Kukaku shared a glance, but as the latter was about to step forward, the former raised a hand and leaned down to be at eye level with the arrancar. Whom of which was inching her hand over as she tried to be discreet about readying her next attack, but she suddenly stopped and looked at them in shock as Rangiku's next words reached her ears; "Actually...he's closer to an arrancar then a shinigami."

Once Cirucci's expression changed, both the strawberry blond and the raven haired woman gave a small smirk of approval. Both of them knowing that even if she didn't agree right away, they had a better chance of her answering 'yes' then 'no'.

-Orihime-

The burnt orange haired teen stood all alone within a fairly large, but very bland room, there only being one window, one chair, one table, one couch and one rug in the center. Yet despite her surroundings, Orihime looked up at the constant crescent moon through the bared window in complete silence. She had on an arrancar's outfit, which consisted of a long makeshift coat that severed as both a coat and fairly tight shirt. She also wore a pair of white hakama pants, black tabi socks and silver straw sandals.

But a sudden voice from a few yards behind her made the orange haired girl jump slightly as it broke the silence around her; "It seems that you've noticed that your friends have come here to save you."

Orihime blinked her eyes quickly and looked to Ulquiorra; "Wh-Wh-When did you get here?" she questioned with a slight stutter in the beginning.

"Just now. Don't react in such a manner, it's unsightly." the pale espada spoke as he walked up beside her; "Though I'm sure Hitsugaya has come here as well, I haven't been able to feel his spirit energy whatsoever."

The teen girl looked at him for a moment as he just looked up and out the window, to which she did the same and smiled lightly; "He's an amazing person...I've never been able to see or feel him coming till he was already right next to me. But I know that he's here, and he's coming for me...along with Kurosaki-kun and the others." she said in a hopeful tone.

Ulquiorra simply turned his eyes toward her before shifting his head; "You have a great admiration for him." he speculated, to which Orihime just smiled and nodded.

"Of course...it's like he's my other brother." she said as she turned her gaze from the moon, to the rug covered floor.

To these words, Ulquiorra slightly narrowed his eyes as he then turned his whole body to face her; "You don't know anything about him...yet you have placed all of your faith in him." he said emotionlessly.

Orihime turned to him, blinked her eyes a few times before looking away and down; "I guess...I've just come to trust him, the same way I trust in Kurosaki-kun." she said silently.

The green eyed espada stared at her blankly for a moment before turning away and looking to the door; "Though it is foolish to put faith in someone so blindly, I'd say you were fortunate to place it in such a person as Hitsugaya." he said as he started walking out.

The orange haired girl blinked her eyes toward him, then reached out slightly as she spoke; "Wait!"

Ulquiorra stopped in his tracks, just as he was about to reach the door, to which he turned around and looked at her; "What is it?" he questioned, still in his emotionless voice.

"Well...since you know so much about Hitsugaya-kun, would you mind telling me a bit about him?" she asked as she brought her stretched out hand to her other arm and gripped it gently.

There was brief moment of silence between the two as Ulquiorra merely stared at her, while Orihime just turned away slightly as if wondering if she should take back her question. But she quickly turned to him once more and blinked as he answered; "Very well. I'll answer your questions about Hitsugaya, but after you have eaten." he said, a split second before a knock came at the door.

Immediately following the knock, the door itself opened and revealed a a full masked arrancar that wheeled in a tray of food. But with the silver covering over the plate, it was impossible to tell what it was that the teen girl would be eating, to which she tilted her head to the side in confusion. Once the arrancar had left, Ulquiorra started walking out the door; "I'll return in fifteen minutes to tell you the information you seek." he said just before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Orihime simply blinked to all this, then looked back to the tray of food and raised a brow; "I wonder what kind of food they have in Hueco Mundo?" she questioned silently to no one but herself as she lifted the silver cover away.

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There you have it. Now you guys better pay attention...there is some good information in this. ;D Anyway, till next time everyone...I hope you all enjoyed. ;) And I also hope to see a few more ideas in the reviews. ^^ Ja Ne.


	104. Chapter 104

Okay...here's the next chapter. From now on it's only going to be two groups at a time so you get more of the anime and manga feel for it, since that's kinda the same thing they did. But anyway, a quick thanks to Tuli-chan again and I hope you guys enjoy.

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**Chapter 104:**

-Ichigo, Chad and Nel-

The two teens continued running down the hallways of the large underground building, while the small arrancar girl rode on Ichigo's shoulder after returning said person's zanpakuto. Though it took nearly three more splitting hallways for her to do so, which only came to an end after she decided that her throat hurt from screaming so much.

"Join the club." was the orange haired teen's response to this.

But as they continued on, they eventually came up to yet another 'Y' in the path, to which they each let out a light or heavy sigh; "Now which way should we go?" Chad questioned as he looked from one way to the other.

"I'm not sure that it really matters...we've gone so many different ways that it probably won't make any difference. We've been lost since we got here." Ichigo said with a shrug.

"Well...we made a left, then a right, then another right, a left, another left, two more right's and a left. So maybe we should just try the right." the tan teen said as he counted each direction on each of his hands.

"I thought it was left, right, left, left, right, left, right, right." Ichigo said with a raised brow.

"Nuh-uh! Nel went weft, wight, wight, wight, weft, wight, weft, weft!" the small hazel eyed girl claimed in a very childish voice.

"Well maybe we did make that left before this one...but I'm pretty positive we made a left after our first right." Ichigo commented as he placed his hands on his hips and looked up in thought.

But while the three continued to discuss this, none of them seemed to notice the figure above them with an annoyed expression on their face. This person being a male arrancar with black hair that seemed to be slightly long and spiked, with the front resembling a pair of horns. He also had small blue eyes, a thin beard and mustache, and long side burns extending to his jawline.

The remains of his Hollow mask consisted of a small plate on his forehead, which had horns that mirrored those that his hair created. Though he wore white Arrancar's outfit, it appeared to be customized as it had fringes on the forearm portion of the sleeves and a poofy red sash tied at his waist. He also had shoulder pads and openings down the front of his jacket, which revealed his black undershirt.

Yet despite his appearance, he had both his pointer fingers in either of his ears as if to block out all the sound. But after a while, he growled silently to himself as the sound of the three down below became to unravel his nerves. Him being unable to take the conversation about how many turns they made and which ways they went.

"You're all wrong!" he suddenly screamed out in a fairly strong Spanish accent, which had only seemed make his voice reach a high pitch, which gained each of their attention right away.

"It was left, left, right, left, right, right, right, left!" he continued, his annoyance at the group very obvious as he literally stomped his foot down on the beam he stood on.

Unbeknownst to him, the beam began to crack from the force of this and eventually gave way just as he began another sentence; "Why did you even follow that litt-!" was all he got out before falling.

Once he landed on the floor, Ichigo, Nel and even Chad just looked to him with a sweat drop and raised brow; "Um...are you okay?" the former questioned as he leaded forward as if to check on the man.

"What are you talking about?! I'm your enemy! What are you getting all concerned about?!" the arrancar demanded with his tone still being slightly high pitched as he yelled.

The three continued to give him a sweat drop and a very unimpressed expression; "Well...you kind of just fell to the floor after breaking the beam. So it's kind of hard to take you that seriously." Ichigo said with a light shrug.

"What?! I'm an Arrancar! How can you not take me seriously?!" the black haired man asked loudly, which seemed to only make the three sweat drop heavier.

"Oh well. Whatever the case...your fate was been sealed the moment you entered the domain of the Cientecimo Tercero Arrancar, Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio." he continued as he seemed to take on a much more serious demeanor and smirked confidently.

But even as he said this, he immediately became frustrated all over again as the three had just gone back to their conversation of which way to go. Though Chad seemed to keep a much closer eye on the man, they still didn't bother to look to Dordoni until he finished his next few words. Which had come out as even more of a scream then his previous ones; "Hey! Pay attention! I'm not just gonna let you through!"

"Well, no offense...but we're in a bit of a hurry. And we really don't have time to fool around here for very long." Ichigo said with another shrug.

"We have to save a friend as quickly as possible." Chad added as even Nel simply gave a light nod of agreement.

Dordoni looked at them in agitation for a moment, but then he regained his calm look and let out a breath; "Sorry...niños. But you won't be saving anyone, or even be leaving this place alive." he said with slightly narrowed eyes.

These words made each of the three to look back at him seriously as the two teens countered his slight glare with their own; "Alright...then we'll just have to force our way through." Ichigo claimed as he grabbed his zanpakuto.

Once the white wrapping unraveled, the orange haired teen placed it out before him at the same time Chad's right arm transformed. As they did this, Nel jumped down from Ichigo's shoulder and backed away slightly, but Dordoni merely smirked lightly as he looked from one teen to the other; "You're welcome to try...niños."

Immediately following his words, Ichigo charged right for him, to which he merely dodged away, yet it seemed more like a dance then anything else. But then he quickly dodged away from yet another attack, this one coming from his side as Chad had circled around to try and catch him off guard. As both their attempts missed, the two teens shared a glance with one another before they both came right at the arrancar with a non-stop onslaught of slashes and punches.

"Come on! Get 'im! You can do Itsygo!" the small arrancar girl called out as she continued to watch from further down the hall.

Yet no matter how many times they attacked him, Dordoni kept dodging out of the way with his strange dancing; "What's wrong niños? Is that all you can do?" he questioned with a confident smirk on his face.

This provocation seemed to work fairly well as the two started to attack with even more force and speed, but still were unable to touch him. Though Chad was becoming slightly annoyed and aggravated from this, Ichigo became even more so as he suddenly narrowed his eyes and brought his large zanpakuto up and over his head; "Getsuga...Tensho!"

As he called this out, he slashed downward, creating a massive amount of blue spirit energy that went hurling at the arrancar, whom just kicked it and split the attack in half. This caused each of the three to widen their eyes slightly, Dordoni giving a smirk to their expressions as he crossed his arms; "Do you see now? Niños?" he began.

"You won't be able to beat me at 'this' level. You better use your Bankai and whatever else you might have hidden." he continued as he looked from one teen to the other before vanishing from their sight.

"Or you're going to die." he finished as he reappeared behind them, only to send kicks to either of their faces with a jumping split.

This blow knocked both of the teens into and through separate walls of the hallway, to which Dordoni just looked at them with a raised brow; "Perhaps you prefer for me to kill you beforehand?" he questioned confidently before back flipping away from a blast of blue spirit energy by Chad.

The arrancar looked to this and narrowed his eyes slightly; "That was an interesting attack there, niño. What is it called?" he asked.

"El Directo." was all Chad said before yet another blast came for Dordoni, to which he moved out of the way easily.

"Hmph, it may be powerful...but it's far too slow to hit me, niño." the arrancar claimed with a smirk, but then his eyes widened slightly as he heard Ichigo's voice right behind him.

"Then allow me. Getsuga Tensho!" as the teen called this out, Dordoni was instantly engulfed in a large amount of blue spirit energy and blasted him into and through multiple walls.

"Yeah! You showed him!" Nel cheered out from off to the side, jumping up and down childishly.

When Chad came through the wall, he looked to Nel with a light smirk, then to Ichigo as he gave a simple thumbs up, to which the other teen smirked and returned the gesture. But then they quickly turned toward the arrancar's direction in slight shock as he emerged from the hole; "Nice combo, niños. But still not good enough." he commented with a light huff of amusement.

As he walked forward, revealing to only have a few burns from Ichigo's attack, Dordoni smirked lightly at the teens as they readied themselves in case he attacked; "Though you haven't done as I asked, you are taking this fight much more serious then before...so I'll reward you both by showing you the true strength of the Privaron Espada! And in return...I expect you to use your full power against me! " Dordoni claimed with a confident grin.

He then gripped his zanpakuto, partly unsheathed it and narrowed his eyes; "Maware, Giralda!"

-Rukia and Senna-

Aaroniero gave a light grin as he merely sonidoed out of the way from both females' attacks, to which both of their katanas' hit the floor and shattered it slightly in a three foot radius. But as they retracted their blades they quickly turned to the espada with narrowed eyes as he looked at them in amusement a few yards away. Though his expression remained the same, even as the two shinigami charged toward him once more, his eyes became much more focused as they came toward him.

As Rukia and Senna ran forward, they suddenly split up and began shunpoing in a serpentine pattern. To which Aaroniero just side flipped to his right as Rukia came directly for him, while Senna went for where he would have been, had he gone to the left. This made the two quickly come right back toward him with their zanpakutos at the ready, the espada however merely smirked wider as he landed on the floor. As he did, he raised his hands up to either side of him and caught the shinigamis' blades, both of which became slightly wide eyed.

"What's wrong? You didn't think that an Espada level arrancar could be beaten by anyone else other then a Captain, did you?" Aaroniero questioned as his smirk widened even further.

Rukia and Senna narrowed their eyes on him, then quickly shunpoed away from him, to which the latter glanced to the former with a hard gaze; 'She's been holding back this whole time. Regardless of knowing he's a fake, she can't seem to get over the fact that this guys looks the same as the one she knew.' she thought to herself before turning to the espada just as he disappeared from her sight.

"What are you getting distracted for?" he questioned rather smugly as he appeared behind the two, making their eyes widen and turn toward him.

But before they could look at him fully, they were suddenly slashed across their backs by a zanpakuto that he unsheathed from beneath his jacket. The two girls let out a scream of pain from this, which echoed loudly in the large area, both of them beginning to bleed from these wounds immediately. As they stumbled forward from the force of the strike, the espada appeared in front of the pair and sent a round house kick to both of their faces.

This blow knocked them back into the nearest wall, which crumbled behind them and even buried the two in the ruble. Yet Rukia and Senna pulled themselves out, looked at Aaroniero with glaring eyes and readied their stances. But regardless of this, the latter could still notice a hesitance in both Rukia's expression and actions; 'This isn't good. If I can't get her to focus...we're definitely going to lose this fight.' she thought as merely allowed herself to look at the raven haired girl from her peripheral vision.

"What's wrong? I'm barely breaking a sweat over here. You disappoint me Kuchiki." the espada said as he crossed his arms and let out a heavy sigh.

After hearing these words, Rukia seemed cringe slightly before charging forward, but as she did, Aaroniero just grinned widely and sonidoed before her. This made the raven haired girl's eyes widen, the fake Kaien slashing his blade down to her with speed too fast for her to block or even dodge. But Senna had been one step ahead as she had quickly tackled her friend away from the attack and rolled away from the espada.

Once they stopped, the purple haired girl jumped up and readied for battle, while Rukia just looked down in shame as she slowly did the same. This made Senna slightly agitated as she suddenly kicked Rukia on her side and began yelling; "Whoever you see in that face is false! You have to get over that or we're both going to die and leave Orihime all alone in this hellhole!"

Rukia's eyes widened slightly to this, but then she nodded her head as she clenched her zanpakuto tighter and narrowed her eyes; "You're right. That man is not Kaien-dono...he's just some bastard that looks like him." she began as her confidence seemed to come back to her.

"I won't let you soil Kaien-dono's name!" Rukia called out rather angrily, to which Senna grinned widely and looked back to their opponent.

Aaroniero merely smirked widely to this exchange as if finding it amusing; "Is that so? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I technically am Shiba Kaien." he claimed, making both girls' eyes widen.

"Wh-What?!" the two demanded in unison.

"That's right...Aizen-sama was the one to create the one known as 'Metastacia'. He was specifically designed to reform in Hueco Mundo if he just so happened to have an untimely death." Aaroniero began with a wide grin, to which the two shinigami were too stunned to even move.

"And since he managed to fuse his body with Shiba Kaien, his body was also reformed and allowed me to absorb both the hollow Metastacia's and Shiba Kaien's power! But not only did I gain their power, but their memories and battle experience as well! I'm the closest thing to the real Shiba Kaien there is!" he continued, him starting to laugh at the end as if knowing that this information would more then likely break Rukia's fighting spirit.

Which Senna took notice of as she noticed a tear in Rukia's eye; 'Damn it! She's beyond gone now! I'll have to do this myself!' she thought as she quickly brought her katana up to release it.

But as it began to glow a brilliant golden color, she was immediately stopped as the espada appeared to her side, grabbed her blade and stabbed her through the stomach. This made both females' eyes widen, though the purple haired shinigami narrowed them quickly in hate as she turned toward Rukia; "Don't let him win." was all she could manage as she fell to the floor seemingly unconscious, her bleeding heavily from her new wound.

Rukia's eyes narrowed heavily as she ground her teeth before releasing a large blast of cold spirit energy that knocked Aaroniero away and a loud scream of anger. The espada just turning to attack her as she did this, but as he was hit backward, he quickly jumped up to the second floor as the lower one was now covered in frost. He narrowed his eyes to this, but then quickly turned his attention to Rukia as she suddenly appeared to his side and slashed down at him.

As he brought his zanpakuto up to block, his blade started to freeze over even before the two connected with each other. This made the espada's eyes widen slightly before he narrowed them on Rukia's glare; "Not bad...but still not nearly enough to compete at my level, Kuchiki." he said before swinging his blade and knocking Rukia away, his tone sounding just like Kaien's would when he wanted Rukia to try harder in her training.

Yet even as he did and said this, Rukia merely seemed to become angrier as she quickly flipped herself around, landed her feet on the wall she was heading toward and kicked off of it hard. Despite knowing what was coming, Aaroniero was still shocked as to how quickly she came at him. But though he blocked her slashing attack, his eyes widened slightly at the pressure from it as he had to bring both hands up to keep himself stationary.

Immediately following this attack, Rukia suddenly vanished in a shunpo and appeared behind him, to which she slashed him across the back. The espada growled in pain before he sent a back kick at Rukia, whom quickly flipped out of the way; "N-Not bad Kuchiki. I think you're ready for the big leagues now." he said with a pain-filled twitch at the beginning.

Rukia narrowed her eyes even more as he continued to use the same tone she had heard so often from Kaien himself when he was proud of her. But the longer she looked at him, the more she saw the real Kaien in him and made her less eager to actually fight him. Her having used blind rage to block out the fact that she normally couldn't raise her blade against her former teacher and friend.

Yet despite this, she quickly charged at Aaroniero once more, but she seemed to hesitate for the briefest of moments, something of which the espada noticed. As Rukia came toward him, he merely used her momentum against her, parried her blade and flipped it out of her hands. This shocked the shinigami as she was just about to jump away, but froze as Aaroniero suddenly placed his hand a top of her head and smirked widely.

"You did well Kuchiki. I'm glad to see that you're starting to calm down a bit." he said with a relieved sigh, this being so familiar to Rukia that she couldn't break free no matter how much her mind screamed to attack.

"You're not Kaien-dono! Stop acting like him! You killed one of my best friends!" she yelled at him as she smacked his hand away, yet her expression seemed as though she wanted to believe that he could be real.

"But if I didn't kill her, you would have continued to be manipulated by both her and Captain Hitsugaya." he claimed, making Rukia's eyes widen and look at him in shock.

"Wh-What?" was all the raven haired girl could manage out as she stepped backward, her expression turning to one of horror.

"He's known about me for years, yet he never bothered to come and save me...or even see if I was okay." Aaroniero started, as Rukia's already large eyes became larger.

"I wanted nothing more then to let you know that I was okay so you wouldn't suffer, but he didn't even care enough to give you that. And now he sent her here with you just in case you learned the truth." he continued, gesturing to Senna laying on the floor on the lower level.

The raven haired girl closed her eyes, clutched and shook her head as she was now having an inner battle with herself; "No...it can't be true." she whispered to herself.

"Believe me...it's completely true." he claimed as he grinned widely and raised his zanpakuto in the air to slash down at her.

But as he did this, his eyes widened as a blade pierced into his back and out through his chest; "I-Impossible..." he stuttered out as he turned his head toward Senna's body as it turned to a group of autumn leaves.

"Not quite...but then I'm not a very probable person." the purple haired girl claimed with a light smirk.

This turn of events made Rukia look at the two in shock; "S-Senna..." she whispered out in both surprise and relief.

"Tch! You're going to pay for that!" Aaroniero claimed angrily, bringing his zanpakuto up and calling out the release command; "Suiten sakamake! Nejibana!"

Immediately following this, the zanpakuto glowed a bright yellow and transformed into a blue colored trident. It having a crystalline-like appearance with a blue horsehair tassel just below the three points of the trident itself, while a corkscrew-type drill was seen at the other end. But before anyone could react, the small black dot on Senna's blade began to glow blue and engulfed them all in a blinding bright light of the same color.

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And there you have it...I say that a lot at the end don't I? XD Anyway, let me know what you guys think, okay? And btw Dragon Silhouette...check out my response to your last review. ;D I think you'll appreciate it. XD Till next time everyone, Ja Ne.


	105. Chapter 105

And here it is...the chapter that got delayed. I made it a bit longer then I intended to make up for time lost, so I hope you guys...and gals like it. ;) But before we start, a quick and big thanks to Tuli-chan for helping so much on this one. ;D Now on to the chapter. :)

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**Chapter 105:**

-Rangiku and Kukaku-

"But...that's impossible. How can an arrancar have a Captain's position within the Gotei Thirteen?" Cirucci asked as her shock of the issue made it difficult for her to raise her voice like she wanted.

"Well, it's a complex story...but the bottom line is that my Captain is an arrancar and would like to recruit you if you're willing." Rangiku said with a light shrug at the beginning before ending it with a raised brow.

The female arrancar remained silent for a brief moment as she looked down at the floor, but then she tilted her head up and looked to the two woman; "And what makes you so sure that I'd even consider betraying Aizen-sama?" she asked with an almost cocky tone.

Kukaku sighed heavily and rolled her eyes; "Tch! Well for one...you don't actually seem to enjoy being part of this army in the first place. All I've seen in our fight was someone who really only fights for herself rather than someone else." she began, her knowing she was correct in her words as Cirucci became completely silent and slightly wide eyed.

"Plus..." the raven haired started as she uncrossed her arms and placed her real hand on her hip; "...you're just now using Aizen's suffix. You addressed him as 'Aizen' before, but now it's 'Aizen-sama'? Not buying it." she finished with a knowing grin.

This expression made Cirucci frown deeply and narrow her eyes on the dark haired woman, but she never got to respond as Rangiku quickly inched between the two. The strawberry blond of which had let out a heavy sigh during Kukaku's words; "Alright...well we don't really have to like one another to work together. But we would appreciate the help." Rangiku said with a friendly expression toward the arrancar.

Cirucci narrowed her eyes once more and ground her teeth as she stood back up; "You're only accepting me because your 'precious Captain' is half hollow. He may have a hollow's power, but he probably knows nothing about us." she claimed, seeming quite angry toward the two.

Rangiku and Kukaku shared a glance with one another, then turned back to her with shrug and nodded; "Yeah...we are only accepting you because of that. We don't trust you whatsoever and would never turn our backs for even a split second." the former began with slightly narrowed eyes.

As she said this, the arrancar narrowed her eyes even further as she was slightly confused about the strawberry blond's change in demeanor; "But we're here to save a friend and recruit as many people as possible to our cause because that's what my Captain wants. And I never go against his orders." she continued, her eyes showing complete determination.

"Besides...if you want to know if he knows about the hollows...you'll have to ask him yourself." she finished, crossing her arms under her chest midway through her statement.

After these words, Cirucci blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes heavily on the pair and gripping at the handle of her zanpakuto. But she suddenly became relaxed and let out a silent sigh; "Fine...but I won't make my decision until I get my answers. I'm not about to follow some 'Aizen wanna be'." she said, her weapon's cord winding into the handle till the disc became connected to the handle itself.

Rangiku merely grinned widely to this answer and nearly scoffed in amusement; "Believe me. It would be Aizen that's that 'wanna be'." she muttered silently.

Kukaku just raised a brow and actually let out a sigh of disappointment, as if she had hoped for the opposite outcome. But regardless of this, the strawberry blond simply gave a wave to the other two for them to follow, to which they did without any problems. Yet as they went, Cirucci ended up being in the center of the group and seemed to become increasingly annoyed of how she appeared more as a prisoner then a recruit.

Yet as they walked, the two had kept their senses open for a surprise attack that the arrancar might attempt, which seemed quite plausible due to the aggravated expression upon her face. But despite this, no attack ever came, much to Rangiku's surprise and Kukaku's disappointment. Though once they reached the surface, the strawberry blond decided to speak up, which merely made the other two woman raise a brow to her.

"We never got your name." she said as she glanced over to her as the stepped out onto the sand within Las Noches.

"It's Cirucci...Sanderwicci Cirucci." the arrancar said as she just looked to the side.

"Hmm...nice name. Your last name almost sounds like 'Thunder-witch'." Rangiku commented with a small smirk toward her.

As the female arrancar looked over to her with a raises brow, she immediately turned toward Kukaku as she made a comment of her own; "Tch...more like 'Thunder-bitch'."

"What was that?!" Cirucci demanded as she narrowed her eyes on the raven haired woman.

"Well you certainly aren't the most pleasant person to be around." Kukaku claimed as she merely placed her real and fake hand to her hips.

"You don't know anything about me you bitch!" the purple haired arrancar growled out as she raised her weapon up, the handle and disc disconnecting.

"I don't need to. Just by the way you've talked to us, it's obvious that you normally treat people like crap." the raven haired woman said in a too calm of a tone.

Cirucci ground her teeth, glared heavily at the woman and brought her disc up to attack; "Shut up!" she screamed out.

But just as she was about to attack, Kukaku suddenly appeared right in front of her with a large blue kido in her real hand. Yet as they continued to come toward one another, both of their hands suddenly stopped in their tracks as Rangiku grabbed their wrists tightly. Both of the women looked at Rangiku as she had a deadly serious expression on her features, which was directed toward the two.

"That's far enough...both of you." she said in a very icy tone that Kukaku thought could nearly have been Toshiro's.

"We're not here to fight each other...we're here to fight Aizen." she continued, her nearly spitting out Sosuke's name like it were poison.

Kukaku looked at Rangiku for a while before she allowed her kido to disburse and relax her muscles, to which Rangiku released her wrist. Cirucci narrowed her eyes on the two for a moment, then retracted her disc and allowed it to connect with the handle once more, the strawberry blond allowing her to go free as well. Though there was a long pause between the three, it was Kukaku that spoke first; "Well I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to know who my allies are before fighting along side them."

To these words, both Rangiku and Cirucci blinked slightly in shock, them realizing that Kukaku had merely said what she did to confirm her speculations about what type of person the arrancar was. But the strawberry blond quickly turned toward the open sands of Las Noches and spoke in a commanding tone; "Let's get moving."

But as they were about to take a single step, they all felt a strong spike of spirit energy in the same direction that Toshiro had sent Rukia and Senna. Rangiku and Kukaku shared a glance with one another, both of their eyes narrowing slightly as they appeared to be considering to go and help the pair. Yet this was only increased as Cirucci whispered to herself; "That's Arruruerie-sama's spirit energy."

The two turned toward her with a raised brow, but only Kukaku spoke up; "And who is this 'Arruruerie-sama'?" she questioned in a confused tone, her almost mispronouncing the espada's name.

Cirucci looked over at her with slightly narrowed eyes, the female arrancar seeming to consider not to answer her question, yet she did so anyway as she let out a sigh; "He's the Noveno Espada. Arruruerie Aaroniero."

"Hmph...so much for my hope for them not running into any of the espada." Rangiku commented with a sigh, her normal personality seeming to return as she glanced over to the tower.

"When did you hope for that?" Kukaku asked with a raised brow, tilting her head slightly to the side.

The strawberry blond blinked her eyes to the woman and just shrugged her shoulders; "For a while. Just because I didn't say anything does mean I wasn't thinking it." she claimed with a confident smirk on her face.

Kukaku rolled her eyes to this and huffed silently; "Tch...yeah right. You always voice everything...even when no one wants to listen." she commented, mostly whispering her last few words.

Rangiku pouted to her words and crossed her arms beneath her chest as well; "Whatever...maybe I'll just stop talking all together." she said, turning her head to the side.

"Hmmm...now that would be a nice day." Kukaku said with a relieved sigh and an actual pleasant expression on her features.

To these words, Rangiku snapped her head toward the raven haired woman and frowned in another pout; "How rude~! You're definitely cold and mean enough to be my Captain's childhood friend."

Kukaku smirked lightly to this as if it were a compliment and shrugged her shoulders; "What can I say...we were made for each other." she said, taking on a wide grin.

Rangiku frowned to her words, but then took on a grin of her own; "Yeah well I'm almost the complete opposite for him, and we all know that opposites attract."

Cirucci looked at the two silently as if trying to understand them, which only made her sweat drop and nearly shutter; "I can't believe I'm even considering working with these people." she said quietly to herself.

But then her eyes widened heavily as she quickly turned and saw a tall, but skinny figure coming toward them; "Nnoitra-sama..." she whispered out in shock.

Rangiku and Kukaku immediately stopped their conversation as they heard her, to which they glanced over to the approaching figure with narrowed eyes. But it was the latter that spoke up with a light smirk; "Oh wow. That's one hell of a hood."

When she said this, she raised a brow toward the man and tilted her head to the side in question. But while the other two just watched Nnoitra come toward them with narrowed eyes, Kukaku's next few words made them sweat drop heavily; "So who's the 'spoon head'?"

As Nnoitra came closer, he was revealed to be a very tall and lanky man with long black hair, which covered most of the left side of his face. His only showing eye was small and grey in color, which seemed far out shined by the large maniacal grin on his face. Along with his white hakama pants, tall, but curved black boots and the white eye patch that covered his left eye, he had a white, open jacket with a large spoon-like hood. Yet it was the giant blade he carried in his right hand that got each of their attention, this weapon being shaped like two crescent placed across a long staff.

"He's the Quinto Espada...Gilga Nnoitra." Cirucci said, narrowing her eyes once more.

Rangiku raised a brow toward the man, taking on an unimpressed expression as Kukaku merely grinned widely. But once Nnoitra came up within a few yards of them, his already wide smile widened further and looked from one woman to the next; "So...who would like to die first?" he questioned confidently, his blood lust being very blatant in his voice.

To his words, Kukaku quickly stepped forward and grinned even more than before; "Finally...I get to have a halfway decent fight to warm me up." she claimed as she placed her fake arm to her hip while the other hung down to her side.

"Oh? Pretty big talk for a big breasted bitch." the espada claimed with an insulting grin and tone.

"Hmph...this coming from the guy with a ten foot long blade. Oh no, you're not compensating for anything." the raven haired woman shot back with an amused smirk, making Rangiku and even Cirucci hold back a laugh.

Nnoitra immediately narrowed his eyes in anger and charged toward Kukaku, which only made her grin wider in amusement; "Thought so..."

-Uryu and Renji-

As the shinigami and quincy fought together to defeat what seemed to be a never-ending wave of hollows, they eventually let out a sigh of relief as the numbers began to decrease. To which they finished off the last of the hollows within a few more moments, them working well together despite it being the first time. But as the two shared a small smirk with each other, they immediately became wide eyed as they heard a silent chuckle from off to the side.

"How amusing." they heard from the same direction of the chuckle, to which both of them snapped their attention toward the voice.

What they saw was strange man with shoulder-length pink hair, bangs that were only on the right side of his forehead, while two thin lines could be seen with no hair on the left side of his head. He had amber color eyes, which had a set of rectangular-framed glasses covering them, these glasses in fact the remains of his Hollow mask.

His clothes consisted of a long shirt that covered his entire torso and up to the top of his neck, a regular white pair of hakama pants and a set of white gloves. He also had three stripes on his uniform, each of which started at his collar with one running to the left side of his chest, one to the right side, and the last down the middle.

"But I suppose I can't expect much from simpletons such as yourselves." the man continued as he smirked confidently toward the two.

"Who the hell are you?" Renji demanded as he and Uryu narrowed their eyes heavily on him.

"Oh...where are my manners? My name is Szayel Aporro Granz... the Octava Espada, nice to meet you both." the pink haired arrancar said.

As they heard his name and title, both the red haired shinigami and the raven haired quincy narrowed their eyes heavier and seemed to ready for an attack. This only seemed to make Szayel frown lightly and sigh as if in disappointment; "Hmph...and here I expected you to return the favor and introduce yourselves to me." he said silently.

"Oh well, I suppose I shouldn't have thought that you'd be sophisticated enough to give me that type of courtesy." Szayel continued as he shrugged lightly as he regained his smirk.

"Ishida Uryu."

"Abarai Renji."

"Now let's get this over with." the quincy claimed as he pointed his blue bow directly toward the espada and gathered spirit particles to form an arrow.

As he did this, Renji quickly brought his zanpakuto up and narrowed his eyes heavily, despite him taking on a somewhat wide grin; "Bankai!"

After this, his katana glowed a deep red, then his spirit energy exploded forward, surrounding Renji's body completely and blasting a strong gust of wind around the area. Once the spirit energy cleared away it revealed a long and very large snake-shaped skeleton with a bushy red color mane. Which ended in a bone shaped handle in Renji's right hand, whom of which now had a fur cowl around his neck. The cowl itself had an ape's skull over his left shoulder, while the rest of the fur extended to cover his right arm.

"Hihiō Zabimaru." the red haired shinigami said with a wide and confident smirk on his face.

Following his words, he quickly brought his arm up and sent his snake-like Bankai directly toward the espada. As the head hurled toward Szayel, he quickly moved out of the way, it appearing that he flailed away from the attack. Yet Uryu could tell that even as the arrancar did this, his actions were still very controlled, showing him that Szayel was merely playing with them. But though Renji did notice something to be off about the espada's movements, he continued to attack him with the head of his Bankai.

As Szayel dodged three more times, him making each one incredibly overly dramatic, he suddenly stopped him movements and allowed the snake-like head come right at him. This made Renji's and Uryu's eyes narrow slightly as they just watched the former's attack come at the espada, whom had an invisible smirk. Yet the snake-like head never made it within one yard of Szayel before it suddenly seemed to explode, the entirety of Renji's Bankai completely being destroyed by an invisible force.

This caused both the shinigami and quincy to widen their eyes in shock, the former's zanpakuto returning back to its normal katana form; "I-Impossible..." Renji muttered before narrowing his eyes heavily.

"How did you do that?!" the red head demanded as he placed his free hand on his zanpakuto's handle.

After he said this, Uryu glanced over to him with slightly narrowed eyes, then back to the espada as he just seemed to grin widely. Yet despite his expression, neither of them expected Szayel to actually start laughing before he spoke; "You really should have payed more attention to my name, Szayel Aporro Granz." he said, putting extra emphasis on his last name.

Only a brief second went by before Renji's eyes widened once more and he spoke in a shocked tone; "G-Granz? But, that means you're..."

"That's right. I'm the younger brother of Yylfordt Granz. That weakling you managed to defeat back when that fool Grimmjow invaded the World of the Living." Szayel claimed as his grin widened.

"Though I suppose neither of them were totally useless. If not for Grimmjow's stupidity and my brother's pathetic abilities...I wouldn't be having as much fun with you as I am now. It's all thanks to the spiritual recording insects I placed on Yylfordt that has allowed me to learn every last thing there is to know about your Bankai." he continued as he began to lightly chuckle as Renji's eyes widened once more.

Uryu however had narrowed his eyes heavily and began shifting his eyes around the room, obviously looking for something that could have destroyed the red haired shinigami's Bankai. But he didn't look for very long before Szayel spoke up once more in a confident tone; "Trust me, you won't find anything in this room to use against me. I built it after all."

To these words, Uryu merely adjusted his glasses, smirked very lightly and narrowed his eyes further on the espada; "That may be true. But knowing one's surroundings gives some equal footing among fighters." he claimed with just as much confidence as Szayel.

The arrancar gave a raised brow toward the quincy, but then he began to laugh all over again; "As if either of you could pose a threat against me! I gathered all the data I needed to know that neither of you can even come close to harming me!" he declared, grinning widely.

But his expression turned to one of shock as Uryu appeared a few yards behind him with seemingly only one arrow formed in his bow; "We'll see about that." was all the raven haired teen said before shooting a barrage of arrows.

The arrows immediately hit Szayel all across his body, yet only a few of them actually pierced through his hierro. Yet each of the ones that did, embedded rather deeply into his skin and caused him to growl silently in pain. But Uryu wasn't finished, he quickly used hirenkyaku and appeared on the espada's right, to which he shot another volley of arrows. Though Szayel seemed more prepared this time, even blocking a few of the arrows as they came at him, a few more had gotten through and pierced his skin.

"Damn it..." the arrancar muttered out in annoyance, glaring over to Uryu as he suddenly vanished from his sight once again.

Yet as the quincy appeared to his other side, then behind him and finally out in front, Szayel simply waved his hand through the air. This action suddenly caused Uryu's bow suddenly disappear, but while the raven haired teen was left shocked from this, Renji came at the espada for an attack. But as he came forward, he waved his hand over his zanpakuto and called out it's Shikai release; "Hoero...Zabimaru!"

Immediately following this, Szayel quickly turned to block the red haired shinigami's attack, but he couldn't move fast enough as Renji's blade extended and slammed into his chest. This blow knocked the espada backward, yet he stayed on his feet and even looked at the two with glaring eyes as they stood side by side; "What happened out there?" Renji questioned to the quincy, him still keeping his gaze on Szayel.

"I'm not sure...my control over the spirit particles around me suddenly became more strenuous." Uryu said, his eyes also being focused on the espada.

"I'm guessing he must have used the information from my fight against those hollows to try and negate my abilities all together. But he doesn't know the extent of my power so it's not completely effecting me." he continued, to which he received a smirk from Szayel.

"Well done..." the arrancar said as he began to clap his gloved hands, the two facing him narrowing their eyes; "...you have the IQ of the average idiot." he finished with a rather dark grin, the arrows in his skin shattering apart.

As soon as these words left his lips, the arrancar suddenly vanished from both of his opponents' sight and appeared directly in front of them. Upon seeing him so close, Renji quickly swung his zanpakuto toward him, all the while Uryu jumped backward, reformed the bow in his hand and shot off multiple arrows. But Szayel simply deflected both attacks away, Renji's with his bare hand and Uryu's with the blade of his zanpakuto.

Yet neither of the two gave up as they quickly sent another attack toward the pink haired arrancar, to which said espada just smirked in amusement. Uryu used hirenkyaku to get behind Szayel, then blasted nearly a hundred arrows toward him. Renji however had simply brought his extended blade around to decapitate his opponent, while at the same time charging a kido spell in his free hand.

But despite this, Szayel merely ducked his head away from the red haired shinigami's blade, then he flipped away from all of the quincy's arrows and finally sliced the kido in half as it came at him. All of this made both Renji and Uryu to become wide eyed, the espada doing all this with complete ease. But it was the fact that their own attacks were now heading for each other that caught them off guard, to which the shinigami dodged to the side and the quincy threw himself to the floor.

Renji's blade had passed by over head, while his split kido spell blew to either side of Uryu. All the while the hundred plus arrows missed the red haired shinigami by mere inches as he saw many of them go right by his face. The two let out a heavy breath before getting back to their fighting positions and narrowing their eyes once more on their opponent, whom had a wide and amused smirk on his features.

Though they appeared rather frustrated, Szayel's next few words actually made the two calm down; "Hmph...no team work at all. I guess neither of you know how to fight together."

After a brief pause, Renji and Uryu glanced over to one another with narrowed eyes, to which they quickly turned back to Szayel. Said arrancar raised a brow and tilted his head to the side slightly; "Oh? Are you trying to get a plan going between each other?" he asked with apparent amusement.

"Maybe we are, what's it to you?" Renji asked as he brought his zanpakuto out in front of him.

"Hmph...a meaningless effort. Two people who barely even know each other couldn't possibly hope to fight together." Szayel claimed before suddenly vanishing and appearing to the red head's right side.

This made Renji and Uryu turn toward him in shock, but just as the former attempted to swing his weapon at him, he was stopped by the espada's gloved hand. The quincy tried to help him by shooting arrows toward him, but Szayel merely blocked them all with his zanpakuto. Renji's eyes narrowed heavily, then he took one of his hands away from his weapon's handle and attempted to punch the pink haired arrancar across the face. Yet the espada just moved out of the way, quickly kicked Renji's leading foot and pushed him away, causing the shinigami to trip and fall backward on the floor.

As this happened, Uryu quickly reached behind him, took one of his Seele Schneiders out and formed the blade as he charged forward. The quincy began slashing and thrusting the blue color blade at Szayel, whom just grinned and dodged out of the way from every attack. Though Uryu appeared fairly calm, he also seemed to slowly become frustrated from not being able to hit his opponent. Szayel noticed this right away, to which he eventually just sondioed to the quincy's side and caught his wrist in mid slash.

"Hmph...not very proficient with a blade, are you?" the arrancar questioned, him giving a quick glance to Renji as he got up and charged toward him from behind.

But just as Renji came forward, Szayel smirked lightly as he blocked the shinigami's attack with his zanpakuto, then parried the blade away with enough force to knock him back a few feet. He then dodged away from a palm by Uryu and immediately countered with a slash across his chest. Though the raven haired teen managed to back away slightly to make the gash less deep, it still reached far enough for a large amount of blood to start pouring out. Uryu quickly got away from the espada's grip as it finally loosened, to which he used hirenkyaku to put some distance between them.

Though Szayel smirked widely to this, he quickly turned back to Renji as he came forward for yet another attack. The red haired shinigami yelled out a battle cry and swung his zanpakuto with all of his might, yet as it extended and came at Szayel, it suddenly changed direction and went to the left. This caused the espada's brow to raise as he just looked from the blade to the shinigami as he didn't seem to be keeping his guard up at all. But his eyes narrowed heavily as the blade suddenly changed direction once more, it now coming right back toward him.

But even as he brought his blade up to block, Renji's zanpakuto curved yet again around him and went the opposite way. This appeared to confuse the arrancar as it continued to occur multiple more times, the entirety of the blade eventually being extended all around him. The espada didn't seem to think much of this, until he noticed Uryu quickly running to the side, to which he was about to jump away. Yet he was too late as Renji suddenly pulled his arm back, this causing his zanpakuto to wrap itself around Szayel's body.

The pink haired arrancar's eyes widened slightly, then looked up with slightly widened eyes as Uryu appeared in midair with his Seele Schneider blade placed within his bow. Szayel didn't even have time to speak or even breath before the blue blade suddenly pierced into his throat and through his body. As the quincy landed on the floor, he stumbled and breathed heavily, to which Renji looked over to him; "Are you gonna be okay?" he asked before looking back to Szayel's body as he seeming to just be stuck in the same pose.

"I should be. This wound isn't lethal...but I don't think I can handle getting too many more wounds." Uryu responded as he stood back up.

"Hmm, well I was gonna shoot him with a kido spell after wrapping him up like that, but what you did works too." Renji said with a light smirk, which the quincy returned as they gave one another glance.

"Or does it?" Szayel questioned smugly just as Renji's zanpakuto was blasted apart by a surge of spirit energy.

This caused the two to become wide eyed, both looking on as the pink haired arrancar came forward, him twirling the Seele Schneider around his gloved finger; "Did you really think that pathetic attempt could even damage me?" he asked before tossing the thin piece of metal to Uryu's feet.

"I guess it's about time for me to kill you both. I've grown bored of 'leading you on'." Szayel continued, bringing his zanpakuto up toward his mouth.

"Prepare to di-." but he was cut off from both speaking and bringing his katana's blade toward his mouth as they all heard a voice to the side.

"Oh~. This looks like a lot o' fun. Ya min' if I join in?"

* * *

Well...there you have it. Hope you guys enjoyed. Till next time. Ja Ne. ^^


	106. Chapter 106

Chapter 106:

-Ichigo, Chad and Nel-

"Maware, Giralda!" was all Dordoni said before his spirit energy was released and blew a very large gust of wind around him.

This strong gale caused Ichigo and Chad to slide back slightly and even shield their eyes with their arms, yet Nel was on the verge of being blown away completely. Her only being able to stay put by quickly grabbing at Ichigo's hakama pants, though she nearly lost her grip as the blast of wind was quite powerful.

Once the circling wind died down, it revealed Dordoni to have grown large horns on his shoulders, both extending above his head. He also had armor on his feet, which wrapped around his calves, and jutted out at his waist with two more spikes. His mask fragment had even extended slightly, it now framing his face and covering his side burns completely.

"You best use your full power quickly. Or else..." he started as each of them narrowed their eyes on his new form, but then became wide eyes as he vanished from their sight.

Immediately after sonidoing, Dordoni appeared beside Ichigo, sent his hand directly at Nel in a stabbing motion, yet stopped before reaching her. But regardless of not harming her, both teens looked to his quickly with glaring eyes; "...this poor bebé won't last much longer." he finished with a small but dark grin.

Just as Ichigo swung his zanpakuto toward the arrancar, Chad came forward with a very powerful fit. Yet Dordoni merely caught the large blade with his hand and deflected the tan teen's attack with his leg. But as he knocked Chad's fist away, he turned his body to the side, making him drag Ichigo's blade with him. This caused the orange haired teen to follow along as well, allowing Dordoni to sweep his legs out from under him.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he fell to the floor, but though he caught himself with his hand and even flipped himself around to gain his footing, Nel's grip slipped and she rolled to the side. Yet the teen didn't bother looking to her as he quickly slashed at Dordoni, but the arrancar quickly dodged with a confident smirk on his face. All the while Chad had circled around and blasted an El Directo toward him, which hadn't even reached him as a bird-like skull blocked it, causing both teens' eyes to widen once more.

"You didn't really think that only my appearance, speed changed...did you?" Dordoni asked as he smirked even wider.

The bird skull was formed at the end of a large cyclone, which was being produced at the horn on his right calf. But Ichigo didn't look for very long as he immediately charged in for another attack, but once again it had been dodged easily by the arrancar. Even as Chad brought another El Directo around his fist to blast, Dordoni merely moved his right foot to the side, this sending the bird skull right at the teen.

Chad swiftly moved out of the way and kept coming toward the arrancar, whom glanced toward him and narrowed his eyes slightly. Yet as the tan teen charged, Ichigo came in for an attack as well, both coming from opposite sides of Dordoni. The raven haired arrancar quickly brought his hands out to catch their attacks, him bracing himself for the impact. But his eyes quickly widened as he heard the orange haired teen call out; "Getsuga Tensho!"

As this happened, Dordoni's hand made contact with the blue spirit energy, to which he ground his teeth slightly, the cyclone and bird skull disappearing from him not concentrating on its formation. But his eyes widened a bit more as Chad's attack hit his other hand, which seemed equally as powerful as Ichigo's. Yet as the arrancar held back both blasts, his elbows began to bend, appearing as though his arms would give out.

Suddenly, he grinned widely and pushed both teens' and their attacks away from him, the two being thrown to either end of the hallway. Dordoni chuckled and looked from one to the other; "You did well, niños. But I'm afraid that if you won't fight me with your full power..." he began, looking over to Nel as she tried to hide behind the rubble of one of the walls.

"...I'll have to make her pay your penance." he finished with a small but rather sinister smirk, him walking over to her, the cyclone and bird skull reappearing, along with a second one from his other side.

Nel looked at him in complete fear, her eyes widening as her body trembled, all the while she was unable to move from her spot no matter how much her mind screamed to run. The only action she managed to do was to cover her head with her arms, as if to serve as a shield for what was coming. But despite her frightened expression, Dordoni just continued toward her, his own features showing that he didn't truly wish to kill Nel.

"Don't you dare!" Ichigo yelled out as he quickly stood back to his feet, bringing his zanpakuto up and pointed directly at the arrancar.

"If you want me to fight at full power...I'll give it to you." he continued with glaring eyes, which only made Dordoni grin widely.

"Hold on Ichigo!" Chad called out, to which each of the others looked to him as he stood up; "I'll handle this fight." he continued as his eyes narrowed and he brought his right arm out to his side.

"See...I've been trying to figure a few things out while I've been here. Like why my powers resemble that of a hollow so much, but I believe I'm starting to understand how they work. And now that I've come to Hueco Mundo...I think I can finally unleash my powers to their fullest." Chad said as his right arm began to glow a brilliant blue and expand.

Ichigo, Nel and even Dordoni looked at this with slightly widened eyes, Chad's whole arm transforming and growing. Once the glow died down, he revealed to now have a large shield-like extension upon his forearm, which had the same purple and black design as the previous form. However there was also another design in the center of the shield, it resembling Hollow teeth, along with a rose-like pattern near the end.

Each of the three looked at this with shock, but Dordoni's seemed to be greater as he unconsciously backed up slightly from the tan teen. But he suddenly narrowed his eyes and sondioed toward Chad, whom also vanished from sight immediately after the arrancar appeared behind him. This made Dordoni's eyes widen once more, yet he quickly spun himself around and kicked at Chad's fist as the teen came forward for an attack.

His actions sent the bird skull attached to his leg toward Chad, but as the teen's fist collided with it, the bone immediately shattered apart. Dordoni's eyes widened to this as the cyclone dissipated and left him nearly defenseless against Chad's attack. But though he kept his foot out to block, once his foot hit Chad's hand, his knee gave out from under the pressure and caused him to be knocked backward.

Despite stopping himself fairly quickly, Dordoni wasn't able to react quickly enough to dodge or block the tan teen's next punch to his face. This hit blasted the arrancar down the hallway, then through a wall that lead into a large open hallway, to which he slid across the floor; "Not bad...niño." he muttered out with a wide grin after coming to a stop.

Chad stepped forward as he looked over to Ichigo, who was still blinking in surprise to his friend's actions; "That was awesome Chad. You really powered up." the orange haired teen said with a smirk.

"It's all thanks to Urahara-san's training. He had me fight Renji with his Bankai for very long periods of time." Chad claimed as he looked to his transformed hand with a small smirk.

"Now I know I can become stronger." he continued as he looked to Ichigo once more and gave a thumbs up, to which the teen returned the gesture.

"Nel thanks you for savin' her wife." the small girl said with a large smile as she came walking over to the two.

"I think you mean 'life'." Ichigo said with a bit of a sweat drop.

"Dat's what I said...wife." Nel claimed with an innocent smile, which just made both Ichigo and Chad sigh heavily.

"I'm just not going to bother." the orange haired teen muttered silently, but then each of the three quickly turned their attention toward where Dordoni had gone, as they felt a spike of spirit energy from him.

Both of the large bird skulls suddenly appeared through the hole and started flying down the hallway toward them. But while Chad stepped in front of Nel to protect her, Ichigo narrowed his eyes heavily and brought his zanpakuto out in front of him. He then gripped his arm with his free hand and leaned forward slightly; "Now...it's my turn. Bankai!" he called out, blasting a large amount of spirit energy around him.

This completely destroyed both of the bird skulls in an instant, which shocked Chad slightly and filled Nel's eyes with amazement. But just as he did this, Dordoni immediately appeared directly in front of Ichigo with a cero charged between the index and pinky fingers of both hands. Which he had charged a foot away from his chest and aimed directly for the teen's head.

Though Ichigo's eyes widened slightly from this, then quickly narrowed as he quickly swung his katana at a blinding speed. This not only sliced the cero in half, but left a long and deep gash up the arrancar's chest. Dordoni's eyes widened heavily to this, a large amount of his blood gushing out of his wound and splashing onto the floor. But though he still remained on his feet, he was knocked into and through multiple walls to his right as Chad suddenly came up and punched him across the left side of his face.

Ichigo and Chad shared another smirking glance with each other, before they both looked to the arrancar as he slowly stood to his feet; "Give up yet?" the former asked as he placed his zanpakuto on his shoulder.

"Hmph...not a chance, niño. In fact, we're just getting started." Dordoni claimed with a smirk, which even from the distance he was from the teens, they could see it.

Chad and Ichigo narrowed their eyes, but then the latter raised a brow slightly and readied his katana out in front of him; "Who is this 'we'?" he asked.

Dordoni merely smirked, him not answering as he just watched both Ichigo and Chad's eyes widen slightly from the sudden sound of a sonido behind them. Though they managed to dodge away from a sudden attack from this new opponent, Chad wasn't able to dodge away from the bird skull that caught him in its mouth. Immediately after he was trapped, Chad was slammed into the floor, which shattered on impact and sent him falling down to the level below.

"Chad!" Ichigo called out in shock as he shunpoed away from the bird skull that came for him.

But after he got away from this attack, he was quickly hit from behind by a hard fist to the back, which blasted him down and through the hole Chad made. Yet as Ichigo fell, he quickly flipped around and landed on his feet, he then looked up through the hole and narrowed his eyes on Dordoni and their new opponent.

This person was another male arrancar with brown eyes, big burnt orange, afro-style hair, thick sideburns and a goatee. His outfit was similar to other arrancar, but with a tighter jacket and large frills on his collar and thighs. The remains of his Hollow mask were a sunglasses-shaped plate on his forehead with four teeth coming out above each eye. There was also a blue color star in the center of the mask fragment and a pair of red, two-pronged punch daggers, which were attached to his wrists by hinges.

"Say hello to an old friend and fellow Privaron Espada; Gantenbainne Mosqueda, Arrancar number 107." Dordoni said with a smirk and a hand gestured toward the other arrancar.

"Nice to meet you two. I'd ask for your names, but I've already heard them from watching your fight." Gantenbainne said with a light shrug before he and Dordoni sondioed down to the two.

Ichigo quickly blocked a fist by Dordoni, while Chad caught the punch of Gantenbainne, to which both arrancar narrowed their eyes and made yet another attack. The raven haired arrancar flipped up and around as he sent a strong kick toward Ichigo. Whom immediately blocked the strike with his katana, him narrowing his eyes slightly as he gave small signs of strain as he then pushed the arrancar away.

All the while, Gantenbainne sent punch after punch at Chad, whom blocked each one with the shield on his arm. The tan teen himself not appearing to be having any trouble with this, but the small hint of his jaw tightening spoke differently. However, their extra exertion seemed to go unnoticed by the two arrancar, as they narrowed their eyes in frustration. They then flipped backward and put some distance between them; "They're pretty strong. Good thing I headed over here after I felt you release your Resurrección." Gantenbainne said as he brought his fists together.

"Uchinuku, Dragra." the arrancar continued as a large orange spirit energy surrounded his body, which kicked up a small whirlwind.

Ichigo and Chad covered their eyes with a single arm, all the while Nel watched from above, her looking on with large and blinking eyes; "You can do it Itsygo! Chado!" she called out, her seeming be trying to rhyme their names together.

But while the two teens sighed lightly in response to her, Dordoni merely kept his eyes on his two opponents. It being obvious that he was serving as a guard until Gantenbainne was fully transformed, which didn't take long as the winds started to die down. This allowed Ichigo and Chad to see their full powered enemy, neither seeming to appear very impressed, but they narrowed their eyes heavily as they watched their opponents carefully.

Gantenbainne's arms had grown much longer and become covered in a white and gold, dome-shaped, armor plating. His punch daggers had now come to resemble dragon heads, which covered his entire hand and wrists. Similar plates also extend down his back until they formed a make-shift tail, giving him an appearance resembling that of an armadillo.

As the teens looked at them, they gave one another a quick glance before immediately putting their guard up. The two arrancar quickly vanished in sonidoes, but both of their opponents could see their movements and immediately stopped their attacks from behind and to the left. Dordoni attempting to kick Chad in his back, while Gantenbainne went for Ichigo's left and unarmed side. Once they were stopped, their eyes narrowed once more, but they both continued their attack with one kick and punch after another.

But as Ichigo and Chad continued to block and dodge each attack, Dordoni eventually released the bird skulls once more and attempted to strike the tan teen from multiple sides. All the while, Gantenbainne jumped away and began charging a large orange color, fireball-like blast that he sent toward Ichigo. As they attacked, their eyes narrowed heavily once more on the teens, the two arrancar getting ready to make another attack just in case.

Both Ichigo and Chad narrowed their eyes slightly at the arrancar's assaults, to which they brought their respective weapons up and unleashed their own attacks. Ichigo swung his blade around and loudly called out; "Getsuga Tensho!" to which a black and red blast of spirit energy hurled toward Gantenbainne.

This sliced the orange fireball in half, then hit Gantenbainne across his chest, which gave him a similar wound to the one he had given Dordoni and sent him flying into the nearest wall. But he immediately began pushing the debris away from him as he started to stand, it revealing the large amount of blood that was coming out of his wounds. The most of which coming from his forehead, chest, arms and legs, all but the one from his chest being caused from his impact with the wall "D-Damn it..." he muttered out rather weakly.

Chad however had merely vanished from sight and appeared behind him, just as the bird-like skulls came toward him. Dordoni quickly turned around with a spinning kick, but he hit nothing but air as Chad had already moved away and come up on his right side. The teen's speed making the arrancar's eyes widen as when he turned, all he could see was the large amount of blue spirit energy engulfing him before blasting him away. This attack burned both his clothes and skin and sent him hurling toward where Gantenbainne was just starting to fully stand on his feet.

After he hit the wall and crumbled to the floor, Dordoni slowly stood up beside his fellow arrancar and narrowed his eyes on the teens; "Yeah! Dat's how it's done!" Nel called out from above with a wide smile as she pumped the air with her small fist.

"They're too strong. We haven't been able to lay a finger on them since we got them down here. We even switched opponents to try and throw them off...yet they still knocked us back without taking a single hit." Dordoni whispered to himself in aggravation, glaring toward the teens as they, along with the others just ignored the small arrancar.

"Well...you caught us by surprise." the orange haired teen claimed, to which both arrancar looked at him with blinking eyes, despite their injuries.

"We were simply caught off guard by the appearance of someone else on the battlefield. If not for that...we probably never would have been hit at all." Chad concurred as he and the other teen just looked at the two arrancar with only halfway relaxed expressions.

"I mean...you guys are good. You definitely got us using more strength then we would have expected, but we can still keep up with both of you." Ichigo said as he and his tan friend shared a glance and shrug with one another.

Dordoni narrowed his eyes heavily as he eventually stood himself up; "Hmph...it appears we bit off more than we could chew Gantenbainne. But there is no honor to be had if we give up now." he claimed as his whole body began to glow a faint blue color.

"So true. Let's finish this our own way." Gantenbainne said with a nod as his own body began to glow orange.

Ichigo and Chad watched them carefully, both of them narrowing their eyes and readying for an attack, all the while Nel just continued watched from above. Though she obviously wanted to cheer for her friends, she also seemed a bit frightened with the pair's sudden spike of spirit energy. Yet the two teens just continued to look at them with a battle-ready expression, them bringing their arms back and beginning to gather their own power.

As Dordoni reached his full power, the amount of bird skulls multiplied by six as ten more spawned off of the original two cyclones. This kicked up a large gust of very strong wind that blew away all of the debris around him and his fellow arrancar. Whom of which had a very large ball of fire-like energy charged above his head, it being nearly twelve feet in diameter as he then brought it out in front of him.

"Now...prepare yourselves, niños...for our full power!" Dordoni called out as all twelve of the bird shaped skull hurled toward the two teens.

As this happened, Gantenbainne shot his blast of spirit energy at the two as well, which seemed to go at the same speed as Dordoni's bird skulls. But as the attacks came toward the teens, both of them were instantly blown away as Ichigo sent out a very large Getsuga Tensho and Chad used an El Directo that appeared nearly as big. As the blasts destroyed the arrancar's assault, both of said beings were immediately engulfed and hurled through the many walls behind them.

But as they went, the blast from the teens' broke and ripped away at each of their bodies, all the while they ground their teeth and yelled out in pain. Before either of them even realized it, they had been blasted all the way outside and onto the sands within Las Noches. Yet neither of them were able to move much as their bodies were heavily burned and parts of them were simply reduced to ash.

Their injuries had mainly consisted of parts of their chest and face being burned very heavily, along with a few of their limbs missing. For Dordoni, half of his right arm was completely gone, while Gantenbainne's right leg had been sliced cleanly away and his right arm was burned to the point of being useless.

As they laid there on the white sand, Ichigo, Chad and Nel came walking up toward them, the latter of which being on the former's shoulder. But as they looked down at the two arrancar they each took on rather sympathetic expressions; "I'm really sorry for doing as much damage to you as we did." Ichigo spoke up as he looked at the two.

"But holding back would have been offensive to your honor." Chad said as he kneeled down on one knee; "So we used our most powerful attacks to counter yours." he continued in a fairly humble tone.

The arrancar looked up at the two teens and closed their eyes after a while; "Thank you...both of you. If we were to be defeated...it would be by an attack that wasn't held back." Dordoni said silently, with a coarse voice as he reopened his eyes.

Gantenbainne gave a weak nod of agreement as he too eventually opened his eyes and looked at the teens; "You guys better hurry and go. Other arrancar and Espada will be coming this way soon, so you best leave quickly." he said just as weakly as his fellow arrancar.

Ichigo and Chad looked from the two, to each other and eventually gave a nod; "Farewell Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio...Gantenbainne Mosqueda." the latter said as he gave a small bow before standing up to his feet.

"Good bye Dordoni...Gantenbainne." Ichigo said with a silent and rather sad tone, just before Nel jumped down from his shoulder.

"Nel hopes you guys get better. Den we could become fwiends and play infinite tag togever." the small arrancar girl said with a very hopeful smile.

The other two arrancar merely smirked lightly to her as Ichigo picked her up, placed her on his shoulder and gave a brief nod to the two before walking away. Chad reflected the orange haired teen's actions as he followed his friend away from the arrancar as they merely watched them go. But after they closed their eyes once more as they simply waited for death's embrace, neither of them saw the shadowed figure walking toward them.

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And just so you all know, yes I made up Gantenbainne's release command. Only because they never showed it in manga or anime, so I made one up. And for everyone's information 'Uchinuku' means 'Punch out' in Japanese. I figured it would be appropriate for how he fights. Anyway, I hope that after this chapter, I can finally reach 1000 reviews or beyond, please help me with that. :) Till next time everyone. Ja Ne. ^^


	107. Chapter 107

First, I'd like to thank my good friend Tuli-chan for all her help once again. :) And next I'd like to thank all of you that have reviewed and helped me to reach over 1000 reviews! :D So thank all of you for your support. ^^ I hope you all enjoy this chapter. ;3

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**Chapter 107:**

-Rukia and Senna-

The bright blue light engulfed the three as they all had to close their eyes from being blinded by it. But then a large blast followed and knocked Senna and Rukia away, both going in opposite directions and slamming against the walls closest to them. As this happened, they still kept their eyes closed, despite hearing a loud double scream coming from Aaroniero. Yet where one side of the voice was deep and rather dark, the other was somewhat squeaky and high-pitched.

After the voices died down, the light also seized and allowed Rukia and Senna to finally open their eyes to see what happened. Rukia quickly looked to Aaroniero with narrowed eyes, her seeming to believe that he caused the strange phenomenon. However, Senna briefly looked down to her zanpakuto and narrowed her eyes slightly on the small black dot upon it, before tilting her head up to look at the espada.

What they both saw made their eyes widen; there stood Aaroniero with his normal look with his large tank and small skulls within. But beside him with Kaien's released zanpakuto was seemingly another Aaroniero, whom had the appearance of Kaien himself. As the two stared at them, the one resembling Kaien began looking at himself, it almost appearing like he was shocked at even seeing his own limbs.

"Wh-What's going on?" he muttered to himself as the other Aaroniero turned toward him and the two shinigami continued to look on in shock.

"Who the hell are you?!" Aaroniero demanded, him using only the deep sounding voice.

The other 'espada' looked to him, narrowing his eyes heavily as he brought his trident up; "Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division of the Gotei 13, Shiba Kaien. And who might you be?" Kaien asked back as his gaze hardened.

To this, Rukia's eyes widened more than they ever had before, Senna blinked in surprise and Aaroniero's skulls became slack-jawed as they stared at him. The espada then backed away as the small craniums within the tank widened their eye sockets as the higher pitched sounding one spoke up; "W-What?"

"That's not possible! We have already absorbed your entire being along with that hollow that took over your body! You can't be alive!" the deeper sounding skull declared as the body raised a fist toward Kaien.

The raven haired man merely grinned lightly and shrugged his shoulders; "I'm actually just as lost as you are. But considering what you just said..." he began, narrowing his eyes even further.

"...I don't intend to let you live any longer." he finished, but then as he stretched out his awareness to fight, his eyes widened slightly in shock.

Him immediately feeling one very familiar and one completely foreign spirit energy nearby, to which he looked over toward each one. Kaien saw Senna first and raised a brow slightly, her being surprised to see a fellow shinigami there. But the moment he looked over to Rukia, his eyes widened heavily on her as she simply returned the gesture; "K-Kuch...ki..." he whispered out in shock.

"Kaien...dono. Are you really Kaien-dono?" Rukia whispered back as their gazes were locked on one another.

The raven haired man blinked his eyes slightly and raised a brow; "What do you mean? Of course I'm me, who else could I be?" he asked, to which Rukia's expression changed to one of a light smile, her knowing without a doubt that this was truly her old commanding officer.

'Even the Espada was surprised to see him here...this has to be the real Kaien-dono.' Rukia thought to herself silently as her small smile widened slightly.

But then they broke their stare as soon as Aaroniero stepped forward and suddenly tore the glove on his hand away. This revealed his 'hand' to be a deformed brown tentacled appendage with a gaping maw at the center, it being surrounded by various tentacles that waved around the main one. As the three shinigami looked at this, they narrowed their eyes slightly and readied for a fight just as Aaroniero called out; "Kuitsukuse, Glotonería!"

As soon as he said this, his waist and legs suddenly started to swell to an exponential size and had turned a deep purple color. His entire lower body transformed into a huge, purple blob-like mass that resembled an incredibly bloated invertebrate. Which had dozens of stubby tentacles, large red eyes and giant grinning mouths, complete with their own teeth.

Kaien looked up at Aaroniero and took on a disgusted expression as he raised a brow; "Um...that's just disgusting looking." he muttered as he started to twirl the trident around in his hand.

While he did this, a large amount of water began to flow from both the tip of the trident and the screw-like end, which started to circle around him like a shield. Rukia continued to watch Kaien, her still appearing extremely shocked that this was indeed the man that she befriended all those years ago. Senna on the other hand released her own zanpakuto and grinned widely at Kaien; "I'm Senna by the way...nice to meet you, Shiba Kaien." she said with a quick wave, yet she seemed to have a rather suspicious look in her eyes, her still not being fully convinced he was who he says he is.

Kaien had simply blinked his eyes to her and gave a small smile; "Nice to meet you too." he said before turning to Rukia once more and narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I'm sure you have a lot of things to say and ask...but we can talk all we like after we finish this guy off." he claimed with a wide smirk, just as he turned his look back to Aaroniero.

The espada immediately brought each of the large tentacles up and swung them down toward the three, all of whom shunpoed out of the way. As they did this, they separated from each other and appeared on different sides of the espada to attack. Kaien came up from Aaroniero's right, him bringing both his trident and the water it summoned up and swung it toward him in a mass of spirit energy and water.

Senna had appeared high in the air on the arrancar's left, to which she twirled the top of her staff around, generating a small tornado with lightning within and sent it at Aaroniero. As both attacks came toward him, the espada quickly brought up two of his large tentacles up to block. Though the mini-tornado was easily diminished by the large mass of flesh, Kaien's wave of water sliced cleanly through the tentacle and hit the espada directly.

Though the arrancar's appendage took most of the damage, the water still caused him to be knocked to the side slightly. But just as Aaroniero brought his tentacles up to attack once more, he swiftly turned his upper body around to look at Rukia as he felt a snow flake touch his cheek. As he turned, he saw Rukia in a battle stance with the tip of her blade point toward him, all the while, ice particles were flowing up from the floor in four spots before her.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren." she whispered out before a large and powerful avalanche of cold air hurled toward him.

Aaroniero stared at this almost helplessly as he merely stayed right there and took the blast, it encasing him in a large amount of ice. As the three gathered before the frozen espada, they narrowed their eyes slightly as they noticed that the ice was starting to crack. Kaien quickly looked to Rukia and Senna as he spoke up in an ordering tone; "He's very slow in his movements...so we have to use that to our advantage. Make your attacks quick and repetitive. We'll eventually damage him enough to make the finishing blow."

Just as he finished his words, the ice surrounding Aaroniero shattered completely and the three shinigami had to shunpo out of the way from multiple tentacles coming at them. But even as they dodged, the espada was able to keep up with their movements and kept his attack going at all three of them. Though each of the shinigami were able to keep dodging out of the way, all of them quickly noticed that the large red eyes on his body were watching their every move.

Kaien narrowed his eyes to his and swiftly swung his trident toward the large tentacle that was giving chase, to which a rush of water blasted toward it and sliced it in half. As he did this, he turned toward Aaroniero to attack him, but three more tentacles hurled toward him, to which he flipped out of the way and landed on the upper level.

All the while, Senna quickly ran through the area, her eyes also narrowing as she and Rukia eventually crossed each other's path and helped to destroy the other's pursuing tentacle. Yet as they went to attack the espada, even more tentacles came toward them, to which they started to run and dodge all over again; "This guy is really getting on my nerves!" the purple haired shinigami called out in annoyance as she created a tornado to tear apart the tentacles closest to her.

Rukia ground her teeth slightly as she sliced and slashed all of the purple colored appendages that came close to her, yet she continued to run as to not make it any easier for the attacking espada. Whom of which was shifting its small skulls around within it's tank to look at each of the three; "What's wrong?! Did you start slacking off after only getting one pathetic hit on us?!" the high-pitched voice called out arrogantly.

"Hmph...what can we expect against shinigami that aren't even close to Captain level." the deeper sound voice said in a similar tone as his counterpart.

Kaien narrowed his eyes once more as he jumped away from yet another attack, him looking carefully at Aaroniero. But as he did this, he realized that all of the attacking tentacles were spawning from the large mouths on either side of Aaroniero's body, while the original ones were staying completely stationary. Though he saw this, he immediately flipped away from another attack from each of the tentacles coming toward him.

'The ones on his actual body must be mainly used for defensive moves only, while the other ones are to attack. No wonder he was so slow before...but it's still no reason why we can't get him like before.' Kaien thought as he sliced away a few of the tentacles that came toward him with both his trident and water.

He then jumped high into the air, then started to spin his trident around in his hand and body, which produced an enormous amount of water. Though this water simply rushed around him, as Aaroniero sent dozens of tentacles at him, all of them were knocked away as the made contact with the water. Kaien smirked lightly as the small skulls' jaws opened as if in shock, to which he swung his trident down and blasted all of the water down at the espada.

Both Rukia and Senna looked to this with a smirk, Aaroniero having cut off his pursuit on them to block the former lieutenant's attack. But as he did this, Rukia and Senna brought their hands forward and began chanting a kido spell's incantation in complete unison. As they did this, one of the espada's skulls turned toward them as its eyes sockets narrowed slightly; "I don't think so!" the high-pitched voice called out as a few of the tentacles went toward them.

As soon as the water hit the first few tentacles that came up in defense, they were completely obliterated, not leaving a single trace. Yet as the attack continued, it simply began to slice the purple appendages away until Aaroniero himself was reached. Once the water hit, his entire body was pushed backward a few yards, which threw off his attack against Senna and Rukia, allowing them to fire their kido at him; "Hadō no. 33, Sōkatsui!"

Once they called this out, two large blasts of blue lightning hurled at Aaroniero, both of which hit his large and grotesque body and knocked him completely over. As he fell to the floor, it caused the ground to shake and even crack slightly from under the massive weight; "Looks like we make a surprisingly awesome team." Senna claimed as they each stood together and narrowed their eyes on the espada.

"Yeah, no kidding. But it's probably since I've fought alongside both of you that you were able to move without interrupting each other's attacks." Rukia said with a small smirk, to which the other two nodded in agreement.

"Well we haven't won yet. He's a lot more durable than I thought and we have yet to actually puncture his skin." Kaien began as they each narrowed their eyes on Aaroniero as he brought himself back up to a 'standing' position.

"But I have an idea that might work...just follow my lead on this and we'll beat him with no sweat." he continued as he gave the two a quick grin before narrowing his eyes on the espada once more.

"You pathetic...insolent...worthless worms! I'll make you suffer for this!" the deep sounding voice yelled out in anger as every single one of the tentacles lifted high into the air and pointed toward the three.

As this happened, each of the shinigami were slightly shocked to see at each end of the appendages were large light-blue ceros charging. Yet Kaien merely swung his trident around his hands and even his back, which created a vast amount of water and spiraled all around him, Rukia and Senna. He then slammed the screw end into the floor and blasted a wave of water toward Aaroniero, yet kept the swirling water going around the three.

"As soon as he fires, go for the back...his skulls can't see you with that hood and those eyes on his body won't be able to spot you through the mist. Aim for the tank...if he has a weakness, it's definitely that." he ordered to the two just as the espada fired a few of the ceros at the wave he sent at him.

As soon as the ceros hit the water, it evaporated and cause much steam in the air around them, forming a small mist. But as the rest of the remaining ceros fired toward the three shinigami, Kaien brought his trident up and pointed it toward the blasts. Once the two attacks collided, it created an even thicker mist around them, to which Senna and Rukia quickly shunpoed through to get behind Aaroniero.

"I don't think so!" the high-pitched skull called out as multiple tentacles hurled directly at the two female shinigami.

Both of which became slightly wide eyed as they turned their heads in time to see the purple limbs coming toward them. But they just kept going as fast as they could, a wave of water suddenly slashing the tentacles in half, immediately stopping the espada's attack. Senna gave a smirk to this as her suspicion completely faded away, her now believing the raven haired man in his words about who he was. Kaien didn't even notice this as he charged toward Aaroniero, the black haired shinigami dragging the screw end of his trident across the ground, which created a large amount of water as he went.

"You don't have time to focus on them!" Kaien called out as he smirked, nearly all of the espada's appendages coming toward him, each of which had ceros charging at their tips.

Yet as they came closer, Kaien suddenly used his zanpakuto as a pole vault and flew over Aaroniero's attack, all of the blasts from the ceros missing him completely. As he hovered in midair, he then flipped himself and his trident around, swinging the latter forward and sending all of the water that he accumulated toward the arrancar. Whom of which gapped their mouths open and brought their arms and remaining tentacles up to block.

Though the blast of water did knock Aaroniero backward, it didn't physically harm him very much. This caused both skulls to move their limbs out of the way and look to him with what appeared to be a confused expression. But as soon as they did, their eyes' sockets widened heavily as they saw Kaien's left hand glowing a bright golden color; "Bakudō no. 63, Sajō Sabaku."

The raven haired man then pointed his hand toward the espada, to which a yellow chain shot from his fingers and wrapped itself around Aaroniero's arms. At the same time, Kaien grinned widely and looked up slightly just as Rukia and Senna swung their zanpakutos down upon the arrancar's tank. Due to its length, the purple haired shinigami's hit first, but also due to its bluntness as a staff, it did nothing more than crack it slightly.

But as soon as Rukia's white blade hit the crack, the entire tank shattered apart, allowing for her katana to slice right through one of the small skulls within. The moment this happened, Aaroniero's entire body completely liquefied into a strange green ooze that blasted all over the area. This liquid nearly covered the three shinigami if not for them all shunpoing to an even higher level of the room.

"Damn you...you cursed shinigami..." were last few words they heard from the deep sounding voice, while the other had died instantly from Rukia's slash.

Kaien immediately let out a sigh and placed the end of his zanpakuto to the floor and leaned on it slightly; "Wow...busy day. I just come back to life somehow and already I'm pushed into a fight with an arrancar." he muttered out almost tiredly.

Rukia frowned but slightly blushed to this as she gave him a halfhearted scold; "K-Kaien-dono! We're on a mission here! We can't afford to be so relaxed!" she called out with a near pout.

The raven haired man raised a brow to her, then waved his hand lazily and sat down on the floor; "Alright...you got your point across, now quit yelling." he said in yet another sigh, placing his trident across his lap.

Senna blinked her eyes to this, then just started to laugh as she copied Kaien's actions with her own body and zanpakuto; "I agree with him...we could use a short breather after fighting against an espada." she said with a smirk.

The short raven haired girl huffed to the two, but then sighed lightly and eventually sat down; "Alright...five minutes. Five minutes and we're going, okay?" she said as she placed her katana on the floor beside her.

Kaien just chuckled lightly to her and leaned his hands on his knees; "You've really grown up since the last time I saw you, Kuchiki." he said with a smirk toward his fellow raven haired shinigami.

Rukia looked at him with blinking eyes, but then she smiled and nodded her head, her almost seeming as though she were on the verge of tears; "Thank you, Kaien-dono..." she whispered out.

Senna just sighed to this and looked at Kaien with a questioning expression; "Now that we have some time to talk...who are you exactly? I heard that you were the Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division, but how did you end up here?" she asked with a raised brow.

The black haired man looked over to her, then tilted his head up silently with a raised brow; "Actually...I'm not even sure. One minute I'm dying, and the next I'm here and fighting against that weird arrancar." he said, gesturing his hand toward where Aaroniero had met his end not a few moments ago.

To his words, Rukia unconsciously pressed herself in as if to make herself even smaller and even hung her head down in shame. This not going unnoticed by the other two, yet only one of them knew why, whom had given her a raised a brow and sighed heavily as he looked directly at her; "You better not be blaming that on yourself." Kaien said as if it were a threat.

Rukia blinked her eyes to him as she snapped her head up to look at him, though she remained silent, it seemed all that Kaien needed to see. But just as Rukia was finally about to speak, the raven haired man suddenly grabbed her by the top of her head and dragged her forward; "You have been haven't you?! What the hell do you think you're doing that for?! Are you stupid or something?!" he demanded in an annoyed tone and voice.

The short raven haired girl blinked her eyes to him, but she was still unable to respond as he nearly head-butted her forehead with his own. As he did this, he nearly growled his next words as he looked at her with heavy irritation; "I thought I told you that I was thankful to you! Are you really gonna sit there and tell me that you didn't realize that I left you with my heart?" he asked before loosening his grip and moving his head away from hers.

As he said this, Rukia's eyes widened and a few tears fell from her eyes, her obviously remembering his last few words to her. She then shook her head and gave a small smile to him; "No...I realized it. Thank you Kaien-dono." she said as she wiped her tears away.

Kaien smirked widely to her response, then released her head completely and just patted the top before leaning back to his sitting position; "Good to know. So you better never feel bad about it...ever again." he said as he gave her a thumbs up.

Rukia just smirked and nodded her head to her, all the while Senna just looked between the two of them and chuckled; "You two are too funny together." she said with a grin.

But just as the two looked at her and were about to respond, a voice from off to the side was heard; "It's like the opposite of Kurosaki and her, isn't it?"

To this, they all turned their heads and looked at Toshiro, whom walked toward them and sat himself down; "Hey Kaien...it's been a while." he continued as he gave a smirk to the raven haired man, it seeming as though he were expecting him to be there all along.

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There ya have it. ;) Kinda an interesting twist eh? XD And there are even more to come. :D Anyway, till next time everyone. ^^ Ja Ne.


	108. Chapter 108

Just so everyone knows, this chapter is basically to give you a sense of time for every POV that I've had, cause...not all of what happened was at the same time or even in a straight line. ;D And a quick thanks to Tuli-chan again for her help, despite not having much time for it, she still did it anyway. ^^ Thank you. :D

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**Chapter 108:**

-Renji and Uryu-

The shinigami and quincy stared in complete shock toward the shadowed figure that walked toward them from a shadowed corridor on their left. All the while the espada went from surprise, to frustration, to slight fear in the brief few moments it took for the person to come up to the three. It revealed to be Ichimaru Gin, only he was now wearing white hakama pants, with a light blue obi, white and black jacket, and an under shirt of the same colors.

His jacket and under shirt was open in a narrow 'V', but while the latter closed below his chest, the former closed just below his hips. The jacket also opened again at the hem, to which the rest of it fell about mid-calf length, nearly covering his black tabi and white waraji. The lining and edges of both his coat and undershirt were black, save for the long bell sleeves, which also covered his hands completely. Though his zanpakuto wasn't entirely visible, its hilt was visible from under the robe, through the 'V' opening down his waist.

"What? No answer?" the silver haired shinigami questioned as he just smiled at each of them.

Though his eyes remaining closed, each of the three felt a shiver run up all of their spines as if Gin were giving them an icy glare. Despite none of them speaking for a few seconds, it was Szayel that broke the silence; "What are you doing here, Ichimaru?"

Gin turned his head toward the pink haired arrancar and just smiled wider; "I just wanted ta come an' visit. Is there somethin' wron' with that?" he questioned back with a slight tilt of his head.

Szayel ground his teeth together as he glared at the man, him stepping forward slightly as he spoke once more, his tone sounding somewhat nervous; "This is my ordeal...so just return to your own duties and leave this to me."

The silver haired shinigami raised a brow toward him, then just grinned wider and looked over to Renji and Uryu, both of whom were looking at him with narrowed eyes. He eventually sighed and shrugged his shoulders; "Well its gettin' pretty borin' so I figured since ya've got two opponents...I'd jump in an' give ya a hand." he said as he looked back to Szayel.

The espada clenched his teeth and fists together, all the while narrowing his eyes on Gin; "Fine...kill whichever one you want." he all but growled out in annoyance as he looked away.

Gin just grinned widely to this and looked to Renji and Uryu once more, their eyes narrowing even more as they readied to fight against him. As the smiling shinigami reached for his zanpakuto he spoke up in an almost amused tone; "So...who should it be?"

As he said this Renji readied his zanpakuto, narrowed his eyes even heavier, yet trembled slightly as he couldn't help the wave of fear he felt facing his fellow shinigami. Uryu brought his blue bow up and focused his eyes on the man, him trying to figure out a possible strategy to beat him. But he still appeared rather worried about having to fight Gin, this being clear with his eye brows twitching and the extra squeeze he gave to his bow's handle.

"Eeny...meeny...miny..." Gin began, looking from Renji, to Uryu, then back to Renji and finally again to Uryu.

As the silver haired man paused, Renji unconsciously stiffened up as he knew that the end of the rhyme would be on him. While at the same time, Uryu readied himself to make his move the moment the shinigami attacked, and Szayel glanced over toward each of the three and merely watched. Yet even as they did all this, Gin just grinned, unsheathed and extended his zanpakuto all in one motion, which made all of their eyes widen.

Gin's blade sliced through the air and directly into flesh, yet even as steel hit bone, it continued on until the katana had gone directly through the entire body. This made everyone's eyes widen as the one the silver haired shinigami stabbed was Szayel; "Moe~." Gin sang silently with a very wide grin on his face.

"I-Ichi...maru...you traitor!" the pink haired arrancar exclaimed angrily as blood gushed from his wound and onto the floor.

Both Renji and Uryu looked at this in complete shock, neither able to move from seeing this, all the while Gin retracted his blade from Szayel's chest, to which he fell to the floor. As the espada laid in a small, but developing puddle of his own blood, he coughed up even more as the blade sliced part of one of his lungs open.

"Traitor? Me? No way. Captain Aizen ordered me to kill you along with these two. I just felt like doing it in the reverse order." Gin said with a grin as he looked down at the shocked expression that came over Szayel's face, which was the same as Renji's and Uryu's as they heard this.

"Wh-What?!" the pink haired arrancar demanded as even more blood came out of his wound and even his mouth.

"Well...he feels that ya've served ya purpose and are no longer needed in his plans. But he does sen' his gratitude for helpin' 'im with his experiments with the Hogyoku and wishes ya a swift death." Gin said in an almost amused tone, as if he were just making half of it up.

"D-Damn...it..." was all Szayel managed out before the silver haired shinigami once again extended his blade, only this time it went directly through the arrancar's head.

Renji and Uryu were still caught in a state of shock that they couldn't speak or even hear the sound of Dondochakka and Pesche coming closer to them. Both of which were still calling out for Nel as they just continued to run into and through the hallway. But as they saw Renji and Uryu, the pair immediately started running toward them and directly into the two, knocking them over and on to the floor near Gin's feet.

As they fell, the silver haired man looked over to them with raised brows and a tilt of his head; "My my, that looks like fun." he said as he brought his zanpakuto over and pointed it at Pesche's head.

"Ahhh!" said arrancar screamed out in fright, him immediately jumped away from the pile and started running out in panic, him soon being joined by Dondochakka, despite him not even being threatened.

This only made Gin grin widely as he just followed the two with his arm, him still pointing his blade at them; "Well...as fun as this is, I'm afraid I just don' have time for this." he said in a sigh, to which he looked over to his left, just as Uryu appeared there with an arrow ready in his bow.

While at the same time, Renji came up on his right and swung his zanpakuto toward the shinigami, whom just smiled even wider than before and shunpoed away from their attacks easily. Yet as he did this, he appeared directly behind Uryu and whispered silently; "Ya gonna hafta be quicker then that."

But just as the quincy turned toward him, he vanished from sight and shunpoed behind Renji; "Or ya ain't gonna stand a chance against the othas." Gin continued.

Renji immediately spun around to look at him, but once again the other shinigami had disappeared, yet only this time, he didn't show up anywhere else. This made the two quickly check their entire surroundings, but no sign of Gin was found; "I can't sense his spirit energy at all." Uryu said aloud as he continued to look around.

"Ichimaru was once a Captain, we probably won't be able to sense him unless he wants us to." Renji claimed, him also completing his survey of the area.

But as they kept looking around, neither of them saw anything in the room, save for the two scared arrancar that continued to run around in circles. Renji let out a sigh as he walked over to the pair, to which he grabbed Dondochakka's collar and pulled him backward. This causing the large arrancar's feet to come out from under him and for him to fall onto the floor; "Will you cut it out! He's already gone!" the red haired shinigami yelled out in annoyance.

"Eh?" was all the arrancar let out before he started looking around, Pesche eventually stopping and doing the same as he heard Renji's words.

"Hmm, it appears that Ichimaru-sama has vanished." the bug-like arrancar claimed as if he was the one that made this calculation.

Uryu sighed heavily as he walked over to the three, yet kept his guard up the whole time; "We've already established this...our new question is: why did he just let us go?" he said, giving an extra glance around the room.

Renji looked over to the quincy and nodded his head; "Yeah...it doesn't make any sense. He just comes in, kills one of his own comrades with the notion that he's under orders from Aizen, yet he just leaves us alive." he said with a thoughtful expression upon his face.

"I don't know why he did it, but I can only assume that it wasn't to be merciful." the quincy claimed as he narrowed his eyes slightly and adjusted his glasses.

The shinigami and both arrancar looked to him, but as a brief silence settled over them, it was shattered by Dondochakka; "Who are we talking about again?"

Immediately as he said this, Renji and Uryu smacked him in the back of his large head and yelled at him in unison; "Were you even paying any attention?!"

"Was it that child captain?" Pesche questioned, to which the two swiftly turned to him and once again scolded in unison.

"You're both doing this on purpose aren't you!" was all they said before the shinigami and quincy just sighed and started walking out of the hallway.

"Well Inoue isn't here, so we better check someplace else." Uryu said as they continued on, both completely ignoring the two arrancar as they called out to them and quickly followed.

Yet as they went, Gin stepped out of the shadows of one of the other corridors and grinned widely; "Hmm...wonder how they'll fair against the other Espada. Should be entertaining to say the least." he spoke silently to himself before vanishing in a shunpo.

-Outside-

The group let out a breath as they stepped out onto the sands of Las Noches, but the moment they did, their senses were filled with multiple spikes of spirit energy. The largest of which being an arrancar's that seemed to be coming in the same direction as Kukaku's and Rangiku's. The second being from the top of the tall tower that Toshiro had sent Rukia and Senna to, this one being both Renji's and Uryu's attention center.

"We should probably go help them up ther-" but Renji was cut off as a strange but incredibly strong energy was felt from the same tower.

This caused both their eyes to widen as they noticed a faint, but noticeable blue light shining from the spire's top. The two quickly looked to one another and started running in that direction, while the arrancar blinked their eyes and ran after them; "Hey! Wait for us-de ariusu!" Dondochakka called out.

But as they approached the tower, the group quickly stopped in their tracks as they saw Toshiro near the entrance, him seeming to be just standing there looking at something in his icy hand. They started their approach once more, only this time it was in a quieter and slower manner than before. Yet once they were within a few yards of the white haired captain, he suddenly spoke up, making Renji and Uryu sweat drop, while the two arrancar jumped in surprise; "What are you four doing?"

"We're going to help Rukia." Renji stated, his tone sounding as though he were asking Toshiro to move aside so they could get inside the tower.

"What are you doing out here?" Uryu questioned as they came up behind the icy captain, whom placed whatever it was that he had in his hand inside his pocket.

"Just finishing an experiment." he said, glancing over at the group from over his shoulder.

"An experiment? With what?" Renji asked with a raised brow, both he and Uryu having the same questioning expression on their faces.

Though Toshiro continued to look at them, he eventually just gave a small smirk and turned his head up to the top of the tower; "You'll find out soon enough." he said almost in a whisper.

After he said this, Pesche became muttering about how mysterious Toshiro was being, but he quickly stopped as said captain spoke up again; "Go assist Kurosaki and Sado, I'll help these three."

Renji opened his mouth to object, but quickly shut it and just nodded his head; "Yes sir." was all he said before giving Uryu a glance and began running across the sandy desert.

Though the quincy gazed at Toshiro for an extra moment, as if wondering something about his words, he eventually followed after the red haired shinigami. But even as they went, the two arrancar stayed behind and looked at Toshiro, to which he raised a brow to them and sighed heavily; "Nel is with them."

This was all he said before they both suddenly called out Nel's name and began running after Renji and Uryu, leaving Toshiro just standing there all alone. But as he stood there for a few moments, he tilted his head up as he felt a familiar spirit energy slowly come into existence, to which he smirked lightly; "A complete success...now I know it will work."

-Across Las Noches-

Ichigo, Chad and Nel walked toward yet another building, this one being just like many of the others, a simple grey cylinder shaped structure that held seemingly no signs of spirit energy. But as they continued on, Nel eventually turned to the side and just stopped, her staring directly at a specific building, despite it appearing the same as the rest.

"What are you looking at?" Ichigo asks as he stopped when the small girl released his hand, him then looking up to the structure before them.

"Nel isn't sure...dat pwace just seems famiwier." she said with a tilt of her head, the small arrancar actually seeming to be serious despite her childish way of speaking.

The orange haired teen looked over to Chad, whom just shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention to the building that had Nel was staring toward. But as they continued to stare, Ichigo and Chad eventually just lost interest and looked to the small girl; "We better keep moving." the former said.

Yet even as he said this, Nel didn't seem to be listening as her eyes glazed over and she just continued to stare, neither of the teens noticing the scar on her head starting to close. Ichigo and Chad eventually raised a brow in question and for the former to reach down to pick her up. But as he did, she suddenly cringed in pain and clutched at her head, to which the teens blinked in shock and kneeled down to her; "Are you okay?" "What's wrong?" they questioned in worry.

Immediately following their questions, a large blast of pink smoke and spirit energy erupted around her, to which the teens fell backward. As they did, they coughed slightly from the strange smoke, but then became wide-eyed as they saw a tall woman before them instead of the small child they had come to know.

Before them now stood a fully formed curvaceous, large chested woman with long waving greenish-blue hair and hazel eyes. She also had the same scar and the crimson line running across her face that Nel had, but the crack that was previously on Nel's mask fragment was gone and the scar was much thinner. Which was now sharper in its features, it even having a pair of curved horns on the sides, but was still missing a few of the teeth on the top. She wore the same outfit as the small girl, but the gown was now torn into a skirt and a top.

As Ichigo and Chad stared at this woman, their eyes widened even more as they both quickly noticed the large '3' tattooed on her back; "N-Nel...?" the former teen whispered out in shock.

To the sound of a voice, the woman looked over and down to the orange haired teen, her having nearly an emotionless expression on her features. But she suddenly smiled widely and very childishly, then quickly kneeled down and hugged Ichigo tightly; "Itsygo!" she exclaimed happily as she continued to hug him.

Chad blinked to this in surprise as he eventually stood to his feet, him just watching this woman nearly crush Ichigo as he seemed to be screaming breathlessly. But despite this, he just raised his hand slightly and spoke up; "Um...are you, Nel?"

The woman loosened her grip, then turned her head to look at Chad, to which she nodded and smirked lightly; "Yeah. But my full name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck." she said.

As Ichigo caught his breath, he looked at Nel with a raised brow; "How can you be Nel?" he asked as his expression stayed in its shocked position.

Nel blinked her eyes as she turned back to him and just smiled wider; "Of course I'm Nel! I don't know how, but I just reverted back to my original form." she claimed happily.

Both teens raised a brow to her words, but only the tan teen questioned it; "What do you mean your 'original form'?"

"Well I was originally like this, but I turned into a child after suffering a blow to my head." she began, gesturing to the spot on her mask fragment where the crack used to be.

"The scar constantly leaked my spirit energy and didn't allow me to transform back. But now that it's healed somehow, I'm back to my normal self." Nel continued as she grinned to the two teens.

Ichigo and Chad just blinked their eyes to her once more, then looked to each other, but the former became wide-eyed as Nel suddenly hugged him very tightly once more. Said arrancar was smiling widely as she shook the teen from side to side; "But I don't care how! I'm glad I get to see Itsygo as my normal self!" she exclaimed happily.

"Th-Th-Th-That's great...but could you...let me go now?" Ichigo asked, tapping Nel's shoulder as he was nearly being choked by her.

The hazel eyed woman blinked to this and released the teen, her giving a sheepish yet innocent smile; "Sorry Itsygo."

The orange haired teen sweat dropped and sighed heavily; "Why are you still saying my name like that?" he questioned.

But Nel never got to answer as they suddenly heard two voices calling out her name in unison, to which they all turned and saw Renji, Uryu, Dondochakka and Pesche heading toward them. Yet as they came closer, the latter two showed no signs of stopping as they ran ahead the former in a rush; "Nel-sama!" they called out.

Though Nel just looked to them and smiled, waiting for them to arrive, Ichigo quickly sidestepped and took her with him. To which the pair of arrancar went flying by them, then as they tried to stop and turn around, their feet tangled together and tripped. As they went tumbling to the sand, the shinigami and quincy came up to the join the others and they all sweat dropped.

"What are you guys doing here? And what happened to you? You're all cut up." Ichigo commented as he looked over at the two.

"We ran into a few difficulties, but in the end Inoue wasn't there. And it was Captain Hitsugaya that sent us here." Uryu answered, him sounding almost suspicious in mentioning the white haired captain.

The orange haired teen blinked to him, but then just gave a nod and looked over to Chad, him not even noticing the quincy's tone; "Well...we never ran into Toshiro, but we did hit a few problems of our own. Though our result was the same in terms of not finding Inoue." he said with a light sigh as he turned back to them.

Uryu nodded his head to Ichigo, but just as he was about to respond, he suddenly snapped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes slightly; "I can feel that Kano Ashido and two other spirit energies coming toward us." he said, focusing mainly to his right.

"Two others? Can you tell who they are?" Chad asked as Nel went over and helped her 'brothers' back to their feet.

"No...but they're definitely arrancar, fairly powerful ones at that." the quincy said as he continued to look in the direction he felt the three spirit energies approaching.

The two other teens followed his lead and narrowed their eyes as they could make out three figures walking toward them from across the sand. But as they came closer, Nel, Dondochakka and Pesche walked over and stared at them for a few moments before turning their attention to the figures in the distance. Yet Ichigo, Chad and Nel each widened their eyes slightly as they immediately recognized the arrancar's spirit energy, but their outward appearance as well; "B-But...how?" Ichigo questioned in a whisper.

Renji looked to them and raised a brow; "Do you know who they are?" he asked, him obviously not knowing anything about their previous fight.

"Of course...it's the two arrancar that we fought not a few minutes ago." Ichigo said as he couldn't take his eyes off Dordoni and Gantenbainne as they came closer.

"What? Did you even beat them?" Uryu demanded, halfway finding it enjoyable to find fault in the orange haired teen, but also annoyance for the same reason.

"Of course we did! We beat them really bad actually. They couldn't even move when we left." Ichigo claimed, him seeming bewildered, happy but also annoyed all at once.

Him being bewildered from seeing the two arrancar completely fine as if nothing happened, happy that they didn't die, but also annoyed for the quincy's comment. But he pushed this aside as he could now make out the arrancar pair in their full appearance, both not having a single scratch on them as if their fight never even happened. Ichigo then turned his attention to Nel as if asking her if she knew how or even if it was possible, to which she turned to him and just shook her head.

"I've never seen something like this before either. It shouldn't even be possible. But there is no arguing facts, those two are definitely the real thing." she commented as the three eventually made their way to the other group.

As they arrived, there was a long silence of everyone just looking at one another, but then Dondori suddenly grinned slightly and broke the silence with an almost amused tone; "Did you miss me, niños?"

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I hope you guys enjoyed, and if your still confused about how everything has been laid out, it basically goes like this: Rangiku and Kukaku's fight, Ichigo's and Chad's, Renji and Uryu's and then Rukia's and Senna's. It's like that because it progressively took longer for each group to both get to their opponent and to defeat them. ;) Btw, I was just reminded that I kept writing a few of the Espada's names wrong, instead of doing the last name first like most characters do, they have the first name first. So I'll be correcting myself on that from now on. ^^ Anyway, till next time everyone. ^^ Ja Ne.


	109. Chapter 109

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I was in the big hurricane that hit New York and such. =/ Trust me...it wasn't fun...at all. Anyway, on to the story. ;D

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**Chapter 109:**

-Rangiku and Kukaku-

The raven haired woman stood before the tall espada, whom charged toward her with his large blade at the ready. But as he went, Kukaku narrowed her eyes in focus, then quickly ducked under his slashing attack and immediately punched him hard in the stomach. As she did this, Nnoitra lost all of the air in his lungs, then spit out some blood and saliva when he tried to take a breath. Yet despite this, he still attempted to bring his weapon over to hit the raven haired woman in the back of her head.

Kukaku just crouched under the blade, then as she brought her hand backward, a large yellow ball of spirit energy emitting from her palm; "Hado no: 63, Raikoho." was all she said before extending her legs and bringing her hand toward the espada.

When she did, Nnoitra attempted to sonido away, but was too late as a massive wave of yellow energy blasted directly into his chest. This hurled the arrancar far across the sands of Las Noches, then into one of the buildings around them, which shattered upon impact; "He's not very fast or even physically strong, but that hierro of his is pretty damn tough." Kukaku commented with a light sigh.

"And he's not even in his released form, so it looks like he might be just enough of a challenge for you to get warmed up." Rangiku said as she and Cirucci just watched from off to the side.

The purple haired arrancar, looked over to the one-armed woman and just blinked her eyes in shock. Her being surprised at witnessing one of the most powerful beings in Las Noches being thrown to the side like he were a rag doll. But her shock turned its attention from Kukaku to an approaching yellow colored cero, which was blocked as the raven haired woman raised her hand up quickly. This sent the cero to either side of her and even missed Rangiku and Cirucci by a few feet; "A sneak attack, eh? Not bad." Kukaku said with an impressed smirk, just before jumping above a slash from Nnoitra.

She then pushed off of some gathered spirit particles in the air and flipped over the espada's head; "But from that distance..." she started as she pointed her right hand toward the espada, the tips of her fingers starting to glow yellow.

"...it isn't very effective. Bakudo no: 63, Sajo Sabaku." Kukaku finished quickly as she hovered just above Nnoitra's head, then shot a long golden chain from her fingers, which wrapped itself around his body.

Once Kukaku's feet landed on the sand, she immediately brought her fake and real hands together and narrowed her eyes heavily on the defenseless espada; "Hado no: 88, Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!"

As soon as these words left her lips, a gigantic electricity blast of blue spirit energy came right at Nnoitra. But just at the last second a figure got in the way of the blast, it calling out; "Nnoitra-sama!" as it did.

Yet this person had been completely disintegrated by the kido and did nothing to soften the blow as it hit Nnoitra. This hurled the espada backward all over again, only in a different direction and through multiple buildings this time. As they watched Rangiku and Cirucci blinked their eyes slightly surprised at how powerful Kukaku's kido was, plus at the sight of an arrancar getting in the way of the blast. But they both eventually turned their gaze over to the espada as he flew across the sands of Las Noches; "Wow...level 80 kido with no incantation still being that powerful is quite the feat." the strawberry blond commented with a smirk.

Kukaku looked over to her and smirked lightly and shrugged; "What can I say? I've really had nothing much to do for quite a number of years. So I made perfecting any and every kido into my hobby." she responded.

When Nnoitra finally stopped, he fell to his knees and looked down at the large burn on his chest, it being large, but not very deep due to his hierro; "Tch! Why did that fool Tesra even bother to try and protect me? It didn't mean a damn thing." he muttered out in slight pain.

But then he growled in anger and gripped his zanpakuto tightly as he stood up; "I've had it with this bitch...I'm going to fucking kill her!" he screamed out, raising his large weapon in the air.

Despite being almost half a mile away, Kukaku, Rangiku and Cirucci could hear him, the former of which frowned slightly and placed a hand to her hip; "Quite the foul-mouthed one isn't he." she said, her tone sounding rather disgusted.

"Inore! Santa Teresa!" was the last thing the three heard before a large pillar of yellow spirit energy erupted from Nnoitra's position and hit the artificial sky of Las Noches.

"So, what can I expect from this guy's Resurrección?" Kukaku asked as she glanced over to Cirucci; "I'd prefer not to go in blind against any opponent."

The purple haired arrancar looked to her and then back to the pillar of spirit energy as it began to die down; "I haven't actually seen it for myself, but I've heard he grows another four arms and can produce an infinite amount of weapons. Other then that I'm not sure...but I can assume his speed and strength increase quite a lot as well." she said just as Nnoitra suddenly appeared directly behind Kukaku.

As he did, he revealed his newly transformed body to be exactly as Cirucci said, four more incest-like limbs, each one having large scythe-like weapons in their hands. Along with this, he also gained golden markings on his face, which extended from his forehead to below his only eye. A pair of horns could even be seen on his head, his left horn being longer than his right, giving it a crescent moon type shape. His Hollow mask fragment was also now seen, it appearing as a hollow-like mouth, with teeth extending over the hole itself, which was exactly where his left eye should have been.

Though it was a brief look at his appearance, Rangiku and Cirucci had examined all of this just before both he and Kukaku suddenly vanished. The latter shunpoing out of the way of his attack, while the former sonidoed to chase after her; "You're not getting away!" Nnoitra called out as he disappeared.

Once Kukaku landed on the sand, she quickly had to shunpo once more as the espada appeared behind her again and attacked. The two repeated this half a dozen times before the raven haired woman suddenly vanished completely, to which Nnoitra touched down on the ground and began looking around. But then he was hit hard from behind by a powerful elbow, to which he was knocked forward a few feet before he stopped himself.

After he came to a halt, he immediately swung half of his weapons toward where Kukaku had just been, but missed completely as the green eyed woman was already gone. He then looked around quickly once more, but this time he saw Kukaku coming at him faster than before and had brought four of his weapons up to block. The raven haired woman narrowed her eyes heavily as her kick to his midsection had been blocked by the espada, this making both of the onlookers watch the fight much more intently.

Nnoitra smirked to the raven haired woman and pressed his blades against her foot; "Is that the best you've got? How pathetic." the espada claimed as his smirk widened into a maddening grin.

As soon as these words left his lips, Kukaku ground her teeth rather angrily as he swung his two free arms toward her. She then pushed off and away from the other blades, this taking her out of his weapons' range and to dodge under his follow-up attack toward her head. When she ducked, beneath his first two blades, she immediately had to jump into the air to go over his next swinging attack, her body going parallel to the ground.

While she did this, she brought her real hand back, only to quickly send it forward with a quick Shakkaho blast directly into Nnoitra's face. This stopped the espada's onslaught and caused him to step back as he retracted his arms, which allowed Kukaku to escape. But once she landed on the sand, Kukaku narrowed her eyes heavily on him as he rubbed his single eye from the pain of having a kido spell going right into his face. She then came right up to the arrancar at blinding speed and kicked him hard in the face as he removed his hand to see.

Nnoitra was knocked backward a few steps from the force of the hit, but he wasn't able to regain his footing as Kukaku suddenly appeared before him with a blue color kido in her hand. But instead of firing the spell, she kept it in her hand and pushed it into the espada's stomach with her own hand. This caused a large blast upon Nnoitra's body and sent him flying backward a few yards before he stopped. Yet once he had, he looked around quickly but didn't see Kukaku anywhere, to which he settled on Rangiku and Cirucci.

The strawberry blond was just smirking at him and even gave an amused huff as he looked at her, all the while the purple haired arrancar was blinking her eyes as Kukaku was still competing with Nnoitra. Though Cirucci could tell she was using more effort, the fact that the raven haired woman was able to keep up and even out pace the released form of the Quinto Espada was quite impressive. But when said arrancar spent a few extra seconds looking at the pair, Rangiku chuckled and spoke up; "You probably shouldn't be looking over here."

As she said this, a small grin spread on her face and her eyes shifted up to the top of one of the nearby buildings, that was still standing. Kukaku stood at the very top with her hands extended out and pointed right at the long-haired espada; "Chiniku no kamen, bansho, habataki, hito no na o kansu mono yo. Soka no kabe ni soren o kizamu, taika no fuchi o enten ni te matsu...Hado no: 73, Soren Sokatsui!" she called out as a very large burst of blue spirit energy blasted directly at Nnoitra.

The espada quickly turned to this, then brought up his weapons to block, but once the kido hit steel, the latter shattered apart and allowed the former to hit Nnoitra directly in his chest. As the spell drove itself into the espada's chest, his iron-like flesh burned away, it finally giving out from the massive amount of power behind Kukaku's kido. Once the full force of the blast hit him, Nnoitra was knocked directly into the ground, but due to raven haired woman's continuous fire, he was dragged across the sands of Las Noches.

The espada was pushed all the way into a building almost two hundred yards away, it being completely obliterated upon contact. This structure being only a few dozen feet away from where Ichigo and the others were currently gathered, all of whom became wide-eyed as they turned to the destroyed building. But the orange haired teen had stepped out in front of the group as if to protect them, despite the fact that Nel had slowly started to walk forward as her eyes were wide in both shock and somewhat anger.

"D-Damn that fucking bitch...I'll make her suffer for this." Nnoitra growled out as he slowly stood up, revealing his chest to being burned all the way down to his skeleton.

To this sight, many within the group cringed slightly, but the others just remained completely on guard and narrowed their eyes on him. But as Nnoitra got to his feet, he quickly noticed everyone off to the side of him, to which he almost immediately focused on Nel. As the two made eye contact, he growled silently and turned to face her fully; "So...returned to take your revenge, eh?! Well bring it on! I'll kill you right here and now!" he yelled out, bringing all of his weapons up and ready to attack.

His words to her caused everyone around her to look in question toward her as they seemed rather confused about who she was. But despite this, Nel didn't turn her head away from Nnoitra as her expression continued to be one of shock and anger. To her expression, the black haired espada just grinned slightly and took a step toward her, but then he stopped and turned in shock as he heard a voice behind him.

"What? Our fight isn't important anymore?" Kukaku questioned as she suddenly appeared behind him, her tone sounding as though he wouldn't care if he did drop their fight.

As the raven haired woman appeared, many of the others stared in shock as they quickly realized that it was her that put the wounded espada in the state he was in. But Ichigo, Uryu and even Chad each had the same thought pass through their minds as they saw this; 'I'm glad I never got on her bad side.'

Kukaku barely even noticed the others as she kept her full attention on Nnoitra, to which she immediately had to duck away from three of the arrancar's weapons as he swiftly turned and swung them toward her. As she did this, Kukaku then side flipped to her left as the espada slashed two of his blades down at her. Nnoitra ground his teeth at the woman, to which he opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue and charged a yellow color cero. Yet as he did this, Kukaku quickly rushed at the espada, swept both his legs from under him and sent a kido spell directly into his stomach.

This had blasted him backward and almost right at the feet of the greenish-blue haired woman, whom just looked down at him with a mixture of pity and anger. Nnoitra clenched his hands into the sand as he gripped his weapons, to which he ground his teeth and suddenly threw the sand in his hand at Nel's eyes. As he did this, he rolled around to his knees, quickly stood up on his feet and readied a few of his weapons to strike. But he stopped his attack as he saw the Nel was no longer in front of him, to which he shifted his eye around to find her.

"Still the same animal that I refused to fight. Didn't even have enough pride to throw your fight with her to come after me." the hazel eyed woman spoke from behind him with a nearly emotionless tone.

Nnoitra ground his teeth even more as he turned around and glared heavily at her; "Tch! I'll slaughter you both at once!" he growled out.

As he said this, Nel seemed to sigh lightly and shake her head as if in disappointment; "How sad...you really haven't become any stronger." she said silently, just before back flipping away from a slashing attack from the raven haired espada, his movements starting to slow down from his injuries.

"I've moved up three ranks since we last met! I'm stronger than you ever were!" Nnoitra yelled out in anger, the group around Nel looking at her in confusion as some were questioning who she even was.

Kukaku raised a brow to this, but merely watched on as Nnoitra continued to come at Nel with slash after slash, yet never landed a hit; "Well...I guess I did get a pretty good warm up." she muttered to herself as she crossed her arms, giving a quick glance toward Rangiku and Cirucci as they arrived in their respective movements.

"No...you're not stronger then me. But that wasn't what I was talking about." Nel said as she dodged away from yet another slash, her eyes narrowing slightly as she noticed just how much his wounds were affecting his attacks.

"You're mindset is still simply: kill everything and anything you see. You can never be strong in both body and will if that is all you have. I know that you believe that it's enough, but ones' purpose is never just one thing. So what I'm saying is that you can grow in body as much as you want, but you'll never be able to beat me because your will to do more is too weak." the hazel eyed woman said, closing her eyes midway through as if somewhat saddened by her own words, her able to flip away from an attack just by listening to the subtle vibrations in the air.

Nnoitra's expression turned to one of pure rage as he ran toward the woman; "I'M THE STRONGEST! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU!" he called out in anger.

As he charged forward, Nel leaned forward on her feet to ready her sonido, but she never got the chance as a blade suddenly went directly through Nnoitra's chest. This made both him and even Nel's eyes become wide, the two immediately looking back and over to the one that stabbed him. It revealed to be Ashido with a very cold expression on his face as he looked to Nel and spoke; "Sorry...but we've already drawn too much attention to ourselves. So this fight must end here."

After his words, Ashido retracted his zanpakuto and kicked Nnoitra in his back, causing the espada to fall to his knees. Despite this injury, the espada seemed completely keen not to fall, to which Ashido looked down at him and narrowed his eyes even more; "I'm not finished...I'll never be finished..." Nnoitra muttered out in a growl.

"NOT UNTIL I KILL HER!" he continued out in a scream, him bringing out his pierced tongue once again and firing off a large cero at Nel.

The greenish-blue haired woman widened her eyes slightly before narrowing them as she brought both her hands up immediately and stopped the blast. This shocked not only the espada but many of the others as well, the cero itself being absorbed inside of Nel's mouth, to which their eyes widened even more. Just before Nnoitra could continue his attack or for anyone else to do anything, Nel suddenly sonidoed to the side of the black haired espada and fired off a large purple color cero toward him.

The blast completely engulfed Nnoitra's body, the cero burning away at his already burned flesh, to which he finally fell to the sand and coughed out blood. As he laid there, his eye shifted up toward Nel as she stood over him with slightly narrowed eyes, which held both sadness and anger. The espada ground his teeth together very hard together as he glared at her; "Why?...Why didn't you ever fight me?" he questioned as his breathing finally stopped, his body finally shutting down.

"I would have...if you had challenged me as a warrior, rather than an animal." was all she said before Nnoitra's eye closed and his body became completely motionless.

Nel looked down at the deceased espada and gave a short bow; "Rest in peace, Nnoitra Gilga." she whispered silently before turning away from the man and looking to Ichigo and the others as they stared at her.

The greenish-blue haired woman glanced from one person to another and gave a small yet rather forced smile; "Well...for everyone that didn't notice, I'm Nel. Or better known as Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, former Tres Espada. Nice to meet you all...again." she said with a short wave.

Renji raised a brow to her along with Uryu, but they eventually gave a nod of approval and greeting. Ichigo and Chad however were giving her somewhat concerned expressions as they could tell that despite being an enemy to her, the death of the espada still bothered her slightly. Ashido merely looked at her with a nearly blank expression, him already knowing it was still her just by the similarities of her appearance.

Rangiku raised a brow to this as she, Kukaku and Cirucci finally walked over and joined the others. But as the strawberry blond looked at Nel for a while, she eventually took on a smirk and patted her on the back; "We're glad to make your acquaintance again." she said as her expression turned to an encouraging smile.

Nel blinked her eyes to Rangiku, but smiled back and nodded her head; "Thank you." she said as her smile turned to a real one.

Kukaku placed her real hand on her hip and sighed; "Well...I've seen weirder things then a child going through a sudden growth spurt. So I have no problem with it." she muttered with a small, but accepting smirk toward Nel.

But as they all spoke casually, Cirucci, Dordoni and Gantenbainne all came up to Nel and bowed; "It's an honor to have you back Nelliel-sama." they each spoke in unison, their tone being very respectful.

Their words caused the hazel eyed arrancar to blink, but then to smile lightly and to pat Cirucci's shoulder lightly; "No need to be formal you three, I'm no longer part of the Espada so you can just call me Nelliel or even just Nel." she said with a smirk as they all straightened up and looked to her directly.

Cirucci looked to her and smirked back as she nodded; "We're not even part of the Privaron Espada...so ranks don't make any difference to us." she said.

"We only have our honor as arrancar left." Dondori claimed as he nodded at Nel as well.

"And we each have you to thank for it. After all...you're the one that suggested for Aizen to create the Privaron Espada so we could stay." Gantenbainne said as he adjusted the hollow fragment on his forehead.

"If it wasn't for you, we would have just been cast out of Las Noches. So we respect you fully as a person and as our superior." Cirucci spoke as she and the other two arrancar gave a small smirk.

Nel blinked her eyes to their words along with everyone else, to which she eventually smiled lightly and nodded her head; "Thanks you guys." was all she said before noticing Pesche and Dondochakka crying.

"What's wrong you two?" Nel asked as she blinked her eyes in confusion.

"W-W-W-W-We're so happy for you Nel-sama!" they both called out in unison as they continued to sob.

The greenish-blue haired woman blinked her eyes once more before smiling lightly and giving them a nod; "Thank you...for looking out for me for so long and becoming my brothers." was all she managed to say before a sudden, yet very powerful spirit energy pressed down on all of them and made their eyes widen in shock.

"Damn it." Rangiku suddenly muttered as she was the only one out of the whole group to recognize the person's spirit energy.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed. And just to let all of you know, I'm starting up a 'Bleached Movie' series. It's where I take movies at random and transform them with the help of the Bleach characters. ;) It'll always be one chapter for each movie so it'll take me about two or so months for each one. And just to let you all know, the movie will be manipulated almost completely since I'm exchanging the real characters with the ones from Bleach, so you can expect my version to be much different from the original. :) The first movie will be Clue, mainly just to give you all a taste of what it will be like and to give me an idea of how everyone responds to it. Which is why I'm not taking movie requests right now, I want to know how much people actually like it first. ^^ You can probably expect it some time this or maybe next month, considering how much time I actually have to work on it. ;D Anyway, till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	110. Chapter 110

A quick, but big thanks to Tuli-chan once again for her help on this. ;D So thank you very much. ^^

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**Chapter 110:**

-Toshiro, Rukia, Senna and Kaien-

The four sat in silence for a few moments, the white haired captain having just sat down beside the others mere seconds ago, but then Kaien broke the silence as he muttered Toshiro's name in slight surprise; "Captain Hitsugaya..."

Said person merely smirked lightly and nodded to him; "So how has your first few minutes of being back from the dead been?" Toshiro asked.

Kaien chuckled and grinned to the icy captain as he shrugged; "Well technically I was already dead before, but...it's been good. I meet two old friends, make a new one and even kill an arrancar. I'd say I've had the most interesting ten minutes of my afterlife." he claimed with a light laugh.

Rukia sighed and rolled her eyes to his words, but she then turned her head to the side to hide the fact that she was giving a small smile as well. Senna smirked lightly toward the raven haired man, then glanced over to Toshiro as he responded to Kaien's comment; "It sounds that way."

"Although..." Kaien started as he tilted his head down for a moment before looking to the white haired captain once more; "...I am wondering how it is that I was brought back in the first place."

To this, both Rukia and Senna turned their full attention to Toshiro as he looked back at Kaien with a small smirk; "I figured you'd ask that." he began, briefly closing his eyes.

"Well...during my research with spirit particles I discovered how to divide and gather them in any form I wanted by manipulating them at a molecular level. But in order to do so, I used a very large device that required an enormous amount of power." he began, looking to the three as they took on interested expressions on their faces.

"So it was unconventional for me to use it when it really mattered. Though about thirty years ago I was able to make a break through in what has commonly been known as 'Nano-technology' in the World of the Living. Using this...I made each of the parts needed to make the machine run into near-atom size pieces so I could carry it anywhere I went." he continued, turning his look mainly to Senna, to which she blinked her eyes.

"But in this case..." Toshiro started once more, him reaching over to her still released zanpakuto and taking the small black dot in its surface; "...I had her hold it for me."

As he said this, Toshiro raised the small dot between his fingers to eye level and showed it to everyone; "By giving this device a small piece of your spirit energy, I was able to set it to separate your spirit particles from that of Arruruerie's the moment he activated your Shikai, which in turn would allow you to take your physical form once again. Of course she had to be within ten feet of you for it to work, but fortunately...she was even closer than that."

The three shinigami looked at the icy captain in shock as he said this, but it was Senna that spoke up first; "How did you have a piece of his spirit energy if he's been dead for...well however long he's been dead?"

Toshiro looked to her once more and just smirked lightly; "A very reliable, but non-friendly source." was all he answered with.

"W-When did you even start this research? And how did you even do it without a lab like Captain Mayuri's?" Rukia questioned as she blinked her eyes toward the white haired captain.

"I started almost forty years ago and actually I do have a lab...it's easily twice as large as his." Toshiro claimed, sounding almost proud of himself in his tone.

"I see. So what was the real reason for studying spirit particles?" Kaien asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took on a rather knowing look.

"You obviously didn't go through that much trouble to only save me. Though I haven't been able to ask many questions since I've come back, it's pretty obvious that Soul Society must be at war...why else would shinigami even come to Hueco Mundo." he continued, leaning his arms on trident in his lap as he looked at Toshiro carefully.

To these words, Rukia and Senna blinked their eyes for a moment before turning their full attention over to Toshiro, whom just smirked lightly as he let out a sigh. Though he was silent for a brief few seconds, the white haired captain eventually spoke up; "Always incredibly sharp, Kaien. Yes...Soul Society is at war, but this time I've taken the fight to them."

"And to answer your first question, I started my research so I could finish off Aizen...once and for all." Toshiro finished with a chilling voice that nearly froze the air around them.

Kaien blinked his eyes to this, then raised a brow in question; "Aizen? You mean as in 'Captain Aizen'?" he asked.

Toshiro just nodded his head and narrowed his eyes on Kaien; "Yeah...he's a traitor to Soul Society. And the one that created Metastacia." he claimed, to which the raven haired man's eyes widened in shock, but then contorted into rage.

As she saw this, Rukia shivered slightly but took on an understanding expression, Senna however was blinking her eyes in confusion. But it was his next words that made the purple haired girl look at him in shock; "I hope you give him the worst possible death." Kaien halfway whispered as he eventually seemed to calm himself down.

"Oh, trust me...he'll receive all that, and more." Toshiro said with a light, but fairly dark smirk.

This caused everyone, including Kaien to shiver slightly at how serious Toshiro truly was in his words, but they didn't have time to respond as they felt a slight tremor shake through the tower. Once it subsided, each of them stood to their feet and looked toward the closest wall; "Time to go." the icy captain muttered before leaping toward the wall and blasting it apart with a quick kido from his hand.

The other three immediately followed behind him as they jumped through the hole and into the air. But as they did, gravity immediately took over and they started a long free-fall to the white sand below them. As soon as their feet hit ground, all four immediately pushed off and ran forward, creating a fairly large dust cloud in their wake. But as they went in the same direction that the four could feel Ichigo and the others' spirit energies, they immediately stopped as they saw Grimmjow delivering a kick toward Ulquiorra.

-Orihime and Ulquiorra, ten minutes ago-

"Wow...you almost make him sound like some kind of legend." Orihime said with blinking eyes as she looked at Ulquiorra.

Said espada stared back at her emotionlessly as he spoke; "I'm simply giving you the information that I have seen him do with my own eyes."

The orange haired teen tilted her head up and pursed her lips slightly as she took on a thoughtful expression; "Hmm, well it still seems almost like he was some kind of hero that did remarkable things before disappearing all of a sudden." she claimed with a small smile at the end.

"But guess in many ways...he is kind of a hero." Orihime added as her small smile became larger.

Ulquiorra merely stared at her for a moment before turning away and looking out the high window nearby; "Not likely. In consideration with his 'good' and 'bad' actions, he has taken far more lives then he has saved." he said somewhat silently, yet loud enough for the teen beside him to hear.

Orihime's eyes widened to this and she turned toward the espada in shock; "W-What?! N-No...he couldn't...he wouldn't!" she nearly stuttered out as she obviously didn't want to believe the words she just heard.

"I've even heard that he completely disintegrated an entire village of people who were under suspicion for treason, including the women and children." the pale arrancar said, him not even looking at Orihime.

Immediately following his words, the orange haired teen's face became red with anger and sadness, to which she suddenly slapped Ulquiorra across the face; "That's a lie! He'd never do something so horrible!" she all but screamed out as her hands shook from adrenaline.

After a brief moment, Orihime looked at Ulquiorra in shock as she gasped and grabbed her hand as if it were something to be contained; "I-I'm so sorry Ulquiorra-kun. I didn't mean to slap you. I was just so shocked at your words that I let my anger get the best of me. Please forgive me." she said quickly before bowing toward him as regretful tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

The espada merely looked down at her blankly as no expression crossed his face; "I haven't been harmed, so there is no need for your apology. I expected your reaction from the beginning." was all he said before Orihime lifted her head up to look at him.

"Y-You expected me to hit you? But then why did you tell me that?" she questioned in both shock and confusion.

"Your physical strength is nowhere near enough to cause me harm so there was no need for me to hold my tongue." Ulquiorra said as he just continued to look directly at her with an emotionless expression.

"Well...I don't like to hurt people, so I'm still sorry." Orihime said as she tilted her head down once more as she continued to have her back bent forward in a bow.

"And as I said, there is no need for your apology. But if you insist on receiving forgiveness then you may have it." the espada responded as he merely continued to look down at her.

The orange haired teen looked up to him, then smiled lightly and straightened her back; "Thank you Ulquiorra-kun." she said with a smile.

"It's Ulquiorra." said arrancar began, to which Orihime looked to him and blinked in slight confusion.

"Don't refer to me as you would a human. When you address me as Ulquiorra, address me only as that." he continued as he looked into the teen's eyes with actual force in his own.

As she saw this, Orihime nearly trembled, but managed a nod and a very small smile; "O-Of course. Sorry Ulquiorra." she said, almost sounding like she had to force herself not to add a suffix at the end of his name.

After her words, Ulquiorra looked at the orange haired teen for a brief moment before turning toward the door as he seemed to either hear or feel something approaching. Yet just as Orihime followed his gaze, she immediately brought her arms up to block the dust and ruble from entering her eyes as an entire part of the wall was suddenly knocked down. The green eyed espada merely looked at the large hole with an emotionless stare, to which he spoke in a tone that fit his expression; "What do you think you're doing here, Grimmjow?"

Said espada walked into the room and narrowed his eyes on Ulquiorra; "I'm here to take that woman with me to Kurosaki. I can feel that he just fought someone and I don't want my rematch with him to be cheapened. If I'm going to kill that son of a bitch, it'll be with both of us at full power." Grimmjow claimed as he stepped forward.

"So...are you gonna stand aside? Or am I gonna have to make you?" the blue haired arrancar continued as he shifted his feet around as if ready to charge.

Orihime looked between the two in shock, her appearing somewhat frightened of the prospect of the espada fighting. Ulquiorra however just looked at Grimmjow with a continuous blank expression, him not even moving an inch as the opposing man seemed to be preparing to attack; "No." was all he said, to which the blue haired espada hesitated slightly as he charged forward, him unsure of which question Ulquiorra was answering to.

As he did, the pale arrancar brought one of his hands from his pockets and blocked Grimmjow's punch with the back of his wrist. Though the impact of Grimmjow's strike made the floor beneath Ulquiorra crack, the raven haired espada didn't appear affected in the slightest as he held his foe at bay. But then as a red cero suddenly began charging between Grimmjow's and Ulquiorra's flesh, the latter's eyes widening very slightly and his slitted pupils became thinner.

The orange haired teen looked at the two in shock, her just about to step in to try and stop the fight as Grimmjow's cero fired. As it did, the red blast was sent to either side of Ulquiorra as the back of his hand split it completely in half. But while one part went directly into the wall behind the pale arrancar, the other just missed Orihime by mere inches, which made Ulquiorra's eyes narrow slightly. The teen herself letting out a frightened yelp as she quickly back tracked away from the cero and ended up falling onto her back.

As the wall opposite to Grimmjow blew apart from his own cero, he grinned lightly as he then pulled his fist back and sent a powerful round house kick at his opponent. Ulquiorra merely bent his back backward just enough to dodge away from this kick, to which he suddenly came forward and delivered a swift palm to Grimmjow's chest. This movement happening too quickly from the blue haired espada to dodge or to even see it fully, to which he was knocked backward and directly through the hole he made near the entrance.

Once Grimmjow steadied himself once more, he ground his teeth together and narrowed his eyes heavily on Ulquiorra, whom straightened himself up and spoke in an emotionless tone; "If you insist of fighting...then I'll have no choice but to kill you."

"Tch! Like I'll just roll over and die!" Grimmjow yelled out as he sonidoed toward Ulquiorra, a powerful swinging back kick heading directly for the pale espada's head.

As he came forward, Ulquiorra tilted his head to the side, it being obvious that he would dodge out of the way. But Grimmjow's attack was blocked as Orihime brought forth her Santen Kesshun and placed it directly in front of Ulquiorra. This made both Grimmjow's and even Ulquiorra's eyes widen slightly and turn to Orihime as the former of the espada pushed off her shield and landed himself easily on the floor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing woman? I don't need you conscious or even able to walk to help me heal Kurosaki." Grimmjow claimed as he narrowed his eyes on her heavily, to which the teen's own eyes widened a bit in fright.

"You make it sound as though you could kill me all on your own. How ludicrous." Ulquiorra said as he placed his unpocketed hand to his side.

"Ha! We'll see about that!" Grimmjow exclaimed as he charged toward the raven haired arrancar, to which he started throwing punches and kicks toward him at blinding speed.

But despite the blue haired espada's quickness, Ulquiorra continued to dodge each one of his attacks with even greater speed as his expression remained completely emotionless. This fact made Grimmjow's eyes narrow heavily as he suddenly threw his fist out as if to punch, to which Ulquiorra tilted his head to the side. But as Grimmjow's fist came closer to Ulquiorra's face, he opened his hand and blocked the raven haired arrancar's view.

Grimmjow then grinned lightly as he quickly used this opportunity to send a forward kick at Ulquiorra, all the while bringing a small black box from his coat pocket. Yet the emotionless espada just flipped over the attack and fired off a quick cero directly into Grimmjow's hand, which had destroyed the object he took from his pocket. This caused the blue haired arrancar to narrow his eyes heavily and look up at Ulquiorra as he hover in the air for a moment before drifting down to the floor.

But as he did, Grimmjow immediately attempted to sweep both his enemy's legs, but to no avail as said espada quickly jumped forward and grabbed the blue haired arrancar by his face. As he did this, Ulquiorra used his momentum to push Grimmjow straight through the cero damaged wall and send him hurling out to the canopy of Las Noches. Orihime's eyes widened to this as she could only manage to watch this fight between them, to which she eventually looked to Ulquiorra as he just waited for Grimmjow to come back.

"Wow...you really are strong." she muttered out in amazement, but the pale espada didn't pay any attention nor respond to her as he stayed perfectly still.

Orihime blinked her eyes to him, then looked over to the hole and back again; "Um...is he alright?" she questioned as she tilted her head slightly to the side.

Yet before Ulquiorra could answer, which the orange haired teen wasn't sure he would do, Grimmjow suddenly appeared outside the hole and fired a very large blue colored cero at him. As this blast came toward, Ulquiorra raised a hand up to block it, but Orihime jumped in the way and brought her Santen Kesshun out in front of her. The raven haired espada's eyes widened slightly to this, but he merely sonidoed in front of the teen's shield and spiked his spirit energy as he slashed the cero in half with his bare hand.

Due to the combination of his spirit energy flare and his hand, the two blasts flew to either side of Ulquiorra and Orihime by an entire foot. Yet the two halves of the cero continued on, blew every wall in its path to ruble and even caused part of the roof above to collapse. As this happened, Orihime blinked her eyes to the espada standing directly in front of her, to which she dropped her shield; "Hitsugaya wishes for you to stay alive. Don't put yourself in a dangerous situation." Ulquiorra said without even looking at the orange haired teen.

Orihime blinked her eyes to this, yet she wasn't able to respond as Grimmjow suddenly came up toward Ulquiorra with heavily narrowed eyes and sent a punch at his head. Despite blocking the attack with his back of his hand, Ulquiorra immediately pushed the blue haired espada away and out through the hole once again with a wave of his arm. This shocked Orihime slightly as she watched from behind the pale arrancar, whom suddenly vanished in a sonido, to which she blinked her eyes and ran toward the opening of the hole that Grimmjow was sent through.

As she did this, she saw Ulquiorra appear before Grimmjow, just as he was steadying himself on the air, to which the raven haired espada sent a very powerful, spinning, downward kick directly to his stomach. This impact made the blue haired espada's eyes widen, all the air in his lungs to come out at once and for a bit of blood to come out of his mouth. But as he was hit, Grimmjow gasped for a breath, yet failed when his body was sent hurling into and through Las Noches' roof.

This caused Orihime to watch in surprise as she looked from the new hole Grimmjow had made in the canopy, to Ulquiorra; "Stay where you are. I will return soon." the espada called out, his tone still sounding emotionless despite the loudness of his voice.

The orange haired teen just blinked her eyes once more and merely nodded; "Alright! Good luck!" she responded with a light wave to Ulquiorra, said arrancar just pushed off the air and followed after Grimmjow.

As the blue haired espada fell, he started to regain his footing halfway down, making the dust and sand in the air fly out behind him. But before he could come to a complete stop, Ulquiorra immediately caught up to him and sent yet another kick at him, this time hitting Grimmjow in the back. This attack slammed Grimmjow into the sand below and caused a small tremor to echo through much of Las Noches.

Ulquiorra landed on the ground a few yards away, then turned his head toward the small sand cloud around Grimmjow that was created by his impact and narrowed his eyes slightly. But as he watched a sudden cero came out of the settling cloud and hit right in front of his feet, this creating an explosion that made sand kick up and block his view. This giving Grimmjow the opportunity to sonido to the side of Ulquiorra and send a kick directly into the side of his face.

As he was hit, Ulquiorra was knocked to the side a few yards before he stopped himself, to which he quickly dodged under a kick coming directly toward his head. It was during this that he noticed Toshiro and three other figures were coming toward them, to which he used his position to spin around and send a spinning back kick into the back of Grimmjow's head. This blow making the blue haired espada's eyes to close from the pain and to fall forward, but he managed to catch himself with his hand and flip himself around to gain his footing.

Yet even as Grimmjow spun around to face Ulquiorra, he was suddenly blasted by a large green cero that the pale arrancar had charge on his finger while kicking him. This blast engulfed his body and knocked him back many yards away, to which he eventually stopped and revealed half of his upper body heavily burned. But despite this, Grimmjow charged toward Ulquiorra with an angry cry as he seemed to be ignoring his pain completely.

Once the blue haired espada came close enough, Ulquiorra vanished from his sight and the last thing Grimmjow felt before falling to the sand beneath his feet, was a sharp pain in the back of his neck. The moment he fell to the ground, Ulquiorra turned to Toshiro, but before he could speak, he felt a familiar presence close by and coming closer. The icy captain noticed this as well, walked over to the pale arrancar and gave a small smirk; "Looks like I have some explaining to do." he muttered silently as he saw Rangiku's form coming toward them.

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Well...I don't have much to say. =/ So I guess I'll just say thank you everyone for your support and reviews. ^^ I hope you're all still enjoying. Ja Ne.


	111. Chapter 111

A quick, but big thanks again to Tuli-chan for her help. ^^ And a thanks to Dragon Silhouette for her comments. ;) I don't know if I'll be able to bring your interest back right away, but I hope I can eventually.

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**Chapter 111:**

Toshiro let out a heavy breath as Rangiku came closer to him and the others, but then she vanished in a shunpo and appeared to the right of Ulquiorra. As she did this, she swung her leg with a huge amount of force directly toward the pale espada's head, whom of which turned shifted his eyes toward her. Ulquiorra then quickly brought his arm up and blocked Rangiku's strike with the side of his arm.

Once Rangiku's kick hit, the sand around them blasted in the same direction as the attack, which had unintentionally covered Toshiro in the white grain. Senna and Kaien starting to laugh about this almost immediately, to which Rukia held hers back and walked over to help dust him off. But the strawberry blond didn't pay attention as she suddenly grabbed Ulquiorra by the front of his jacket and blasted a very small kido spell into his face.

This made Ulquiorra take a single step backward, then to look at her with slightly narrowed eyes, them burning a bit from the kido spell. But as he looked at her, Rangiku merely returned the gesture and grinned lightly as she placed her hands on her hips; "That's for hitting me in the back of the head." she claimed.

Ulquiorra stared at her for a moment, then turned his attention to Toshiro as he seemed to get most of the sand off of him. "It appears she doesn't need an explanation." the espada said silently.

"Of course I do..." Rangiku began, looking between the two with her grin; "...I just wanted to make us even beforehand."

To these words, Toshiro, Rukia and Kaien sighed and sweat dropped heavily, all the while Senna chuckled and Ulquiorra remained emotionless. After a brief moment, Kukaku, Nel, Ichigo and Ashido appeared in shunpoes, to which the former's eyes became wide in shock as she saw Kaien standing next to Rukia. "K-Kaien..." she whispered out as she froze.

Kaien turned to her and mirrored her reaction as he also paused in shock at seeing her, "K-Kukaku...?"

"What the...he looks like a black haired version of me." Ichigo muttered out as he stared at Kaien as well, him being a bit more confused then shocked.

But just as it seemed like they would be silent forever, Kukaku suddenly appeared to the side of Kaien, then smacked him in the back of the head and yelled; "What the hell are you doing wearing that stupid outfit?!"

"It's not like I put it on! It's what the guy I was freed from was wearing!" Kaien shouted back as he recovered from the hit and ground his forehead against his sister's.

"Huh? What was that?! Did I hear that you had to be rescued?!" Kukaku countered as she pushed her brother's head back with her own.

"So what?! Who was the one that cried all the way home after a little splinter in their toe?!"

"And who was the one that suggested to investigate that abandoned house in the first place?! Some older brother you are!"

"Some younger sister you are! You wouldn't even tell me where the aloe was after I got burned by the fireworks!"

"And who suggested to set off fifty of them at once?!"

"Well if you didn't keep telling on me after everything I did maybe I might have tried to find different ways to get attention!"

"No seriously...he looks just like me. Who the heck is this guy? It's like he could be my clone or something." Ichigo commented as he sweat dropped slightly, him unable to stop looking at Kaien as if he were a mirror.

But as he did and said this, Rukia came up to him and smacked the teen in the back of the head; "Idiot...Kaien-dono isn't anything like you." she stated in a matter-a-fact tone.

"Why you..." Ichigo muttered as he rubbed his head, yet he didn't say much more as he immediately received another, but somewhat lighter hit to his head.

All the while, Nel turned to Ulquiorra and blinked her eyes in shock at first, but then it turned to confusion as he didn't appear to be seeking a battle. "Um...what are you doing here, Ulquiorra? If you don't mind me asking." she asked, to which the pale espada just looked at her, then over to the unconscious body of Grimmjow.

"Oh...but why are you still here?" Nel questioned with a slight tilt of her head.

"Hitsugaya has not explained the situation or objective yet." was all Ulquiorra responded with.

Toshiro sighed heavily to all this, then just watched as Uryu, Renji, Chad, Cirucci, Dordoni and Gantenbainne followed in behind the others. The three latter had immediately looked to Ulquiorra in shock as they seemed to quickly be filled by fear; "U-Ulquiorra-sama..." they whispered out in unison.

Ulquiorra had just given them a glance and turned away, him not appearing interested in any of them. As Renji laid eyes on the others, his main focus ended on Kaien, his expression turning to that of surprise and shock. "L-Lieutenant Shiba..." he muttered out silently.

"Yes yes...it's Shiba Kaien, a dead guy that was somehow brought back to life and now a bunch of arrancar standing right beside us. So I think it's about time for the explanation." Senna said with a heavy sigh and a gesture toward Ulquiorra before turning to Toshiro.

As she said this, each of the surrounding people became silent, then turned to her and blinked their eyes, but quickly shifted their gaze toward the icy captain as he spoke; "If you insist."

"Well, to start off the explanation of what they're doing here..." Toshiro began, giving a glance over to Ulquiorra and the other arrancar.

"...I met Ulquiorra when I came here to Hueco Mundo to train many years ago. We became allies after a few 'conversations' and eventually..." he continued, looking to Ulquiorra once more with a raised brow.

"...we became 'friends', and he's been serving as a spy for me within Aizen's army." Toshiro finished, to which he turned his eyes toward the other arrancar; "The reason for them being here is because I need their help in defeating Aizen's remaining forces."

As he said this Cirucci narrowed her eyes slightly, her being the only one of the group that was questionable about his notion. "But what makes you think I'll even join you in the first place? I only told them that I'd see for myself if it would be worth joining forces with you." she said with a forceful voice.

Toshiro turned to her and gave a mere nod, "You're welcome to join or leave. Just know that if you do join me, you'll contribute in the annihilation of Aizen Sosuke. If you choose not to, then you're free to go, just don't interfere in our fight against any of his allies."

To this, Cirucci narrowed her eyes slightly on the icy captain as he just stared back at her blankly. But after a moment, she eventually let out a breath and nodded her head; "Alright...I'll join. but once Aizen is dead, I'm gone." she said, her tone being forceful once again.

"That's your choice." was all Toshiro responded with before turning toward everyone else.

"Aside from her...the other two have already agreed to join our side." this white haired captain said, looking specifically to Dordoni and Gantenbainne.

The two arrancar gave a nod as they turned to Ashido, whom remained silent as he was looking around as if on look-out. "Yeah...thanks to these small white pills that he gave to us, we recovered completely from our injuries and even got our spirit energy restored." Dordoni said as he gave a somewhat cocky grin toward Ichigo.

The orange haired teen blinked in shock to this information, but then huffed in annoyance to the man's tone; "I'd still beat you in a rematch any day of the week." he muttered silently.

"But it was because of Hitsugaya's plan to destroy Aizen and allow the arrancar and espada to form our own leadership once more." Gantenbainne spoke up as he crossed his arms.

When he said this, Cirucci blinked her eyes for a moment, looking to Toshiro for a long while before nodded her head. "I guess you do understand us a bit." she whispered.

Toshiro merely let out a slight breath and narrowed his eyes, "And for the question of how Kaien is alive..." he began, bringing everyone back on topic.

"...I'll allow him to explain on our way to Orihime. We need to get to her before Aizen does." Toshiro finished as he started walking toward where Grimmjow had fallen through the ceiling.

"Well hold on Captain..." Rangiku began as she raised a brow and crossed her arms under her chest.

"...where exactly did you go when we first split up? And what exactly are those white pill things that you had Ashido give to those two?" she continued, gesturing to Dordoni and Gantenbainne.

Toshiro looked at her from over his shoulder as he returned her raised brow and let out a sigh; "I went to visit the other two people I met when I came here for training, Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck. But as for the pills...it's a bit of a lengthy explanation, so I'll save it for later." he said just before flying into the air and through the hole in the canopy.

Just as everyone else began to follow, they all heard a pair of voices calling out to them from over a sand tune: "Wait for us!" and "Wait for us–de ariusu!"

-Orihime-

The burnt orange haired teen sat on half of the only surviving piece of furniture, the sofa being burned in various spots but still halfway intact. But as she sat there, she began to spin her thumbs around each other and let out a heavy sigh; "I can feel that the fight is over, but it's still a bit nerve wrecking that he still hasn't come back yet." she said to herself, glancing at the large hole in the wall as some more ruble crumbled away from the sides.

She then turned away and looked up at the heavily cracked ceiling, to which she began humming silently to herself. After a few moments, her humming turned to silent singing, yet it was only loud enough to reach around the room. "Change, nabikanai nagasarenai yo.

Ima kanjiru koto ni sunao de itai no~.

Change, nando demo umarekawaru no.

Kanashimi mo dakishimete.

Hashiridasu yo~."

But just as she was about to take in a breath and continue the song, Toshiro suddenly appeared and caused her to yelp in surprise; "Toshiro-kun!"

Said captain came walking up to her and nodded his head with a small smirk, "I told you I would come back for you."

As he said this Ulquiorra, Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Rukia, Senna, Rangiku and Renji appeared behind him. "Kurosaki-kun, Ishida-kun, Sado-kun, Kuchiki-san, Senna-san, Rangiku-san, Abarai-san...you're all here?" she asked with blinking eyes.

"Of course. We couldn't leave you here. You're one of our very precious friends." Ichigo said with a warm smirk and a confident thumbs up, to which all but Ulquiorra smirked and gave a light nod.

Orihime blinked once more, but then smiled widely as small tears came into her eyes; "Thank you all...so much." she said, quickly wiping the tears away.

"Well, they're not the only ones you should thank." Kukaku suddenly stated as she, Kaien, Ashido, Cirucci, Dordoni and Gantenbainne had already come up behind the others.

"Shiba-san! You're here too?" Orihime asked with blinking eyes and a slight tilt of her head as she noticed even more people behind them.

"Excuse us...but can you guys move up a little, there really isn't much room for us to get in." Nel said as she held on to Pesche and Dondochakka by their hands.

Everyone within the room turned to them, yet while all but Ulquiorra let out a heavy breath to this, only Kaien spoke up; "We're gonna need a bigger room."

-A few moments later-

Toshiro stood with everyone on the surface of the canopy just a few yards away from the hole. "Alright...first things first, we're going to send a small force back to the World of the Living to counter Aizen's attack, while the rest will stay here to eliminate the remainder of his army." he said, looking around to each person gathered.

"Okay, but who will stay and who will go?" Senna asked raising a brow to the white haired captain.

"Rangiku, Kaien, Kukaku and I will go to the World of the Living." Toshiro said, turning to the purple haired girl for a moment before shooting a very quick glance at Ulquiorra.

"Huh? Why only the four of you? That would still leave thirteen of us here." Ichigo claimed with blinking eyes.

But immediately following his words, Nel cleared her throat and gestured to Pesche and Dondochakka, to which Ichigo sighed and sweat dropped. "I mean 'fifteen of us here'." he added quickly.

Toshiro looked at the orange haired teen and narrowed his eyes slightly; "Las Noches is extremely large, even with all of us here it would still take over an hour to finish off everything and everyone. So it's better to keep most of you here so Aizen cannot call for reinforcements."

Though a few of the people around him still wished to detest these orders, no one spoke up as they merely nodded their heads. But then Orihime raised her head slightly and spoke, "Um...I think I have an idea that might avoid the war all together."

To these words, nearly everyone's eyes widened heavily, but only Toshiro said the word they were all thinking; "What?"

"Well...during my time here, I was able to discover how my powers work and I believe that if I use them on the Hogyoku...I can reject its existence." the burnt haired teen explained, to which everyone widened their eyes even more and just stared at her.

"How is that even possible?" Kukaku all but demanded.

"What's a Hogyoku?" Pesche asked with a blinking eye.

"Are you sure can reject the Hogyoku itself?" Rangiku questioned with a hopeful expression.

"How do you even know you can do it?" Uryu asked as he stepped toward her and adjusted his glasses.

"What's a Hogyoku?" Pesche said once again, his eye continuing to blink.

"When did you even see it?" Chad questioned, him moving his head slightly so one of his eyes could be seen.

"Do you know where the Hogyoku is?" Ichigo asked, raising a brow in interest.

But all this questioning came to an end as Toshiro loudly cleared his throat and looked to Orihime, "Can you really do this?" was all he asked.

Orihime looked from him, to everyone around her, then back again as she nodded her head; "Yes...I can do this."

Toshiro gave a small smirk as she said this, to which he looked to Ulquiorra and then over to Rangiku, Kaien and Kukaku. "Alright, we'll head to where Aizen's is keeping the Hogyoku. If all goes well, then this war might be over sooner than any of us expected." the icy captain said with a small, yet almost hopeful smirk.

As he said this, everyone nodded their heads, but then many sweat dropped slightly and sighed as Pesche's voice was heard; "No seriously...what's a Hogyoku?"

"It's what Aizen is going to use to kill every last one of you." Grimmjow stated as he rose up from the hole to the side of everyone, to which they each turned toward him.

"Hmph, you're outnumbered and outclassed by quite a lot right now. Do you really think talking 'smack' will help your case?" Kukaku asked with a raised brow, crossing her arms as she spoke.

"Tch...I didn't come here to fight all of you. Just him." Grimmjow spoke as he pointed a finger at Ichigo.

Said teen narrowed his eyes and smirked lightly with a nod, "Alright, I'll fight you. But everyone else gets to leave without a word."

"Fine then. But just know, that once I'm finished with killing you...they're next." the blue haired espada said as his grin widened even further.

"Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime whispered silently as her concern for her friend rose, but eventually simmered as Toshiro placed an ice-covered hand to her shoulder.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. Let's concentrate at our task at hand." Toshiro said as he gave a light, but encouraging smirk.

Orihime looked from him, to Ichigo and nodded after a moment; "Okay...good luck Kurosaki-kun. Please stay safe." she said silently, yet loud enough for Ichigo to hear.

The orange haired teen himself glanced over his shoulder to her and gave a nod with a smirk; "Don't worry...you just concentrate on getting rid of that Hogyoku." he said, giving Orihime a thumbs up.

"Alright...change of plans. Abarai, Ishida and Dordoni, the three of you will take the North side of Las Noches and eliminate any and all signs of Aizen's army. Senna, Rukia and Sado, you'll take the East. Nel, Cirucci and Dondochakka will handle the South. While Ashido, Pesche and Gantenbainne will be in the West. If you can convert others to our side then do so, but if they refuse then destroy them. The rest of you...come with me." Toshiro ordered out before everyone quickly vanished in their respectful movements, save for Ichigo and Grimmjow.

"So...what do you say that we get started?" the blue eyed man said as he shifted his feet in a fighting position and unsheathing his katana.

"Ready whenever you are." Ichigo said as he brought his large zanpakuto out in front of him before calling out, "Bankai."

Immediately following this, a large amount of black and red spirit energy engulfed the teen's body and kicked up a huge whirlwind. After Ichigo's spirit energy died down and the wind halted, it revealed Ichigo in his Bankai form, to which he smirked lightly. "Let's go."

-Toshiro, Orihime, Rangiku, Kukaku, Kaien and Ulquiorra-

"Don't you dare make me say it again." the raven haired woman muttered in halfway aggravation.

Kaien merely raised a brow as he did everything possible to keep himself from smirking; "But I seriously didn't hear you." he said, sounding almost too innocent.

Kukaku groaned and rolled her eyes as she looked away; "I...I missed you Kaien. I'm really glad you're back." she said as silently as possible without it being a complete whisper.

Immediately following this, Rangiku and Orihime made an 'Aw', to which Kukaku growled and frowned at the two; "I'll break every bone in your body if you say another word."

Though the two stayed silent, they still held wide smirks on their faces as Rangiku continued to carry Orihime toward their destination. Kaien however had finally allowed his smirk and placed his hand on his sister's shoulder. "Thanks Kukaku...it truly does mean a lot to hear you say that."

Kukaku turned to him and gave a light smirk, but then just huffed and quickened her pace as she followed along with Toshiro. "Well you can pay me back by getting rid of our brother for a few weeks."

As all this happened, Toshiro glanced back at everyone following him, save for Ulquiorra, whom was traveling directly beside him. "Do you believe Kurosaki Ichigo can handle Grimmjow? You yourself said that he is a required piece in the defeat against Aizen. If he's missing, won't it deter your plans?" the pale espada said in a quiet tone so only Toshiro could hear.

"Of course it'll be a bad thing if Kurosaki is missing. But I actually do feel that he can defeat Grimmjow. And if all goes well...we'll be able to put his final test into play and maybe even gain Grimmjow's assistance in this war." the icy captain said with an equally silent voice as he turned his head to look at Ulquiorra as they shared a brief stare before turning to the tower ahead of them.

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And just in case no one noticed...'We're gonna need a bigger room.' was a reference to the movie Jaws. XD I had to have Kaien say that line, it was just too tempting considering the fact that I had 19 people in one place. :D Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. I've been quite busy lately and I'm starting to rush through my chapters more and more. But I'm still taking as much time as I possibly can to keep things entertaining, so...I hope you liked this chapter. Till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	112. Chapter 112

A quick thanks to Tuli-chan for helping me once again. ;) I hope everyone enjoys.

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**Chapter 112:**

"Ready whenever you are." Ichigo said as he brought his large zanpakuto out in front of him before calling out, "Bankai."

Immediately following this, a large amount of black and red spirit energy engulfed the teen's body and kicked up a huge whirlwind. After Ichigo's spirit energy died down and the wind halted, it revealed Ichigo in his Bankai form, to which he smirked lightly. "Let's go."

Once this was said, the sound of metal clanging together filled the night air of Hueco Mundo as Ichigo slashed at Grimmjow with all his might, to which said espada brought his katana up and blocked the strike. As the two blades locked, their wielders narrowed their eyes heavily on one another and pressed the steel of their zanpakuto against the other. After a brief second, the two pushed off each other, then came right back with strong swings toward their opponent's heads.

As they attacked, the two fighters' blades connected once more and they both narrowed their eyes heavily on each other. Ichigo and Grimmjow pressed their katanas together with great force, attempting to overpower the other, to which they clenched their jaws tightly in strain. But when they pushed away from each other in unison, Ichigo and Grimmjow vanished in their own movements and appeared a few dozen feet in the air, only to slash at one another yet again. Though the two had only used a single arm for this, the percussion wave created from the colliding strengths made the canopy down below to crack slightly.

Grimmjow gave Ichigo a light grin as he brought his leg up to kick him, but the teen had managed to bring his katana back and parry the espada's foot away. But as he did this, Ichigo immediately ducked under the swinging fist Grimmjow sent directly toward his face. Ichigo then attempted to deliver a palm to Grimmjow's stomach, yet the blue haired arrancar just grinned as he released his zanpakuto and caught the teen by his wrist.

Ichigo's eyes widened to this, while Grimmjow's grin merely widened, to which the later reached down with the hand he had thrown his punch with and grabbed his opponent by the hair. When he did this, Ichigo attempted to get away, but couldn't react fast enough as Grimmjow yanked his head up and head-butted him in the face. Once the blue haired arrancar made his attack, Ichigo groaned in pain, but as Grimmjow released his hold, he then sent a barrage of punches to the orange haired teen's face and ribs.

Though the espada's hits landed, Ichigo endured each strike and had even managed to dodge away from the last few as he shunpoed out of the way. But as he did, Grimmjow immediately followed him and grinned as he came up behind Ichigo and swung a round house kick toward his head. Despite looking and ducking under this attack, Ichigo was still hit by the red cero Grimmjow fired from behind his back.

This blast knocked the teen a few dozen feet back, to which he quickly regained his footing, just in time to see the arrancar picking up his zanpakuto from the canopy and come right back toward him. "Getsuga...Tensho!" Ichigo called out as he swung his katana downward.

Immediately following his words, a large amount of black and red spirit energy hurled toward Grimmjow, whom brought his zanpakuto to one side and slashed at Ichigo's attack. When he did, the Getsuga Tensho was cut in half, only to pass over and below Grimmjow as he continued coming toward the teen. Ichigo's eyes widened heavily upon seeing this, to which he quickly took on a defensive position and narrowed his eyes carefully. But the blue haired espada suddenly vanished from his sight and appeared directly before Ichigo, much to the teen's surprise.

Once he sonidoed before Ichigo, Grimmjow grabbed him by his face and pushed him hard backward and directly into the tower Orihime had been locked inside of. This collision caused much of the tower to crumble, which submerged Ichigo completely within the nearly demolished structure. The arrancar looked down at this and spit on the ruble below, "Tch! Get up shinigami! I'm not finished with you yet! I wanna see that mask of yours before I decide to kill you!" he called out with narrowed eyes.

Only a brief few seconds after these words left his lips, Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly as a large piece of a shattered wall moved and Ichigo appeared behind him. "Getsuga Tensho." Ichigo said in his now hollowfied voice.

But before he could dodge or even turn fully, the espada was engulfed in an enormous amount of black and red spirit energy. After his body was consumed, Grimmjow was blasted into the same tower his threw Ichigo into, only this time it was completely destroyed. The power of the Getsuga Tensho had blown the entire tower to nearly nothing, the remainder of it was turned to ruble and buried Grimmjow beneath it.

As Ichigo stood on the air above, his white and red mask could be seen upon his face, while his black and golden eyes shifted around to search for his opponent. But while the teen couldn't see anything, he could suddenly hear a faint sound of laughing that grew louder and louder. A brief second later, a cero blast shot out from the ruble, this revealing a burned and somewhat bleeding Grimmjow with a very wide grin. "Now that's more like it! Now we can really have our fight!" the espada yelled out in a laugh.

Grimmjow then placed his zanpakuto to his side, put his free hand on the flat side of the blade and flexed his fingers into a claw-like manner. Ichigo narrowed his eyes to this, Grimmjow's katana now glowing a faint blue color, to which the arrancar then swiped his hand down the blade. "Kishire, Pantera!" was all the orange haired teen heard from Grimmjow before the espada was engulfed in a large whirlwind and blue spirit energy.

As he watched this, Ichigo merely squinted slightly, his mask already shielding most of the debris from getting into his hollow-like eyes. But then he widened his eyes as wind and spirit energy eventually died down, which revealed Grimmjow's resurreccion form. "Now we can begin." the arrancar claimed with a predator-like grin.

Grimmjow's teeth had become jagged and sharp, his hands were now black claws, while his feet became black clawed paws, which were similar to that of a cat. He now had a slender whip-like tail that appeared even longer than his entire body, despite it being curled and waved around him. His hair was now very long, reaching down past his knees, yet still spiked up on top and front.

Upon closer inspection, the markings around his eyes were larger, them now extending to the tips of his ears, which were swept back and purely cat-like. His mask fragment upon his jaw was gone, but there was a sort of a headgear upon his brow, this covering his forehead and spiked out toward his ears. Grimmjow's clothing had even changed, it consisting of a form-fitting, white segmented armor that also had blades protruding from his forearms and calves.

But as Ichigo stared at this new form, he brought his zanpakuto up in a defensive position and readied for an attack. Which took less then half a second as Grimmjow suddenly vanished from his sight and appeared directly in front of him. Though it couldn't be seen on his face, the orange haired teen's eyes showed his shock at the arrancar's speed. This was only briefly seen as Grimmjow immediately sent a downward kick to the top of his head, this knocking Ichigo down toward and into the canopy.

Ichigo ground his teeth as he quickly flipped himself up and back to his feet, to which he placed his zanpakuto on his back. As he did this, Grimmjow appeared behind him and sent a spinning kick to Ichigo's back. But due to his katana, the strength of the strike was dulled and allowed the teen to parry the espada's leg to the side. Once he did this, Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he swung his zanpakuto at Grimmjow's head, yet he was blocked by the blade on one of the arrancar's forearms.

Yet despite blocking, Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly as Ichigo's blade started to produce black and red spirit energy. "Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo called out in his hollowfied voice.

As he yelled this, the blue haired espada was blasted almost a dozen yards away by the attack, yet he quickly spun his entire body around multiple times. This cause the Getsuga Tensho to diminish before causing almost any damage to him, to which Ichigo narrowed his eyes and immediately charge at Grimmjow. Said espada just grinned lightly as he leapt toward the teen with his clawed hands at the ready, "Is that all you've got shinigami?!" he yelled out with a grin on his face.

Ichigo let out a battle cry as he swung his katana at Grimmjow, while at the same time, the arrancar brought his claws forward in a slash. Once the two met, their attacks hit one another simultaneously, Ichigo's slashing Grimmjow across the lower part of his chest. All the while, Grimmjow's claws ripped much of the flesh at the top part of Ichigo's shoulder, this nearly hitting his neck. Though the orange haired teen's attack seemed to be more fatal and drew a bit of blood, his own wound was far deeper and had more blood coming out.

Upon seeing this, Ichigo's eyes narrowed even more and he quickly turned himself around and came right back toward his opponent, him moving even faster than before. However, Grimmjow immediately did the same thing, his speed matching the orange haired teen's completely. The two then brought their respectful weapons back up and slashed at one another, but their attacks hit each other and caused a small percussion wave.

Grimmjow grinned slightly as he stared into Ichigo's eyes, him nearly chuckling as his claws held the teen's katana at bay and vice versa. Ichigo's expression was completely unseen, but his eyes were heavily narrowed as he pressed his zanpakuto against Grimmjow's black claws. "Hmph...that hierro of yours is pretty tough. Looks like I'll have to come at you a bit harder." Ichigo claimed before suddenly retracting his katana slightly.

This action caused Grimmjow to fall forward slightly, to which Ichigo used as much speed and strength he could muster to come right back with his katana. Once the blade hit Grimmjow's clawed hand, his fingers, wrist and even elbow gave out from under the pressure. As Ichigo pushed forward, his blade hit Grimmjow's armor, then slid across it for a moment as if it were a harder substance. But it eventually pierced through and slashed the espada open, which caused a large amount of blood to come forth.

The blue haired arrancar's eyes widened to this, him being sent backward a few feet from the force of Ichigo's swing. Yet Grimmjow regained his footing and quickly charged at Ichigo, "You'll have to do better than that shinigami!" he yelled out in a near roar.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes once more, rose his katana into the air and slashed it down quickly as Grimmjow came closer; "Getsuga Tensho!" he shouted.

As he did and said this, an even larger amount of black and red spirit energy then before blasted toward Grimmjow and engulfed his entire body. But as Ichigo looked on to where his attack flew out and over the sands of Hueco Mundo, the espada suddenly appeared above him and sent five small green stone-like darts down at him. Ichigo's eyes widened to this, to which he brought his katana up to block, but only two of the darts had been blocked by this.

While two of the others had hit Ichigo on both his shoulders, the last one missed completely and hit the surface beneath him. The pain of the two darts was high for the teen, him grinding his teeth and cringing his whole body. But it was short-lived as the dart that hit the canopy caused it to nearly explode and crumble down to the sand below. This made Ichigo quickly gather spirit particles beneath his feet, but also gave Grimmjow the opening he needed to send a powerful kick into Ichigo's chest.

The orange haired teen gasped for air as the attack knocked it completely out of him, but then his already widened eyes became wider as the espada appeared above him once more. Though Grimmjow slashed down at Ichigo, his claws were slowed down by Ichigo's katana as he raised it up to block. This made the blue haired arrancar's attack only slice part of Ichigo's mask away and give him a small cut on his face.

But despite the small wound, the force of Grimmjow's strike knocked Ichigo down into and through the canopy. Yet the teen quickly steadied himself in the air and charged up through the hole, the espada doing the same. As the two met at the hole's opening, they sent very powerful slashes toward one another, to which they collided and caused the canopy's hole to become even larger. Yet even as they connected, both of the fighters just pressed forward and went right past one another.

Ichigo had immediately turned around to come back at the arrancar with a swing blade, but Grimmjow flipped himself around and kicked his katana away. As he did this, Grimmjow then pushed his paw-like feet against the air and came flying back at the orange haired teen. Whom of which had been stalled from the espada's kick, but had quickly recovered and spun to the side of Grimmjow's lunging slash. But as the arrancar flew by, Ichigo swung his zanpakuto with a single arm at his opponent, which had caught Grimmjow on his leg and sliced it open somewhat deeply.

As the teen saw the blood come out of the newly inflicted wound, he gave a small smirk in accomplishment and came at the espada once more. All the while, Grimmjow ground his sharp teeth together in pain and frustration, but quickly jumped toward Ichigo in a fury. Once the two met, they instantly started attacking, dodging and blocking as if their lives depended on it. Ichigo swung his katana with all the force he could muster, while Grimmjow slashed away with his claws in almost any way possible.

"Heh! Not bad shinigami! You're actually giving me a better fight then I thought you would!" Grimmjow called out with a wide grin as he ducked under a swing from the teen and sent a fast punch of his own.

Ichigo dodged away from the fist, but then he quickly had to do the same to a forward flipping kick and then a downward slash, all from Grimmjow. But even after dodging these attacks, Ichigo then had to block Grimmjow's follow-up slash from his other hand. The teen bringing his zanpakuto up, swing it to the side so his arms were crossed over each other and finishing off with an upward swung. As Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly from this, he immediately leaned himself backward to dodge away from the teen's attack.

As Grimmjow did this, his balance became off set and allowed Ichigo to take advantage of it by kicking him hard in the chest. The blue haired espada's lungs were nearly emptied by this hit, but he managed to steady himself rather quickly. Yet it wasn't fast enough as Ichigo swung his blade back down and called out; "Getsuga Tensho!" once again.

Grimmjow's eyes widened to this as he was submerged in the overwhelming black and red spirit energy, to which he was tossed dozens of yards away. All the while, the arrancar let out a loud scream of pain as the attack burned away at his armor and skin. Though Grimmjow finally stopped when he hit a nearby tower, he was very slow to get back up as he breathed heavily from fatigue and wounds. The collision not only creating a small sand and dust screen around the arrancar, but also causing the entire toward itself to fall to ruble.

"That's it...I'm going to finish this fight, once and for all." Grimmjow growled out as he placed his hands to either side and flexed his clawed fingers, his body still being unseen by the teen.

Ichigo himself still standing many yards away, but in a defensive pose as he waited for an attack, despite him also breathing heavily from his wounds and tiredness. But when nothing happened right away, his eyes narrowed heavily, Ichigo watching as carefully as possible. 'I can't rush right in there...he'll definitely get me with a surprise attack.' he thought to himself as he reached up to his broken mask.

As he did this, he regenerated the broken part of his mask to make it whole again, but once he heard Grimmjow's voice, he placed his hand back on his katana's grip. "Desgarrón!" was all that was heard before all the sand and dust cleared away from the arrancar.

Once this happened, Ichigo immediately saw ten long, claw-like arcs of blue spirit energy coming from Grimmjow's claws, to which his eyes widened heavily. The moment the espada noticed this, he grinned widely and brought his arms back; "Get ready to die, shinigami!" he yelled out before swinging his arms forward.

Immediately after his actions, the arcs of spirit energy hurled toward Ichigo, them forming a five lined 'X' shape as they did. The orange haired teen's eyes widened even further as they moved too fast for him to even react, him only able bring his katana up for a block. But due to the strength of the attack he was quickly overwhelmed and was pushed back nearly twenty yards before he flipped into the air to avoid being impaled.

But as he did this, Ichigo's eyes widened even more heavily as he saw that Grimmjow had already created another ten arcs on his claws. Said espada grinned widely as he swung his right arm as hard as he could and sent five spirit energy arcs toward him. Ichigo quickly narrowed his eyes and kicked hard off the canopy top, him flying just under the attack, though part of one arc managed to cut his right leg somewhat deeply.

Yet despite leaving a small trail of blood behind him, Ichigo continued forward, him coming up to Grimmjow very quickly. "I have no intention to die! I have friends that are counting on me to beat you! And I won't let them down!" the teen shouted out as Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly in shock.

As the teen approached the arrancar, Grimmjow quickly jumped backward to avoid Ichigo's stabbing attack. But when Ichigo leapt off the air and increased his momentum, Grimmjow immediately brought his arm up, pointed his elbow at his opponent and shot five claw-like stones at him. Despite seeing this, the orange haired teen continued on with his katana thrusting froward and allowed all five stones to hit him.

One of the stones hit his face, while two hit his chest and shoulders, to which only the one to his face showed any sign of damage. The claw-shaped stone shattered half of Ichigo's mask and blasted a small explosion on his face, causing a rather heavy burn on his cheek and lower jaw. But regardless of his injuries, the teen let out a pain-filled battle cry as he came at Grimmjow, whom became wide-eyed in seeing this.

Ichigo had caught up to the espada almost instantly, and while taking advantage of his shock, the black wearing teen stabbed Grimmjow through the chest. This made the arrancar split out blood and look at Ichigo in hatred and pain, "D-Damn it..." he muttered out silently.

As he saw Grimmjow stagger on his feet, Ichigo retracted his katana from the espada's chest and simply watched as his opponent fell to the canopy's top. "Our fight is over Grimmjow. For now." Ichigo claimed as he narrowed his eyes on him.

To these words, Grimmjow looked at the teen with a glare and bared his teeth; "What?" he asked in a growl.

"I'm not going to finish you off. I would like to fight again when both of us are truly at one hundred percent. We both had previous fights before this and that isn't the way I want to win. And I don't think you'd want to either." Ichigo claimed as he looked down at the small pool of blood that was generating under Grimmjow.

Said espada had his eyes widened at the teen's words, him obviously rather surprised to this. But when he was about to say something back, Ichigo just interrupted him as it was clear he was going to object; "When you're ready to fight again...I'll be there to oblige. But for now, just let this go."

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed this time as he stared at Ichigo, to which he started to push himself back to his pawed feet. As he did, his resurreccion suddenly vanished a blue glow, to which the espada's katana reformed within his right hand. "I...I won't lose...I refuse to lose!" he growled out as he glared heavily at the teen.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes once more on the arrancar and took on a defensive position, but then he briefly blinked in surprise to Grimmjow's next words; "Next time...I will win."

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There you have it. Ichigo's and Grimmjow's fight. I hope it was good. This one took a while to get through cause it's all straight fighting. Anyway...till next time everyone! Ja Ne.


	113. Chapter 113

Alright everyone, here comes the beginning of the end for the Arrancar arc. ;D Be ready for some interesting twists. ^^ But before I begin, I big welcome to SilverThornz and theboom. :) Also another thanks to Tuli-chan for her help. :3 And lastly...thanks to DarkPirateKing69 for his(I'm guessing because of the name) ideas and such. Anyway...on to the chapter.

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**Chapter 113:**

Toshiro and the others looked up at a very tall tower before them, to which Orihime cleared her throat and spoke up; "Th-This is definitely it."

The white haired captain then placed his ice-covered hand to the surface of the structure, to which it began to freeze over. He then clenched his hand into a fist quickly, this shattering the frozen part of the wall and revealing a long hallway before them. Toshiro looked around for a moment with narrowed eyes, him not seeing anyone around, to which he glanced over his shoulder to everyone behind him. "Lets go." he said before entering inside.

Once they all went through the shattered wall, the group immediately started running through the hallway. None of them noticing Ulquiorra hang back slightly from everyone as they continued forward. As they went, Orihime gave out a few directions of which way to go, them eventually arriving at a set of somewhat large double doors.

Toshiro looked at it for a moment, then repeated to process of freezing surface and shattering it with a simple flex of his fingers. After the frozen pieces of the door fell to the floor, the small group stepped into the large room and looked around. "Geez...I knew he was a boring guy, but this is still a bit unexpected." Rangiku muttered silently.

This area was completely wide open, it only having one piece of furniture, which was a throne-like chair placed directly before a very large, no-glass window. As they all looked around, Toshiro glanced up at the ceiling and corners, him narrowing his eyes slightly in the process. 'He's left this place completely undefended, so either there is some sort of security system within the room itself...or he's still here and waiting for us.' Toshiro thought to himself silently.

"It's hidden right over here." Orihime said as she gestured to the center of the seemingly empty room.

Though cautious, everyone made their way to the area that the orange haired girl pointed toward, to which they just looked to her as she seemed be looking around for something. "It should be around here somewhere." Orihime muttered to herself as she searched along the floor.

As most of the others just watched her, Rangiku and Ulquiorra continued to look around the room as if waiting for something to happen, or someone to come in. But as Orihime suddenly let out an 'Ah!', they all turned to her quickly; "I found it." she said with a smile before pressing a small part of the floor.

Once she did this, the area glowed briefly, then a thin, cylinder shaped stand rose out of the floor and began separating. As it did, each of the pieces stayed together to form a miniaturized staircase, which eventually stopped midway and revealed the Hogyoku. Upon seeing it, everyone, save for Toshiro and Ulquiorra became wide eyed and simply stared at it as the small stone gave all of them an eerie feeling they couldn't shake.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes heavily on the Hogyoku, to which he looked to Orihime and gave her a nod; "Give it a try." he said silently.

The orange haired girl turned to him, then gave a rather shaky nod as she raised her hands to her hair pins. "Soten Kisshun, watashi wa kyozetsu suru." she called out silently, two parts of her hair pin came out and placed a yellow veil over the Hogyoku.

But as they all watched for a few moments, many of their eyes narrowed heavily as they could all see that nothing was happening to the small object in the center of the room. "It's not working. I...I can't reject it." Orihime muttered out in defeat as she placed her hands together.

"I-I'm sorry everyone." she continued, tilting her head down as her hair pins returned back to her.

"It's okay Orihime, at least you tried." Rangiku said, placing a hand to the teen's shoulder in comfort.

"So now what? We may not be able to destroy it, but at least we can take it back and use it against Aizen." Kukaku claimed as she turned to Toshiro as he had his back turned to all of them.

"At the very least." Kaien added with a nod, him also turning to the icy captain.

'Damn it.' Toshiro though to himself, to which he quickly turned to the doorway as he noticed Sosuke standing there with a smirk.

"So...you knew that we'd go for it, huh?" Toshiro asked silently, everyone that hadn't already, turned to him immediately, but then finally to Sosuke as he smirked wider.

"Hmph, you take me for too much of a sadist, Hitsugaya. You thought I showed it to her in order to give her a glimmer of hope, only to smash it to pieces when she discovers that she's failed. I never showed her the Hogyoku at all, I simply allowed her to believe so to complete this trap of mine." Sosuke began as he placed his hands within his pockets.

"Though I did destroy her hope...it was only the after effect to get all of you gathered here in this room. Though I would have preferred to also have Kurosaki Ichigo in there as well. It looks like I'll just have to deal with him when the time comes." he continued as the stand in the room just vanished like a light being turned off.

"A hologram, huh?" Toshiro muttered as he glanced over at where the stand once was before turning back to Sosuke.

"Of course. Now...I know that you want to get out as soon as possible, but unfortunately this barrier seals off the ability to use a garganta, so I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy. But rest assured, I know for a fact that this barrier cannot hold you for long considering your power and intellect...but at the very least, you'll be able to witness the last few moments of the destruction of Karakura town when you're free." the brown haired man claimed before looking to Ulquiorra, then turning away and starting to walk.

"Let's go Ulquiorra." he said silently, to which Ulquiorra's form suddenly vanished in the same manner as the stand did seconds ago.

Everyone's eyes widened to this, Ulquiorra stepping out from the other side of the door, him looking at the group with an emotionless expression. Kukaku narrowed her eyes heavily and ground her teeth, "Damn you...I'll make sure to kill you first." she growled out.

"Next time we meet, I'll make sure to kick your head clean off." Rangiku muttered as she clenched her hands into fists.

"U-Ulquiorra..." Orihime whispered out as she then looked down, her feeling completely betrayed as said espada just turned away from them and followed after Aizen, to which they both vanished a moment later.

"Did he really just betray us or did you tell him to do something like this?" Kaien asked as he turned to Toshiro as he had tilted his head down slightly.

"Yes...kill him on sight." was all Toshiro responded with, Kaien's eyes narrowing slightly as the white haired captain never clarified which question he was answering.

"Toshiro-kun...i-isn't he your friend?" Orihime asked with an almost desperate voice.

The icy captain turned to look at Orihime for a moment, but then turned away and looked around the room. "It no longer matters, he's our enemy now and he'll be treated as such. Our objective right now is to get out of this room." he said with narrowed eyes.

Though Orihime wanted to speak further, Rangiku placed a hand to her shoulder and shook her head, then looked to her captain silently. Kukaku merely gave Toshiro a nod as she turned to the door and raised a brow; "What kind of barrier is this anyway?" she asked, walking over to the doorway and placing her real hand to an invisible surface.

"More than likely it's one that Aizen created himself." Toshiro said silently as he continued to look around; "But every barrier has a focal point, if we can find it...we'll be able to dispel it."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to destroy it with force?" Rangiku asked as she gestured to everyone around them as if to further the idea of succeeding.

Toshiro merely looked down for a moment and nodded his head; "Easier? Yes. Safer?...No." he said silently, giving a glance toward Orihime during his pause.

Rangiku, Kukaku and Kaien each glanced to the teen as well as she was just looking down helplessly, to which they all nodded to him and began searching around the room. Orihime briefly looked over to each of them, her clenching the fabric of her clothes with both of her hands in frustration. But after a few moments, the orange haired teen walked up to the doorway and placed her hand to the invisible wall. "Soten Kisshun, watashi wa kyozetsu suru." she whispered out.

As she said this, her yellow-orange shield came forth and pressed against the unseen barrier as her hand pressed against it. Toshiro turned and looked at this with a small smirk, something of which everyone else took notice of. "What's got you all 'smirky' Captain?" Rangiku asked with a raised brow.

"The fact that she still hasn't lost hope." Toshiro responded as he turned to his lieutenant, whom blinked her eyes and raised a brow.

"What do you mean?" Kaien questioned as he walked up to the icy captain.

Toshiro looked from him to Orihime as she had glanced over to him with a somewhat confused expression, her Soten Kisshun starting to show the barrier itself. This being a transparent green wall, which had started to slowly disintegrate from Orihime's power. "This 'trap', wasn't really meant for us. It was meant for her." Toshiro explained, his eyes fixing on the orange haired teen as she blinked in shock.

"Huh? Why? What would be the point of locking her here with us if all he had to do was place her in a barrier somewhere else to keep her out of the way." Kukaku said, crossing her real and fake arms under her chest.

"True...but a physical barrier can be broken easily, a mental one can last for years." Toshiro said, briefly closing his eyes.

"So this was all just to get her to lose hope and give up on fighting back." Kaien observed with slightly narrowed eyes, to which the white haired captain nodded.

"Yes. The only three ways to get out of this barrier were to break out...dispel it through its focal point...or have Orihime use her powers. But since first one would probably cause one or more of us physical harm and the second would take too long for us to catch up in time...the only other option was her." Toshiro began, turning his eyes to Orihime once again as the teen blinked to him in shock, the barrier nearly halfway gone.

"But that wasn't all...Aizen wanted her to lose hope completely so she'd be unwilling to get too involved in the fight out of fear of not succeeding. So trapping her in here was to make her feel useless and make sure she could only do so much during this war." he continued, to which everyone's eyes widened slightly and turned toward Orihime.

Said teen blinked her eyes even more to Toshiro's words, the barrier before her being only seconds away from being completely rejected from existence. "If her powers really are to 'reject' events or even objects from ever occurring, then even Aizen is probably in a way...scared of that power." the icy captain stated.

Immediately following his words, the barrier vanished entirely, everyone's eyes widen in shock of what he just said and Toshiro himself just smirked lightly once again. "And since you haven't lost your hope, he'll have far more to fear." he said as he looked at Orihime with his lingering smirk.

The orange haired teen blinked her still wide eyes, but then smiled lightly and gave Toshiro a nod; "Thank you...Toshiro-kun."

The white haired captain returned her nod, but then he turned to the other three; "Aizen is heading for the World of the Living. Rangiku and I will go there, you two take Orihime to Kurosaki to heal his injuries, he'll need all of his strength for the next fight. Follow after us when you're done. I'll leave the garganta open right here for you." he ordered out with narrowed eyes.

Kukaku mirrored Toshiro's expression, but then nodded and turned to Kaien; "Let's go." she said, her walking over to Orihime.

The raven haired woman then grasped the teen's hand, wrapped Orihime's arm around her neck and placed her own arm around her waist. "T-Toshiro-kun!" the teen called out just as Kukaku was about to shunpo away, to which she paused and turned to the icy captain.

"Don't give up on your friend...I think he's still good deep down." Orihime spoke with a hopeful tone, Toshiro merely looking at her silently before nodding his head lightly.

Immediately following this, Kukaku disappeared with Orihime, all the while Kaien just gave a quick salute before he also vanished. Once they were gone, Rangiku turned to Toshiro and narrowed her eyes slightly; "You planned this out with him, didn't you?" she asked.

Toshiro turned to her, then just shook his head lightly; "Actually...no. I didn't realize Aizen's plan till I saw him in the doorway. And I didn't know what Ulquiorra was doing until I locked eyes with him before he started walking away."

Rangiku blinked her eyes in slight shock to this as she nearly stepped backward in surprise, "Wh-What?"

The white haired captain glanced over to her, then turned to the side and opened a garganta with his finger as he hid a small smirk. "Just because I don't have a plan for something...doesn't mean I can't improvise. And I guess the same goes for Ulquiorra as well." he stated, to which he walked into the garganta.

The strawberry blond was too shocked to follow after him until he called out her name, to which she immediately ran after him. "Wait for me Captain~!"

-Across Hueco Mundo-

Ulquiorra walked alongside Sosuke as the two went through a large hall that lead to a set of stairs, which held only a throne at the top. But as they continued forward, Tosen and Gin could be seen beside the throne, both simply waiting for the pair to catch up. "I must admit..." Sosuke began suddenly as the two reached the steps.

"...I was very surprised when you told me about you meeting Hitsugaya all those years ago. Him coming here to train was quite the interesting piece of information." he continued, giving the pale espada a glance.

"Though I am curious as to what happened that would make you turn against him so easily." Sosuke said with a slightly raised brow.

"He is on the side of the Shinigami...I need no other reason to destroy him." was all Ulquiorra responded with, to which Sosuke smirked lightly and gave a nod.

"Very well. Then I leave you in charge of Las Noches until my return." the brown haired man said as they reached the top of the stairs.

Once they reached the throne, a very large garganta suddenly appeared behind it, this portal showing Karakura town on the other side. "Yes sir." Ulquiorra said as he stopped just beside the single chair in the area and nodded slightly.

Sosuke merely smirked lightly as he continued forward, to which he, Gin and Tosen each walked through the garganta and left Ulquiorra all alone. Said arrancar turned his back to the closing garganta and just narrowed his eyes slightly in waiting. 'Hitsugaya will have broken free by now and made his way to the World of the Living as well. There should only be a five to eight minute delay before Kurosaki Ichigo is healed and on his way here.' he thought to himself silently and motionless.

'If his progress hasn't reached Hitsugaya's expectations...I must eliminated him. I will help him reach the next level of his hollowfication or he will die trying by my hand.' Ulquiorra continued within his mind, him not moving whatsoever the entire time.

After a few minutes of waiting, the sound and feel of the floor shaking caused Ulquiorra to finally turn to the side slightly. Two figures finally bursting out from the center of the hall and landed a few feet from the hole that they just created. "Tch! It figures you were working with Aizen this whole time. But no matter what...I'm still gonna fight you." one of the figures said from behind the dust screen created by the destroyed floor.

"Grimmjow." Ulquiorra whispered to himself as he looked at said arrancar and Ichigo directly beside him, both of them narrowed their eyes on him heavily.

"Even though I wanna fight this Shinigami again...I think I'll let that wait till later, so I can have a shot at beating you!" the blue haired espada declared as he stepped forward and grinned slightly.

"I don't know why you betrayed Toshiro, but I won't let you get away with that. I'll make sure to finish you here and now." Ichigo added as he readied his zanpakuto, him still being in his Bankai form.

Ulquiorra merely remained emotionless as they spoke, to which he briefly closed his eyes for a brief moment; "Very well. I will deal with both of you." he said, grabbing and unsheathing his katana.

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There you have it. And just to let you all know. I'm going to do Ulquiorra's fight against those two before heading back to Toshiro...which should be in about two chapters, depending on how long this fight will be. Trust me, it'll be best for what's gonna happen. ;) Anyway, till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	114. Chapter 114

Just to let everyone know...this whole chapter is a fight. So I hope that those of you that enjoy fights will like this one as well.

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**Chapter 114:**

As Grimmjow and Ichigo faced Ulquiorra, the former suddenly vanished and appeared just to the left of his fellow espada. Though Grimmjow immediately swung a roundhouse kick toward his opponent's head, Ulquiorra calmly leaned forward slightly to dodge. But as he did this, Ichigo came right up in front of him with a horizontal slash aimed for the arrancar's face. Despite coming within inches of Ulquiorra, said arrancar had quickly dodged by leaning himself backward, almost reaching a full back-bend in the process.

Once Ichigo's katana flew over Ulquiorra's emotionless face, his eyes widened slightly as Grimmjow was now above him with a downward kick coming straight for his chest. Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes slightly to this as he brought his body back up, to which Grimmjow's attack was now directed at his head. Yet Ulquiorra simply took his remaining hand from his pocket and raised it up to block, his eyes narrowed slightly as he did. Grimmjow just seemed to grin at this as he let out a short battle cry before his foot made contact with Ulquiorra's hand.

Upon impact, the floor beneath the pale espada cracked heavily, it seeming ready to shatter at any moment. But as Grimmjow was suspended in the air by his foot, Ichigo quickly shifted the momentum of his previous swing to direct another one right at Ulquiorra's chest. Said arrancar shifted his eyes as he sensed the attack coming, to which he moved to the side slightly, which allowed him to block the teen's katana with his own.

"Tch! Not bad." Grimmjow began as he grinned a bit wider, a small, red colored spark of spirit energy circling around his left fist as he was still suspended in midair.

"But not good enough!" the blue haired espada called out as he threw his fist forward and shot a large bala at Ulquiorra.

Though the raven haired espada sonidoed out of the way, the blast created by the bala caused the floor beneath the other two to crumble down to the lower level. As this happened, Ichigo and Grimmjow had to use their respectful movements to get to a part of the floor that was still intact. This placed them on opposite sides of the hole, while their opponent was in the center with his feet right on the edge.

"Hmph...I guess this isn't going to be much of a free for all if neither of us can land a single hit while we're both aiming at you." Grimmjow commented as his grin had disappeared, it being replaced by a small smirk and a set of narrowed eyes.

To this comment, Ichigo sweat dropped briefly and sighed; "And I thought we were already fighting him together." he muttered silently before readying his katana out in front of him.

"That's a ridiculous statement. Without the use of your Resurreccion or Kurosaki Ichigo's mask...not even your combined strengths can defeat me." Ulquiorra stated with his continuous emotionless expression.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes even heavier as he grabbed his katana and unsheathed it; "We'll just have to see about that!" he called out before sonidoing right up toward Ulquiorra with a downward slash.

Ulquiorra's eyes briefly widened slightly from the blue haired espada's speed, but he immediately blocked the strike with his own blade. At the same time, Ichigo charged forward with a lunging thrust, him aiming for the side of Ulquiorra's chest. But as he came forward, Ichigo's blade was knocked to the side just enough to pass by the raven haired espada, whom used his free hand to hit the teen's katana away.

Ulquiorra then pushed Grimmjow away with sheer strength, but had to do the same to Ichigo as he blocked a slash from the orange haired teen. Once both of his opponents were knocked backward, he pointed a single finger toward Ichigo and fired a light green cero directly toward him. Yet as the blast came toward him, Ichigo quickly shunpoed out of the way and turned toward Ulquiorra in case of another attack.

But when he turned, Ulquiorra had already sonidoed behind him and swung his katana down at his head. This caused the teen's eyes to widen heavily as he turned just in time to see the blade coming toward him and another blade blocking it. Ulquiorra's eyes shifted from Ichigo to Grimmjow as he saw the blue haired arrancar grinning as he pressed his blade against Ulquiorra's. "You better not think that I'll be any easier to fight than him!" Grimmjow claimed loudly.

Ichigo gave a small smirk to this before swiftly turning around and swinging his blade toward Ulquiorra; "Getsuga...Tensho!" he yelled out, Grimmjow using the short delay to sonido away.

As Ichigo finished his swing, his attack engulfed Ulquiorra completely, yet a sudden movement from within the Getsuga caused it to diminish completely. Upon seeing the pale espada totally unwounded, both Grimmjow and Ichigo narrowed their eyes slightly. But then they became slightly widened eyed as Ulquiorra suddenly vanished from their sight, to which he appeared to the side of Grimmjow.

The blue haired espada immediately dodged away from upward kick, but as he did Ulquiorra brought his katana up as if to slash down at him. But he just placed it upon his back, this blocking Ichigo's attack from behind and allowing Ulquiorra to used his other hand to stab Grimmjow through his shoulder. Though Ulquiorra aimed at his chest, Grimmjow had managed to get out of the way just enough for the pale arrancar's attack to hit part of his shoulder.

All the while, Ichigo brought his zanpakuto back for another attack, but his eyes widened heavily as he noticed one of Ulquiorra's fingers not gripping his katana. Just as he was about to shunpo away, Ichigo was immediately blasted and submerged by a very large green cero. But once this happened, Grimmjow narrowed his eyes and grabbed Ulquiorra's hand that was just being withdrawn from his shoulder. This made the espada's eyes widened slightly, but then they closed as Grimmjow quickly head-butted him in the face.

This knocked Ulquiorra back a few steps, but he regained his footing and snapped his eyes open to see Grimmjow's stabbing attack coming toward him. As he watched, he moved his head to the side slightly, then brought his katana up and swept Grimmjow's blade just enough to the side to go past him. Once his opponent's zanpakuto went by him, Ulquiorra then swung his own katana and slashed Grimmjow across his chest.

Though this cut didn't appear deep, the amount of blood that came nearly gushing from Grimmjow's wound spoke otherwise. But as Ulquiorra watched him for a moment, he quickly spun around, to which he easily blocked Ichigo's strike. After this, he then used both the teen's and his own momentum to swing Ichigo to the side and collide with a nearby pillar. Once the orange haired teen hit the stone, his body almost bounced completely off and he fell to the floor next to Grimmjow.

"If you're going to defeat me...you'll have to do far more than simple tactics." Ulquiorra stated silently as he looked between the two as Ichigo started to stand himself back up.

"Tch! You said it." Grimmjow claimed as he grinned lightly once more, him placing his zanpakuto to the side and putting his hand upon it.

"Kishire! Pantera!" the blue haired espada called out, to which he was surrounded by a large gale of wind and blue spirit energy.

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes slightly as neither Grimmjow or Ichigo could be seen, to which he just brought his katana up as if ready to block. But then his eyes widened slightly as the newly transformed Grimmjow suddenly appeared behind him with a swinging kick. Though he dodged away from this attack by ducking under it, his eyes widened even further as Ichigo suddenly came up behind him with another Getsuga Tensho.

Though it was unseen, the sound of Ichigo's hollowfied voice alerted Ulquiorra that the teen had activated his mask. But before the pale espada could move, he was once again submerged within the overwhelming black and red spirit energy. As this happened, Grimmjow quickly pushed himself away, to which he and Ichigo just watched as Ulquiorra was blasted to the far end of the room.

"Tch! Barely put up much of a fight." Grimmjow all but spit out as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"Well...we just spent the last fifteen minutes trying to kill each other, so I think having an idea of each other's fighting styles might have played a part in this." Ichigo commented as he turned toward the blue haired arrancar.

Grimmjow merely glanced to him and shrugged; "Probably...but he has yet to even use his Resurreccion. So I suppose this has been just a simple warm up." he muttered silently as he narrowed his eyes slightly on the smoke cloud that was kicked up from Ulquiorra's and the Getsuga's impact with the wall.

"True...plus any wounds we just just inflicted will disappear the moment he uses it. So he might not have even been taking this fight seriously." Ichigo added as he and the blue haired espada noticed a dark silhouette within the smoke.

As the dust and smoke began to clear, the two saw Ulquiorra standing there with his usual emotionless expression, but with his jacket nearly completely burned away. But though his chest was only lightly burned, there was a long gash on his back going from his left shoulder to the lower right side of his ribs. This cut produced a large amount of blood, which dripped onto the stone floor below his feet; "It appears I can no longer afford to fight like this." Ulquiorra spoke rather calmly, to which he raised his katana slightly.

Ichigo and Grimmjow shifted themselves to fighting positions and narrowed their eyes heavily on their opponent. But just as the next two words left Ulquiorra's lips, both their eyes widened in shock from the enormous amount of spirit energy that came from the pale espada; "Tozase, Murciélago."

After saying this, Ulquiorra was engulfed by a gigantic black and green spirit energy that blasted the entire hall itself apart. Ichigo and Grimmjow looked around for a brief moment as the entire roof of the building was blown to ruble and revealed the artificial sky. Yet as the spirit energy continued to flow out, the sky seemed to crack under the pressure, all the while the floor beneath them shook violently as if it would give out any second. But then they both blinked in shock as the black and green spirit energy that extended up to the 'sky' eventually began to fall back down like rain.

Once it fell, the two quickly turned their attention back to Ulquiorra, only to widen their eyes even more before narrowing them heavily. Ulquiorra had gained a pair of very large black bat wings on his back, each one being easily twenty feet in length. His hair had also become significantly longer and wilder, it now reaching toward his back, thought the remains of his hollow mask had covered the hair the top of his head. Which was now centered atop his head, with two large horns extending outward to the sides, these being toward the front of his make-shift helmet.

Along with this, the lines on his face were now black, much broader and more triangular in shape. Also, his fingernails were now black and much longer, they even seemed to extend to the back of his hands. Though this was was merely a set of tattoos leading from his fingers to his hands, it still held the illusion of being part of his fingernails. Ulquiorra's arrancar attire had now become more form fitting and closed at the top, while becoming more like a robe towards the bottom. This all covering Ulquiorra's fully healed wounds as he started walking toward Ichigo and Grimmjow, his expression almost seeming even more emotionless than before.

"Do not lose your composure, do not break your stance, stretch out your awareness, and do not let your guard down for even a second." Ulquiorra spoke silently as he just stared at the two.

Grimmjow flexed his claws as he narrowed his eyes and crouched down slightly in his own battle position. Ichigo placed his katana out in front of him, him also narrowing his eyes from behind his mask and shifting his feet apart. But neither of them were able to react quickly enough as Ulquiorra suddenly appeared between them, to which they turned toward him in shock. Though Ichigo and Grimmjow attempted to shunpo and sonido, they weren't able to get away as Ulquiorra sent powerful palms directly into each of their chests.

This blow not only knocked the air out of both the teen's and arrancar's lungs, but had blasted the two back so quickly that they couldn't stop themselves till after their feet left the floor of the hall. But once Grimmjow managed to come to a halt on the air above the sands of Las Noches, he immediately had to dodge away from a green lance-like energy attack. As he moved just barely out of the way from this, his eyes narrowed heavily before widening as yet another lance came hurling toward him.

"Tch! Don't underestimate me! Desgarrón!" he yelled out as he slashed his claws through the air, to which five long claw shaped blades hurled toward the lance.

Once the two attacks collided, both exploded upon impact, which created a shock-wave that hit Grimmjow and sent him flying backward once more. Yet as he went, Ulquiorra suddenly appeared behind him, to which Grimmjow's eyes widened and he started to turn to face the pale espada. But before he could even make it halfway through his turn, Ulquiorra hit him hard with a single wing. This blasting the blue haired arrancar directly into the side of the tower that they had just been inside of.

As Grimmjow hit, the entire tower itself completely shattered apart, leaving him completely buried beneath the rubble. After watching this, Ulquiorra turned his attention to Ichigo just as the teen appeared in a shunpo behind him with a Getsuga ready. "Getsuga...Tensho!" the teen screamed out in hollowfied voice, slashing his attack toward Ulquiorra.

Said espada merely turned slightly, raised a single wing and slashed the Getsuga in half with a single swing; "Is that the extent of your power?" he questioned silently as Ichigo stared at him in shock.

"How sad." was all the teen heard before he was suddenly hit by one of Ulquiorra's wings, to which he was sent flying back dozens of yards before he could even regain his footing.

Yet as he did, Ulquiorra appeared before him with a green lance within his right hand; "I'll show you the difference in our strength." the raven haired arrancar said as he swung the lance directly into Ichigo's masked face.

This blow shattered half of the mask, cut the teen's skin from his forehead to his right cheek and even burned the surrounding flesh fairly heavily. Upon taking this hit, Ichigo let out a pain filled scream, to which he covered his wounded face as his body was tossed to the side like a rag-doll. But just as the teen slowed himself down and reformed his mask, Ulquiorra suddenly appeared on his left side in a sonido. Yet before the teen's eyes could even widen to the shock, the pale espada slashed upward at him with the lance yet again.

Ulquiorra sliced Ichigo open from the center of his back, to the side of his left shoulder, which also had also left heavy burns around the cut. The teen yelled out in pain once more as he was thrown high into the air by the strike, his wound immediately starting to bleed. But Ichigo's scream of pain was cut short when Ulquiorra appeared before him yet again and merely smacked him with the back of his hand. This had completely shattered Ichigo's mask, revealing the wound on his face to be bleeding fairly heavily and nearly pouring down his cheek.

The raven haired arrancar's attack had also sent the teen crashing into a nearby building, which caused it to shatter and crumble on contact. But as the structure fell apart around the teen, he managed not to be buried and quickly looked up as he reformed his entire mask. Upon seeing this Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed slightly, "It appears that you're able to reform your mask as many times as you want. But it's futile...my power is far greater than yours." he spoke as he stepped through the air and came closer to Ichigo on the ground.

As he looked down at the teen, he could see multiple cuts and bruises across his body, the impact from the building slicing much of his shihakusho away. But besides this, he could see the small puddles of blood Ichigo was making in the sand around him from all of his wounds. Ulquiorra merely raised a hand out and point his finger toward him; "For instance...this is the black cero reserved only for espada in their Resurreccion form." he began as a black and green cero began charging at the tip of his finger nail.

"It's well over ten times more powerful than any normal cero. It's called-" but before Ulquiorra could finish, Grimmjow suddenly appeared before Ichigo which his clawed hand pointed toward the pale arrancar.

"Cero Oscuras!" the blue haired espada yelled out as a black and blue cero shot toward Ulquiorra and engulfed his entire body, this depleting the pale espada's own cero in the process.

"G-Grimmjow..." Ichigo muttered out in shock as he looked at said arrancar.

Whom of which had a few cuts across his body from the rubble of the building that collapsed on him. But the most notable thing that the teen noticed was Grimmjow's left arm being completely limp at his side. This being caused from Ulquiorra's strike with his wing, which had also broke a few of his ribs as well, but it wasn't seen just by looking. Yet despite these injuries, he wasn't bleeding half as much blood as Ichigo was and had no large open wounds on his body.

"Don't even think about thanking me, Kurosaki. If anyone will be killing you...it'll be me. But for now, we have to finish him before he kills us both." Grimmjow said just as his cero was diminished by a simple swing of Ulquiorra's wings.

"We're going to have to pour all of our spirit energy into one attack and hit him with everything we've got." Ichigo commented as he looked up at Ulquiorra and narrowed his eyes.

As Grimmjow gave a light nod, both of the two blinked their eyes briefly as the pale espada suddenly flew up to the top of the artificial sky with a single flap of his wings. "Wha...? Where is he going?" Ichigo questioned as he and the blue haired arrancar quickly followed.

But as Ulquiorra reached the top of the 'sky', he used the green lance in his hand to blow a hole in it with a single thrust, to which he flew out into the open air of Hueco Mundo. Though Ichigo and Grimmjow followed, they quickly narrowed their eyes once more as they saw Ulquiorra just standing off to the side. "Aizen-sama wishes for Las Noches to stay in one piece under my care, so go ahead and use all of your power against me up here. I will show you how our powers differ." he spoke silently, yet the pair could still hear him.

'I should have come up here before my releasing my zanpakuto, but if not for using my Resurreccion...I would have been killed against both of them before even leaving the hall. Though Hitsugaya would greatly detest my actions if one of his other team members had been killed by my spirit energy, I believe my second release is the greater threat in those terms. But it all depends on Kurosaki Ichigo if I have to use it or not.' Ulquiorra thought to himself as he watched the two before him.

Ichigo clenched his katana tightly and turned himself to the side, "Alright then." was all he said before a huge amount of black and red spirit energy generated around his blade.

Grimmjow smirked lightly and brought his right hand back as his claws began to glow bright blue, to which they nearly became white; "We'll finally see once and for all who is stronger." he muttered as light blue, claw-shaped blades appeared on his right hand.

"Desgarrón!" Grimmjow yelled, while at the same time he swung his hand forward and sent his own attack at the pale espada.

"Getsuga...Tensho!" Ichigo screamed out loudly as he slashed his zanpakuto forward, to which a Getsuga the size of a small house blasted toward Ulquiorra, just behind Grimmjow's light blue claws.

As these combined attacks came closer, Ulquiorra turned to face them and narrowed his eyes slightly, to which another lance appeared in his other hand. He then brought his arms up, crossing them over as he did and finally swung them down and out with much force. This shattered Grimmjow's attack on contact and sliced Ichigo's in half; "As I thought." Ulquiorra said silently to himself before looking to the pair.

Grimmjow's and Ichigo's eyes widened in shock to this, but then they ground their teeth and readied to charge. Yet when Ulquiorra's lances suddenly vanished, they narrowed their eyes and watched him very carefully. "Your power is far too weak to be of any use. There is now only one option..." Ulquiorra began as he narrowed his eyes on the two very slightly.

'It appears that I have no choice but to resort to my second form for him to feel complete despair and awaken his dormant powers. I must force him to reach the next level before time is up, otherwise...I'll have to eliminate him entirely. Grimmjow will have to simply be a sacrifice if he gets in the way.' Ulquiorra thought quickly as he folded his wings back.

Before either of the other two could say anything, their eyes became extremely large as Ulquiorra's spirit energy suddenly began increasing. Yet as it did, both Ichigo and Grimmjow suddenly felt a huge wave of despair filling their very souls as Ulquiorra's black and green spirit energy began to circle around him and blast out in small waves. "...I must kill you both." he finished as his skin itself began to change.

But before Ichigo or Grimmjow could see, Ulquiorra's spirit energy covered his entire body, it being this way for a brief few moments before a single wing slashed it away. Once it did, it revealed the raven haired espada to have undertaken yet another transformation. While Ulquiorra had retained his black wings, his long white coat was now gone, revealing a more defined musculature. His chest was now fully bare with his enlarged hollow hole, which had a strange dripping black, blood-like tattoo that led from the hole to his lower stomach.

Ulquiorra's waist was covered in something similar to black fur, which seemed to also cover his arms and legs. His fingers were now claw-like extensions, similar to Grimmjow's, while his feet became like talons with heavy curves for his claws. The irises of his eyes had become yellow, with the sclera now being a deep green color. The tear-like marks under his eyes increased in size and become more tear-like in shape, fairly similar to the design upon his chest.

But while Ulquiorra's mask was completely gone, he had taken on two large bat-like ears that seemed to be made of the same bone material. Atop of all this, he had also gained a long thin tail that appeared twice as long as his own body and even long tufts of black fur on his hips that extended down to his shins. "Resurreccion...Segunda Etapa." Ulquiorra said silently as the black and green spirit energy eventually died down.

* * *

Expect the conclusion to the fight in the next chapter. ;) I hope you all liked it...till next time. ^^ Ja Ne.


	115. Chapter 115

**Chapter 115:**

"Resurreccion...Segunda Etapa." Ulquiorra said silently as his black and green spirit energy seized to flow from his newly transformed body.

As they looked at him, Ichigo and Grimmjow took on expressions of both shock and horror, however it was the former that readied his blade to fight first. This action made Grimmjow to turn to him with a raised brow at first, but then he took on a small grin as he shifted his gaze back to Ulquiorra and readied his only usable arm. This caused the pale espada to look at them with slightly narrowed eyes; "You're both willing to fight me...even after seeing this form?" he questioned silently as he continued to stare at the two.

Yet as he looked at them, he noticed Ichigo's arms shaking, causing his katana to do the same; 'He's not ignorant to the fear. He is definitely afraid...but why does he continue to raise his blade?' Ulquiorra thought to himself as he shifted his gaze from the orange haired teen to Grimmjow, whom was also trembling slightly.

'It appears even Grimmjow isn't giving up. Despite the fact that he is only fighting out of a sense of honor right now, it's strange that he'd continue despite not really having to. Though...' he continued within his mind before shifting his gaze back to Ichigo.

'...why does he continue to fight? Does he truly believe that he can somehow still manage to win?' Ulquiorra questioned before stepping forward, causing the two before him to tense up and narrow their eyes heavily.

"If you will not fall into despair, then I shall carve it...into your corpses." Ulquiorra said just as he suddenly leapt forward and vanished from both Ichigo's and Grimmjow's sight.

Just as the two were about to look around, the orange haired teen's eyes widened heavily as he felt a hand grab him by the side of his head. Immediately after feeling this, he was suddenly thrown into and through two large pillars to the side. Grimmjow turned his head toward this, but wasn't able to react fast enough as the end of Ulquiorra's tail came up and hit him right in his stomach.

This impact caused Grimmjow to lose all of the air in his lungs, but also for him to cough up blood and fall to the roof of Las Noches. As Grimmjow laid there, struggling to take even a single breath, Ulquiorra looked down at him calmly and lifted him up by the throat with his tail. "You're in the way." was all he said before tossing the blue haired arrancar a few yards into the air.

Ulquiorra then used his tail once again, this time hitting Grimmjow hard in the chest, this blow knocking him unconscious almost instantly. The pale espada's attack also caused Grimmjow to halfway slide, halfway fly across the top of Las Noches, only to crash into a pillar nearly one hundred yards away. After watching the structure collapse completely to ruble, Ulquiorra turned to the side, him seeing Ichigo coming toward him.

But though the teen had a massive amount of black and red spirit energy around his katana, Ulquiorra merely raised his hand up. Once Ichigo was close enough he swung his blade at the arrancar, him keeping his Getsuga around his zanpakuto as he did. But as the attack struck Ulquiorra's flesh, only the roof around them cracked and uplifted, the espada himself had no reaction whatsoever. "It doesn't matter how you use it. Your Getsuga is useless against me." Ulquiorra said calmly.

After his words, Ulquiorra clenched his hand, causing the Getsuga to disburse and leave only Ichigo's katana. This made the teen's eyes widen once more, but then he was knocked backward as Ulquiorra's tail hit him directly in the face, shattering his mask completely. Yet as Ichigo flew back, the arrancar appeared behind him and blasted the teen in the opposite direction with a single slash with his wing.

This attack broke nearly every rib on Ichigo's right side, his body already bruising heavily as he smashed into one of the last remaining pillars on the roof. As he watched Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw Ichigo slowly standing back up from within the large dust cloud. 'He still continues to fight. Why?' he asked within his mind before sonidoing before Ichigo.

"Why do you continue to fight? You know that no matter what you do it'll be futile. You must know that you cannot win." Ulquiorra said, nearly glaring down at the teen.

"So why do you refuse to give up?" he continued, him flexing his wings out to their fullest length out to either side.

"Tch! You really think I'll just give up because you're stronger than me?" Ichigo questioned back as he stood to his feet and readied his blade out in front of him.

"I knew that you were strong from the very beginning. But...I won't let you get away with betraying Toshiro!" he continued with a near shout, to which Ulquiorra's eyes widened briefly.

"He's saved me and my friends quite a few times. I owe him far too much to just give up! I'm not fighting because I want to win...I'm fighting because I have to win!" he finished as he ground his teeth and reformed the mask on his face.

Upon hearing this, Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed heavily as he stared at Ichigo for a moment; "I see. If that's the case..." he began, suddenly vanishing from sight.

Ichigo's eyes widened to this, but then they became even wider as he felt a sharp and huge amount of pain shooting through his chest. As he looked down to see the cause of this pain, he saw Ulquiorra's blood covered hand protruding from his chest. This made the orange haired teen to cough up a large mass of blood from shock, all the while even more poured from his wound and onto the ground. All the while, Ichigo's mask crumbled apart and shattered in the pool of blood at his feet.

"...there is nothing more I can do." Ulquiorra finished as he started pulling his hand away, causing even more blood to pour from his wound.

But just as he was about the remove his hand, Ichigo's own hand snapped up and grabbed it tightly, to which Ulquiorra's eyes widened. "Tch! I thought I told you not to die until I appear again. You're absolutely useless...Ichigo." a strange hollowfied voice spoke up from Ichigo's mouth.

Ulquiorra quickly pulled his hand away, then sonidoed a few yards back as he looked at Ichigo with narrowed eyes; "Are you Kurosaki Ichigo's inner hollow?" he asked, his arms raising slightly as he readied for a possible attack.

"Hmph...'Ichigo's inner hollow'? Who knows but now that he's out of it..." 'Ichigo' began, him turning around slightly with a wide grin.

As he turned, Ulquiorra's eyes widened slightly once more as he saw a different mask forming on his face and that 'Ichigo's' skin color was changing to an off white color. There was also a new white and black mask forming on the teen's entire head, this one having a different design in the stripes then the previous. It having four spike-shaped marks on the forehead, the two on the inside stopping midway toward his eye openings.

All the while, the ones on the outside stretched down past the eyes and teeth, eventually going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest that directed toward the hole in his chest. This suddenly becoming smaller and taking on the outline of an infinity symbol, to which the blood immediately stopped flowing.

Then as 'Ichigo's' skin fully turned white, his hands and feet seemed to change, them becoming claw-like in form. But immediately following this, long tufts of red fur sprouted on his wrists, ankles and collar. Once this appeared, 'Ichigo's' orange hair suddenly grew out to waist length in a split second, to which it just fell down his back. Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes heavily to all this, him seeing the last of the mask forming on the teen's face as he just continued to grin.

"...I get to have my fun in killing you!" 'Ichigo' exclaimed as the mask fully formed, it ending with two long forward-pointed horns coming out from either side of his head.

After the transformation was complete, 'Ichigo' let out a loud hollow roar, to which a strong red spirit energy blasted around him. This flung the ruble of the building around them away, but Ulquiorra just stood there with a blank expression. 'It appears that his inner hollow has somehow helped Kurosaki Ichigo to achieve his next level of power.' the pale arrancar thought as he narrowed his eyes on the being before him.

"We'll have to see just how powerful you are." Ulquiorra spoke as he raised a hand up and charged a Cero Oscuras.

But as he did this, 'Ichigo' suddenly vanished from his sight in a sonido, to which Ulquiorra quickly turned toward him on his right, his eyes widening slightly in shock. Though he managed to quickly dodge out of the way of a slash from the newly transformed teen, Ulquiorra was knocked back a few feet just by the shock wave created by his swing.

Yet, immediately after recovering, Ulquiorra was instantly kicked in his back hard, which sent him flying in the opposite direction. The pale espada narrowed his eyes, spun his body around and planted his feet firmly on the roof's surface. He then looked toward 'Ichigo' as he flew at him with incredible speed, 'He's extremely fast. I can barely keep up with him.' Ulquiorra thought to himself as he placed his hands together out in front of him.

As he did this, a bright green light was shown within his hands and he pulled them out to either side, which made the light extend and form a long make-shift lance. "Lanza del Relampago." he muttered out, taking the lance in his right hand.

Once he took his new weapon in hand, he used it to parry a stab by 'Ichigo' as he reached him almost too quickly for Ulquiorra to react. Yet even as he sent his blade to the side, 'Ichigo' simply spun his entire body around quickly and swung a strong backward, round-house kick toward the arrancar's head. Upon seeing this motion, Ulquiorra brought his arm up to block, but as 'Ichigo's' kick connected, he felt himself being forcibly pushed back.

The blow knocked Ulquiorra backward a few yards, to which 'Ichigo' immediately gave chance at an even greater speed. This made the raven haired espada's eyes widen all over again as the 'teen' appeared on his side with a slashing attack with his katana. Ulquiorra immediately sonidoed out of the way, but once he appeared, he saw his pursuer directly behind him with a stab toward his back.

As he noticed this, Ulquiorra once again sonidoed away, only this time he spun his body around, pointed his left pointer finger out and charged a Cero Oscuras. But his eyes widened as he saw a large red light just to right of him, to which he turned himself to the side just in time to fire off his cero. As his cero collided with 'Ichigo's', the two blasts pressed against one another for a brief moment before exploding completely.

The resulting blast, completely disintegrated Ulquiorra's left arm and blasted his body backward many yards before he was able to stop. 'His power far exceeds my own. That was a normal cero he fired. And it was powerful enough to deflect my Cero Oscuras with ease. But I'm not completely convinced.' he thought to himself as his limb regenerated in a brief moment.

Once his arm returned, Ulquiorra turned his head to the side and saw 'Ichigo' coming toward him very quickly. The pale arrancar narrowed his eyes as he brought his lance forward and threw it at his opponent, all the while he generated another lance within his other hand. As the green lance hurled toward 'Ichigo', he merely slashed at it with his katana, which sliced it in half easily, which caused Ulquiorra's eyes to widen.

'A single slash?' he thought in slight shock, before taking his remaining lance into both hands and parried 'Ichigo's' downward slash with a quick spin of his own weapon.

Immediately after doing this, Ulquiorra shifted the lance into his left hand, brought his right arm up and fired a quick Cero Oscuras at 'Ichigo'. Whom of which spun around and sliced the blast in half with a simple swing, to which he let out a roar at his opponent as if to mock him. But Ulquiorra had quickly sonidoed directly up to him and thrust his lance toward 'Ichigo's' stomach.

Yet just as the green energy was about to connect to 'Ichigo's' skin, said 'teen' suddenly vanished and only left the sharp pain of slicing one of Ulquiorra's wings off. The pale espada ignored this pain as he reached his left arm around his stomach and blasted another Cero Oscuras at 'Ichigo'. Though this attack had actually hit him, the 'teen' just emerged from the overwhelming black and green spirit energy and punched Ulquiorra across his face.

This blow knocked Ulquiorra to the side a few yards before he suddenly saw a blade mere inches from his eyes, to which he dodged away quickly and threw the lance in his hand toward 'Ichigo'. Said 'teen' swiftly sliced this attack in half with his blade, came up toward Ulquiorra and thrust his katana toward his head. Though Ulquiorra dodged this by sonidoing away, he then quickly flew into the air as his missing wing regenerated in an instant.

But as he hovered in midair, 'Ichigo' appeared behind him, causing the espada to quickly back-flip up and over a slashing attack. At the same time as this, Ulquiorra pointed a single finger toward the top of his opponent's head, to which he charged a Cero Oscuras. Yet, when he did this, 'Ichigo' tilted his head up and formed his own cero between his horns, this making the espada's eyes widen in shock.

The moment the two fired their blasts, both powers mixed and exploded once more, yet due to the close range, much of Ulquiorra's right side had burned away completely. He had also been knocked back with much force, which sent him flying and tumbling through the air. But he was only able to regain his footing after his missing leg regenerated enough, it being nearly one hundred yards from his original spot. Yet once he had stopped, his eyes widened once more as he saw 'Ichigo' appear to his side without a single scratch.

Ulquiorra was immediately kicked hard in his back by a spinning side kick, him getting blasted straight into the roof of Las Noches. Though the impact created a small crater, Ulquiorra stood back up fairly quickly as his wounds healed even faster than before. He then looked up toward 'Ichigo' as said 'teen' dropped from the air and charged toward him the second his feet hit the ground. The raven haired espada instantly generated a single lance in either hand and narrowed his eyes on his opponent.

But as 'Ichigo' ran, Ulquiorra suddenly threw one of his lances, all the while creating yet another one in a split second. Though the 'teen' easily dodged out of the way, he only moved his head slightly out of the way, him not even changing course to avoid the attack. Ulquiorra then brought both arms back and just as the 'teen' came close enough, he swung them forward with all his strength.

The moment Ulquiorra was about to hit his target's head, 'Ichigo' brought his zanpakuto up and blocked both of the lances at once. This caused Ulquiorra's eyes to widen yet again as the 'teen's' momentum caused his lances to crack and immediately shatter from a quick slice of 'Ichigo's' blade. The shock wave from this caused Ulquiorra's arms to fly out to his sides and knock him off balance, leaving him defenseless.

Though Ulquiorra had still remained standing, it was just long enough to see the completely red eyes within 'Ichigo's' eye sockets and the swinging of his katana. "Damn..." he whispered silently.

Ulquiorra was immediately sliced deeply across his chest by 'Ichigo's' attack, to which he had then lost his footing and fell to the ground. But before he could even consider standing back up, the 'teen' violently slammed his foot down into his already bleeding chest, which caused it to nearly crack in half. All the while, his first lance had finally landed far out in the desert of Hueco Mundo and created an enormous explosion of light green spirit energy. This being easily a mile wide in diameter and created a huge hole in the sand, which revealed the lower level of Hueco Mundo.

"It appears that I've lost. But since you have reached your next level of power, I've served my purpose. Go ahead and kill me." Ulquiorra said, him almost sounding as though he were taunting him.

'Ichigo' merely tilted his head down and began charging a large red colored cero between his horns, this making Ulquiorra's eyes narrow as his hands flexed briefly. Immediately following this, the cero blasted into Ulquiorra's flesh, it burning away and disintegrating away upon contact. As the cero went through Ulquiorra's body, it then proceeded right through the roof and down to the sand of Las Noches below.

As this blast subsided, it revealed 'Ichigo' holding onto the remains of Ulquiorra's body in midair. The pale espada's body now only consisted of his head, most of his chest and half of his stomach, the rest being completely gone. This being the scene that Grimmjow saw as he limped over toward them, to which his eyes widened heavily. Yet despite seeing this, he kept a hold of his limp arm with his other while his wounds continued to bleed and drip on the roof.

"I-Impossible..." was all he muttered out as he just stared in disbelieve toward the pair.

'Ichigo' then proceeded to toss Ulquiorra's body to the side, sonido next to it and pierce his katana through the pale arrancar's chest. This caused Grimmjow's eyes to narrow slightly as he brought his arm back and slashed a fairly weak Desgarron toward 'Ichigo'. Whom of which pulled his zanpakuto away slowly and sliced the attack in half, to which it just shattered apart.

"I don't know what happened to you Kurosaki...but even I won't tolerate such an act." Grimmjow began as he stood up straight and clenched his functional hand in a fist.

"There is no honor in carving up your opponent's corpse...it's just pathetic and low." he continued as he then pointed his hand out toward 'Ichigo' and charged a black and blue cero.

But before he could fire the blast, 'Ichigo' suddenly appeared on his right side and grabbed his wrist, to which the blue haired arrancar looked toward him in shock. Just as 'Ichigo' clenched his hand around Grimmjow's arm, which seemed ready to break from the force, he suddenly paused as a voice called out to him. "Kurosaki-kun!"

The moment this was heard, Ulquiorra suddenly appeared just above 'Ichigo's' head and sliced one of the horns on his mask away with his claws. Ulquiorra himself only having one full arm and leg, while his other limbs were only partly formed. Once this happened, 'Ichigo's' mask began to crack slightly, him turning just in time to see Orihime running toward him before falling face first into the roof's surface. This shattering his mask completely and leaving him completely lifeless, save for the last few words he spoke. "Sh-Shit..."

Grimmjow blinked his eyes in shock to this as he watched Orihime run to Ichigo's side, her shouting his name once more as she did. Orihime kneeled down to her orange haired friend and brought her hands up to her hair pins; "Soten Kisshun. Watashi wa kyozetsu suru!" she called out, to which her hair pins came out and covered Ichigo's body.

Orihime then looked to Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, her gasping in shock upon seeing their state up close. "I'll make sure to heal you two next." she said with a promise-like tone.

The blue haired espada let out a breath to this and shifted his attention to Ulquiorra, whom had turned back to everyone, despite his body seemed ready to collapse at any moment. But just as Orihime's powers seemed to be taking an effect on Ichigo, a sudden blast of blue spirit energy broke through her shield and circled around the teen boy. This caused each of the three to look at this in slight shock before the spirit energy simply returned back to Ichigo.

After this, Ichigo's body seemed to return back to normal, even the hole in his chest had vanished completely. "High speed regeneration..." Ulquiorra whispered silently as he looked at the healed teen.

"'High speed regeneration'? What's tha-K-Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime whispered out, her interrupting herself as she noticed her friend's hand moving slightly.

Once she spoke, Ichigo suddenly snapped up and looked around in shock; "W-Wha...? What happened to me?" he questioned before looking at Orihime and blinking.

"I-Inoue? When did you get here? How did you get up here?" he asked as his expression changed from worry to inquisitive.

"Oh! I hitched a ride." she claimed with a small smile before gesturing toward the large hole Ichigo's inner hollow had created, to which he saw a few arrancar with simple skulls for heads.

"Shiba-san and Shiba-san had to fight off an arrancar named Rudbornn Chelute and actually convinced him to join our side after showing him how badly ours was beating there's." Orihime began, to which Ichigo sweat dropped.

"How am I supposed to know who you mean when they both have the last name?" he questioned silently before Orihime continued on.

"He was placed in charge of keeping me safe with the threat of a worse punishment then an eternity in hell if I was harmed." she said, causing her orange haired friend to sweat drop even heavier.

"But I told him that I wanted to come up here and help you since I could feel your spirit energy start to diminish. So after he told me he was able to produce an infinite amount of soldiers, I brought up the idea to make a ladder with them and here I am." Orihime finished as she gave a glance toward the hole where thousands of Rudbornn's soldiers were now falling to the sands below as they lost balance.

"This is the last time I listen to a teenage girl." he muttered to himself silently as he tilted his bull-like skull up toward the hole in the 'sky'.

Ichigo just blinked his eyes to her and shook his head, but then he suddenly snapped his attention to Grimmjow and finally to Ulquiorra. As he looked upon the latter, his eyes widened in shock and he ground his teeth; "You're surprised to see me alive?" the pale espada asked silently.

"Yeah...a bit. But I'm actually more surprised by the fact that you sustained as much damage as you did." Ichigo claimed as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Grimmjow let out a breath and looked to Orihime, "Hey woman...heal me already will you? I don't exactly enjoy having my arm broken!" he all but growled out.

Orihime blinked her eyes to him, smiled sheepishly and gave a nod; "Sorry." she said silently before moving her flying hair pins over to Grimmjow.

As she began rejecting his wounds from existence, she quickly turned her attention to Ulquiorra as he stepped forward with his fully regenerated foot. He and Ichigo still continuing to stare one another down, "Regardless of my injuries or my life remaining intact, I have completed the mission assigned to me." Ulquiorra said as he reached up to his left eye and pulled it out.

His words shocking all three people around him, while his actions only shocked the two teens, Grimmjow merely narrowing his eyes in slight suspicion. But it was Ichigo that spoke up quickly enough to voice the question each of them were thinking, "What are you talking about?"

Ulquiorra closed his eyeless lid and looked to the teen with his only remaining eye, to which he crushed the one within his hand. "I'll simply show you." he said as his eye seemed to shatter like glass.

As this happened, the small particles that remained from his eye flowed around everyone, all of them looking around in confusion. None of them noticing the small white pill that remained in Ulquiorra's hand after destroying his eye, to which he put it in his mouth and swallowed it. But as they all continued to look around, Grimmjow merely closed his eyes after a moment and sighed. "Just do as I do and let the memories flow into your mind." he muttered out, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

Ichigo and Orihime glanced over to him, to which they blinked in question, but did as they were told anyway. Once they had, the two immediately saw a familiar scene in their heads, only this time it was from a different perspective...

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And there you have it. ;) I hope you all enjoyed the simple twists I've added, cause now come a few explanations and even bigger twists that were set up by those smaller ones. XD Anyway, just to let you all know now...I will only have one more chapter after this one...that is until after New Years. ;D I need to spend some time with my family and friends so I'll have to take a small break for the holidays. ^^ But I shall return afterward, so make sure to look for a chapter on the 9th of January. :D Till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	116. Chapter 116

Well, before I begin...a great big thank you and hug for Tuli-chan for all her help throughout the entire course of this year. ^^ And of course to everyone else that has stuck with me and this story for so long...I thank you all for your reviews, favorites and comments. :D Anyway, on with the story before it gets too emotional. XD

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**Chapter 116:**

-Flashback-

Ulquiorra stood within Karakura park with slightly narrowed eyes as he looked upon the ice shards that Yammy began pulling out of his body. "You bitch!" the large espada yelled out in anger.

"You're dead!" he continued as he glared down heavily at Tatsuki and Orihime before him, the former having a set of ice wings on her back.

But just as these words left his lips, an ice-covered foot struck him right across the face and knocked him over thirty feet away. Upon seeing this, Ulquiorra shifted his gaze over to the icy captain, to which he briefly closed his eyes and inched his pale hand toward his katana. Once Toshiro turned his gaze toward Ulquiorra, he gave a small smirk toward the pale arrancar; "I didn't expect to see you till later." he said in a halfway whisper.

As everyone had their eyes glued on Toshiro with a mixture of looks, said captain simply going over toward Chad as he struggled to his feet. He then seemed to whisper a few words to the teen before glancing toward Ulquiorra and speaking a bit louder; "I'll finish this quickly."

Ulquiorra simply nodded his head so lightly that it was completely invisible, to which he then closed his eyes for a few moments. But he immediately snapped his eyes open once more as Yammy stood himself up and spoke in an irritated tone. "You bastar-!"

Though Yammy cut himself short as he looked to his attacker in shock, Ulquiorra merely let out a silent breath as he took a step forward. Yet Yammy continued on as he pointed a large finger toward Toshiro, "I-Impossible! Aizen never said that he'd be here!"

"There must have been circumstances that he did not foresee. We must return immediately...Aizen-sama does not wish for us to start a large fight." Ulquiorra responded as he raised a hand as if to open a garganta.

Once Toshiro saw this, he instantly appeared before the pale espada and sent a palm toward him. But as Ulquiorra stopped the blow with the back of one of his hands, his feet dug into the ground a few inches and blasted a percussion wave that had knocked Yammy a few feet back. Toshiro's turquoise eyes met Ulquiorra's emerald green ones, to which they both gave very slight nods to one another.

A split second afterward, they unsheathed their zanpakutos and swung the blades directly into the same path. Yet the moment the blades made contact, both Toshiro and Ulquiorra seemed to go into a trance, yet their eyes never seemed to close. While at the same time, their minds resonated together, to which they immediately found themselves within Toshiro's inner world.

The white haired captain himself sat upon a large boulder of ice, all the while Ulquiorra was standing on another just opposite of Toshiro's. "Well...it's been quite a while, hasn't it?" the owner of the mindscape spoke up over the howling of the wind.

"Quite a number of years." Ulquiorra said with a light nod, him sitting himself down on the boulder across from Toshiro.

"I must say that I'm surprised that you immediately knew what I wanted to do with just a simple look." Toshiro said with a small smirk on his face.

"Well I can recall that you held a similar expression before we tried the 'Soul Resonance' for the first time." the pale espada said with another nod.

"Hmph...I guess I did. So how are Starrk and Lilynette?" Toshiro asked, giving a silent chuckle at the beginning.

"They are both doing well. They've spoken about you just recently." Ulquiorra answered, to which Toshiro gave a nod in response.

"I see. So...who are the other Espada? What are their specialties and numbers? And would it be possible to recruit them?" the white haired captain questioned as he crossed his arms.

"Coyote Starrk has taken the position as the Primera Espada. Baraggan Louisenbairn is the Segunda, though his aging powers remained the same, it appears they've been increased. But to what extent...I'm not sure. Though he is increasingly arrogant and easy to fool if approached in the correct manner, I've also discovered that he despises all shinigami and plots to kill Aizen himself. So I would be cautious in speaking to him...I highly doubt that he'll approve of a shinigami born arrancar. He'll more than likely see it as 'impure'." Ulquiorra began in an emotionless tone, him saying all this as simple facts.

"Then there is Tia Harribel, she is the Tres Espada and appears to be an increasingly powerful wielder of water. I believe that Aizen selected her as a way to keep your Hyorinmaru's power at bay, but I think he plans to use her for another purpose. What it is, I don't know. But she may be the best choice for a recruit. I've observed that she is in fact much like you, which means that she'll be easy for you to speak with and show Aizen's true nature." he continued, glancing around at the area around him.

"I have been appointed as Cuatro Espada, but Aizen has yet to find out about my ability to use a second release of my Resurreccion." he continued, to which Toshiro blinked in slight shock.

"You've developed a second release?" Toshiro asked, leaning forward in interest as Ulquiorra merely nodded.

"Yes...but it takes far too long to accomplish so I'm afraid it's not likely I'll be able to help you achieve yours." the raven haired arrancar said.

Toshiro gave a light nod as he leaned himself back to his original position, then gestured for Ulquiorra to continue with a small gesture with his hand. Said espada gave a light nod as he briefly closed his eyes and spoke; "The next one is Nnoitra Gilga, the Quinto Espada."

"He is a mere dog that just attacks anything in his way without any care of enemy or ally. Though he has the hardest hierro among the espada, he is still far weaker than me and has no true attribute that would be gained from using him. His power is nothing more than brute force that can be easily beaten, so I do not suggest recruiting him." Ulquiorra continued on, Toshiro raising a brow to him as he noticed that the pale arrancar's tone seemed almost disgusted talking about this 'Nnoitra'.

"The Sexta Espada is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Though he seems fairly similar to Nnoitra in terms of personality, he has more of a sense of honor in fighting and isn't as psychotic. He also is far more intelligent and is able to formulate plans of attack rather than to just attack ruthlessly. But though his powers are weaker to that of Nnoitra's, he has much more potential." he reported, making Toshiro raise his brow once again.

"He fights in hand-to-hand combat, which is your main style as well. So you will be able to use him in the correct manner that would suit your plans." Ulquiorra said with a light nod.

Toshiro looked at him for a few minutes, then looks up in thought; "Hmm...well...I do need someone like that to fight against Kurosaki. He hasn't fought anyone that used that style yet so it'll be good to get him used to it." he muttered to himself with a brief nod before turning back to Ulquiorra.

"The next Espada is the Septima, Zommari Rureaux. Though he is somewhat of a mystery even to me. He appears to excel at sonido, but aside from this...he holds no value. His Resurreccion is merely to control any object he looks upon with his eyes. But he sacrifices all of his speed for this, so a faster opponent could easily defeat him." Ulquiorra stated as his voice seemed as though he were simply speaking about something on the bottom of his shoe.

"Szayel Aporro Granz is the Octava Espada. He is a mere scientist that cannot see past his own power, believing himself to be perfect. His Resurreccion's power is quite unique; he is able to duplicate his opponent if he catches them with a black liquid he creates from his back. Aside from this, the only other ability I've seen is the technique of creating a doll-like figure of his opponent. Which he can use to destroy their bones, organs and many other things within their body. But his obsession of his own perfection would prevent him from being a valuable ally to us." he continued in a near sigh, something of which made Toshiro raise a brow to him.

"After him is Aaroniero Arruruerie, the Noveno Espada. He's the only known member that was part of the first generation of espada, but also the weakest due to him being a Gillian at the time of becoming an arrancar. I have yet to actually see his Resurreccion, but from what I've observed...his powers are to absorb another beings body and in turn...their abilities. Though the only one he's demonstrated was a Shikai he had taken from a hollow that fused with a shinigami." Ulquiorra said, him finishing with a focused look on Toshiro, whom widened his eyes in slight shock to his words.

"Kaien..." the white haired captain whispered out, then heavily narrowed his eyes; "...so that's where he went."

Ulquiorra looked at him silently for a few moments as Toshiro appeared to be in deep thought about something. "He did mention something about the hollow being called Metastacia." he added in.

Toshiro tilted his head up slightly to lock eyes with Ulquiorra before nodding his head, "I thought so. Thanks Ulquiorra. Is there anything else before we part ways for now?" he asked.

"Well...there is the case of Yammy Llargo. He is the Diez Espada in his base form, but when he uses his Resurreccion he becomes the-" but Ulquiorra was cut short as he suddenly began fading away from Toshiro's mindscape, to which his voice vanished completely.

"Thank you again Ulquiorra. If you can...meet me near the Karakura town High School at some point. I have something I need to give to you if my plan for Kurosaki Ichigo goes the way I want it." the icy captain said with a light nod just before Ulquiorra fully left his inner world.

As soon as Ulquiorra's and Toshiro's minds returned to the real world, only a split second had passed, to which Toshiro immediately pushed off with one of his ice-covered feet. This knocked the pale espada away, allowing him to quickly open a garganta and go through it before the fight could continue.

-A few days later, a few hundred yards from Karakura High School-

Ulquiorra appeared in a sonido near of Toshiro, whom stood beneath a large tree beside a shadowed figure. Though the sun's rays were penetrating the tree's many leaves, Ulquiorra still could not see who the other person was. But once he took a step toward them, the figure vanished in a sudden movement and left Toshiro alone as said captain turned toward him.

Once the two made eye contact with one another, they quickly vanished in their respective movements, yet stayed side by side as they flew through the town. "I think I have a better idea of how to make Kurosaki Ichigo a greater asset in this war. I'm going to place him against strong opponents to increase his level of power." Toshiro said as they went on, it being obvious that he intended to keep the identity of the figure a secret.

"Who are these opponents that you've laid out for him?" Ulquiorra questioned without even turning to look at him.

"The first is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. After seeing him fight Kurosaki once already, I think if he manages to survive one more encounter with him, he may master his mask." Toshiro answered, but then looked down slightly as he narrowed his eyes.

"Well...actually...he'll have to. At Kurosaki's current level, he'll need to master his mask if he even wants to stand a chance at fighting on the same level as the Espada. But that's why you'll be his second and last opponent before Aizen." he continued, to which he turned his head toward the pale arrancar.

Ulquiorra shifted his eyes over to him for a moment before looking straight ahead once more, "I will have to hold back a great deal if I will fight against him at even Grimmjow's level." he stated in his usual emotionless voice.

"No, you won't. Because if I'm right...when he's forced completely into a corner, he will reach his next level of power. And for that to happen, he needs to fight against an opponent whose powers are too great for him to even comprehend. Though I still need to confirm this after he has actually achieved control over his inner hollow. But it's likely that it'll be that way." Toshiro said as he eventually stopped just outside the warehouse district.

"Although, if he's anything like me...or even his father, once he reaches his next level...it's quite possible that you might be overwhelmed." he continued, giving a glance to Ulquiorra once more as they walked forward.

Though the raven haired arrancar remained silent, it was obvious he was contemplating Toshiro's words, him knowing that he accounted for his second Resurreccion's power. "So what do I do then?" he questioned as the pair walked near one of the larger warehouses.

As they stopped to the side of the large opening, both of them could hear noises coming from inside. Toshiro let out a breath as he could hear Hiyori's voice, to which he just returned his gaze to Ulquiorra. "I'm going to give you something to hold onto and use it at the appropriate time." he said.

Ulquiorra looked at his silently once more before nodding his head, "As you wish." was all he responded with before they both turned toward the opening yet again as even more voices were heard.

"Hey! I can hear you over there!" Ichigo called out, to which a brief thud was heard.

"Why you little..." a rough female voice rose up from a bit farther away.

"I'll get you back for that you ASSHOLE!" the female continued, multiple loud smacking noises being heard a spilt second later.

After a few more grunts and smacks, her voice was once again heard in a near roar; "Now get back on and work till you drop!"

Immediately following her words a loud metal bang echoed from within the warehouse, to which Ichigo's voice was heard a few moments later. "You bitch!"

Toshiro let out a heavy sigh and glanced to Ulquiorra with a light shrug; "It's pretty noisy as you can tell."

-End of Flashback-

"Ha! You got owned by a chick!" Grimmjow laughed out with a wide grin as he and the others opened their eyes.

"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled back with a rather embarrassed frown; "I'd like to see you do any better." he continued in a silent mutter before turning toward Ulquiorra.

"I didn't know you and Toshiro were there. Why didn't I ever see you?" the orange haired boy questioned, rasing a brow in the process.

But as Ichigo's eyes looked upon the pale espada, his eyes widened slight as he was fully healed and back to his base form. "We came in just as Shinji Hirako knocked you unconscious." was all Ulquiorra responded with.

Orihime blinked her eyes to him for a moment as she was shocked to see his body fully healed without even a scar. "Um...well...I have a few questions though." she spoke up, raising her hand slightly.

Ulquiorra looked to her along with the other two, Grimmjow rolling his eyes and letting out a breath. "Hmph...'a few'." he echoed back.

"So...what was that 'thing' Toshiro-kun gave you? How did you enter his mind? And who was that woman with him by that tree?" she asked with blinking eyes.

Though each of them expected these questions, her wording for the last confused all three men. But before Ichigo of Grimmjow could question her, Ulquiorra spoke up in his usual emotionless tone; "What Hitsugaya gave me was what I just used to heal myself. I entered his inner world through a technique both he and I created after our first meeting. We called it 'Soul Resonance' since we are combining our souls together for a brief few seconds in order to talk to one another."

As he said this, Ichigo blinked his eyes and looked up for a moment, him recalling the time that Toshiro had entered his own inner world. Yet his thoughts were stalled as Ulquiorra continued, "As for who that figure was...I have no idea."

Orihime gave a small nod to him, but though she appeared to have even more questions to ask, Ichigo spoke up quickly with a raised brow toward her. "Well hold on...how do you even know that figure was a woman?"

The female teen blinked her eyes to him, then tilted her head up in thought; "Well...I could tell from the figure of that...'figure' it was a female. And since she seemed a bit taller than the usual high school girl...I guessed that she must have been a female older than a teenager." Orihime explained with a shrug.

Grimmjow blinked his eyes to her and raised his brow, "Wow...I guess you have a sharper eyes then I thought." he muttered out as he looked away, his resurreccion form finally vanishing.

"Hmm...but most of the 'woman' Toshiro knows were already at school." Ichigo said with blinking eyes as he gave a confused expression to each of the others.

"So then...who is it?" Orihime asked as she glanced between the others, her seeming to be saving her other questions for later.

Grimmjow shrugged in a rather uncaring way, Ulquiorra stayed completely silently and even closed his eyes during their conversation. All the while, Ichigo just looked up for a long while in thought as he couldn't figure it out. But all of them immediately snapped their heads to the side as they heard a new voice nearby. "Hitsugaya-sama has many more allies then you'll ever know of."

As they all turned, they saw Yin and Yang standing side by side with each other with an open garganta behind them. Ichigo and Grimmjow raised a brow to them, Orihime blinked her eyes in confusion and Ulquiorra merely stared emotionlessly. But before anyone else could speak, four figures suddenly stepped through the garganta and beside the twin arrancar.

The first figure was Ishida Ryuken, him wearing a fully white suit, a black tie and a pair of highly polished white shoes that reflected the moon's light. He gave a glance around to each of people before him, save for Ichigo, it being obvious that he was purposely avoiding even a glance toward a shinigami. Once Ichigo noticed this, he groaned lightly and muttered something about 'like father, like son'.

The next was Go Koga, whom now had on a large green hoodie, which had a fleece type fabric on the inside. He also had a tight black t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, black military-like boots and his large black head-phones around his neck. Though his red hair was now much longer, it being nearly shoulder length, he now had a short pony tail down his neck. Him just letting out a breath and closing his eyes as he placed his hands within his hoodie's pockets.

Beside him stood Ran'Tao, her having on her usual shinigami wear with a long sleeved haori that covered her hands. She also had a set of yellow color glasses, only they were rectangular in shape rather than the previous oval. Her long brown hair was now flowing down her back, the yellow clip being nowhere to be seen, making her look even more like Yoshino. Yet as she looked around to everyone, she gained a small smirk and placed her hands to her hips beneath her haori.

The last person was Shiba Ganju, him having on his usual green sleeveless robe, white top and golden under shirt. But while his wide black pants and boots of the same color remained the same, his hair had visibly grown to be slightly longer then the usual shoulder length. Him now having it simply going down his neck and shoulders, his long green bandana missing completely. He also had a wide grin on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Ichigo directly in a slight gloating manner.

Grimmjow raised his brow even higher as he merely just stared to all of the people before him; "Who the hell are these guys?" he muttered to himself.

Ulquiorra just turned away after looking at each of the four of the new comers, he then closed his eyes and let out a silent breath. Orihime blinked her eyes over and over again, her looking at each of the four with a mixture of shock and happiness of seeing them. "They're Ishida-kun's father, Ishida Ryuken-sensei. Go Koga-san from the Bounts. Ran'Tao from the creator of the Bounts. Shiba Ganju-san, Kukaku-san's younger brother. Also...um...I'm afraid I don't know your names." she explained, her starting off with a smile, but then taking on a sheepish expression as she looked to Yin and Yang.

"I'm Yin...and this is may sister Yang. We serve under Hitsugaya-sama." the arrancar in red spoke, pointing from herself to her twin as she introduced them.

Ichigo just looked to all of them for a moment, him blinking a few times before raising a brow and placing one of his hands to his hips. "What are all of you doing here?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Hmph, nice to see you too." Ran'Tao began as she frowned lightly before continuing on; "Well...Toshiro told the Head Captain that he would send his own force to Hueco Mundo to make sure everything is taken care of."

"He wishes to keep some of the Captain's of the Gotei Thirteen in Soul Society just in case of a last dish effort by the enemy to invade." Ryuken added in with a tone that sounded nearly as emotionless as Ulquiorra.

"And since all of us are his allies, he sent us to handle things here." Ganju stated as he continued to smirk toward Ichigo.

"Wow...I had no idea Toshiro-kun knew Ishida-sensei." Orihime said as she blinked her eyes for a moment, looking from Ganju to Ryuken.

"Hmph...there are many things about him you don't know." Ryuken stated with an almost cold tone, which made everyone, including Ulquiorra to turn and look at him.

-World of the Living-

Toshiro and Rangiku stepped out of the garganta and onto the air above the Fake Karakura town, to which he looked down and saw Sosuke standing with Gin and Tosen. All the while Coyote and Lilynette were on his left side, Baraggan and his fraccion just below, and Tia with her own fraccion on the brown haired man's right. But as Toshiro stared at this scene, he shifted his gaze over to the opposite side, to which he saw many of the Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei Thirteen.

"And so the war begins." the icy captain muttered to himself with a small smirk, him suddenly flaring his spirit energy, drawing everyone's attention toward him.

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Well...this is going to be the last update for the year of 2012. I hope you all have enjoyed. :) The next update will be on the 9th of January 2013, so look for it then. ;D Till next time everyone, Happy Holidays to all~! Ja Ne.


	117. Chapter 117

Welcome back everyone! Hope you all had a great holiday. ;D Anyway, lets dive right back into the story...but first, a quick thanks to Tuli-chan for her help. ^^

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**Chapter 117:**

"And so the war begins." was all Toshiro muttered before flaring his reiatsu, which gained the attention of everyone around him.

Though each of his comrades appeared to give a small smirk to his arrival, the others narrowed their eyes slightly to him. The shinigami 'army' consisting of the Head Captain, Chojiro, Soifon, Marechiyo, Retsu, Isane, Shunsui and Jushiro. Toshiro merely looked to everyone for a few extra moments, his spirit energy continuing to blaze around him.

But as this happened, his reiatsu began to chill the air, causing the temperature to drop drastically and for nearly everyone to shiver slightly from it. Yet it came to a halt in the split second it took for Toshiro to shunpo directly in front of Sosuke Aizen, whom just looked to him with a small smirk. "Oh? So you're going straight to main event?" the brown haired man began as he raised a brow and waved to Tosen as he was about to attack the white haired captain.

"And here I thought you would have waited till after your 'friends' would be out of the way before using your full power." he continued as his smirk became even more confident.

Toshiro merely looked at him and gained a smirk of his own, "Hmph...if I planned to do that, you would never have even known I was here till after I removed your head from your shoulders." he said, him seeing Rangiku joining the other shinigami from the corner of his eye.

"So why didn't you do it? Don't you hate me enough for something like that?" Aizen questioned as he looked down at Toshiro with an even higher raised brow.

Though he didn't respond right away, Toshiro's smirk widened slightly as he looked up slightly at him; "Believe me, Aizen...my hatred for you goes far beyond just wanting you dead." he stated coldly as his breath became visible and drifted down to the town below.

Aizen gave a wider smirk to this and nodded his head, "Now there's the 'Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro' we all know." was all he said as he placed both his hands within his coat pockets.

The icy captain looked at him for a moment with a cold gaze, but then gave another smirk as a flash of fire erupted from behind him. Upon noticing this, Aizen tilted his head to the side to see over Toshiro's shoulder, to which he just smiled lightly in amusement. The Head Captain had brought his zanpakuto forward, along with a huge amount of fire and sent it hurling toward Kaname, Gin, Toshiro and himself.

But while the white haired captain vanished in a shunpo immediately before the flames reached him, the remaining three stood perfectly still as the fire surrounded them. Toshiro then appeared to the right side of the Head Captain and looked to him, "As promised." was all he said.

The older man just turned his head toward him, his eyes never opening at all as he spoke up silently, yet with much authority. "I can understand your feelings for wanting to kill him in your own personal preference. But...if it may cause the death of anyone of the Gotei Thirteen or the World of the Living, then I will not authorize it."

Toshiro let out a breath and nodded his head, "I know...I'm not 'that' careless. I don't really want to kill anyone besides Aizen during this war." he said before turning toward the arrancar on either side of the large inferno that held Gin, Kaname and Sosuke.

"So which of them will you spare?" the Head Captain asked as he cracked both his eyes open to look at Toshiro.

Said captain raised a brow and turned his head toward the arrancar, "Starrk and Lilynette are already my friends so we can just leave them out of it." he began, both him and the Head Captain looking toward the two.

"Barragan is only loyal to himself, and his fraccion are only loyal to him. So you can order anyone you wish to kill him." he continued as they turned their gaze over to the darker skinned man.

"However...according to my information, Tia Harribel might possibly be turned to our side. She is under the impression that Aizen is noble in his intentions, but if I can reveal it to be false...she might well become an ally." Toshiro finished, he and the elder captain shifting their heads to the blond woman.

Though the Head Captain never spoke, he briefly closed his eyes and then looked at Toshiro in a way that asked him; 'Why are you trying so hard to keep as many of your enemies alive?'

As he saw this, the white haired captain looked away for a moment and smirked very lightly, yet still didn't face him as he spoke. "I'm only here to kill Aizen. I'd prefer to spare as many of my own kind as possible from this war."

"Very well. I will order everyone to fight this 'Barragan' and his fraccion. You have ten minutes to gain that Espada's favor, if not...then she'll be eliminated with the rest." the Head Captain commanded as he turned to the rest of the Gotei Thirteen.

"We have limited foes to defeat. One of the Espada and their fraccion are already an ally and I have given Captain Hitsugaya permission to speak with one of the other Espada and her fraccion. But the remaining one and his group must be eliminated! Put forth all your strength and finish your foe!" the Head Captain called out as the surrounding shinigami nodded their heads.

Once he finished speaking, Toshiro immediately shunpoed a few yards away from where Tia was standing. Said espada had dark skin, emerald green eyes, blond eyelashes, and messy short blond hair with three braided locks. She wore the usual wear for most of the other arrancar, only with a high color jacket that covered from the lower part of her face to the lower half of her large chest. This garment also had a zipper running along its entire length, which appeared to open from the bottom upwards.

The sleeves of the jacket had completely envelop her arms, terminating into black glove-like extensions at her fingers, it resembling the appearance of a cat's paw. Tia's zanpakuto was positioned horizontally across her back, while the sword itself was notably broad and fairly short. The guard was very long with three holes at either end, while the grip was a light purple color, similar to the hue as the sheath that held the weapon.

After a brief moment of Tia and Toshiro staring at one another with mirroring cold eyes, Tia's fraccion immediately appeared before her in a guarding position. However, a split second later, Rangiku appeared in front of Toshiro in a similar fashion with her hand hovering over her zanpakuto. Yet the icy captain and the blond espada never looked away as the two had silent a test of wills against each other. But the same could not be said of the strawberry blond and the three other woman before her as they each glared toward one another.

The first was a tomboyish arrancar with heterochromatic eyes, her right eye being ice blue, while her left was amber with a red outline around it. She had black jaw-length hair, with her mask fragment, which sat on the top of her head with a horn in the middle. While she wore the white standard arrancar uniform, the jacket had shoulder length sleeves and a v-shaped neck. She also had on a pair of white gloves, which had black collars over her wrists, which she had placed her hands over as she had her eyes narrowed heavily on Rangiku.

Beside this arrancar was a dark-skinned woman who had thick, wavy brown hair that stretched down to her lower back. Her hollow hole was located mid-way between her navel and chest while her mask fragment formed a three-sectioned crown around her head and a thick necklace. She also had green eyes, a figure nearly identical to Rangiku's and wore an outfit that seemed just like an Amazon warrior's. Yet as she all but growled at the strawberry blond before her, the difference between her and Rangiku became even more clear.

The last member of Tia's fraccion was a slender female arrancar with long flowing olive-green hair, long eyelashes, lavender eyes and three pink dots just below her right eye. Her mask remnants created three hair clip-like extensions on the right side of her bangs that arched away from her face. She had on a long white dress with long sleeves that extended well past her hands, each one having a single slit in each one. She also wore two thin belts that crossed around her waist and furry black necklace around her neck. But while she had a seemingly calm expression on her face, her eyes were narrowed heavily as she brought her sleeve covered hand over her mouth.

All the while, the rest of the Gotei Thirteen had lined themselves up with Barragan and his own personal army. Shunsui and Jushiro being across from the Segunda Espada himself, while everyone else, save for the Head Captain were aligned with Barragan's fraccion. Though Coyote and Lilynette were walking toward the large group, they quickly looked over toward Toshiro and seemed to change direction toward him.

"Your move Tia Harribel." Toshiro muttered as the ice on his feet seemed to shift, him preparing to shunpo if needed.

Though said arrancar narrowed her eyes on him for a moment, she just huffed silently and brought her hand up to the long guard of her zanpakuto. She then began to unsheathe it with a single finger, but once the entire blade was out, she simply flipped it with her finger. This caused the zanpakuto to spin around many times in the air before Tia had caught the grip in her hand.

The moment she caught her weapon, she immediately vanished and appeared directly behind Toshiro, to which she slashed across to slice his head off. The white haired captain merely smirked lightly to this as he tilted his head and body to the side, him going mere centimeters under Tia's blade. Said woman quickly shifted her momentum from her attack to slash at the icy captain once more, only she had gathered a large amount of spirit energy on her blade. This caused an arch of yellow spirit energy to fly toward Toshiro, to which he immediately spun himself into a side flip, him going directly over the blast as hit and destroyed the upper half of a building.

Once Toshiro landed on the air, he briefly looked over toward Rangiku off to the side, whom had just kicked one of Tia's fraccion in the face. Though it was a quick look, the white haired captain was able to deduce that all three of the blond espada's fraccion were trying to assist her in her battle against him. Toshiro gave a small smirk to this as he turned his attention back on Tia as she came at him, the hollow part of her blade filled with yellow spirit energy once more. As she charged forward, Tia swung her blade horizontally, this sending another arch of spirit energy toward Toshiro, this attack being faster than the last.

This new speed made the white haired captain's eyes to harden as he quickly dodged under this attack by kneeling. He then caught his opponent's blade with an icy hand when it came toward his head, him narrowing his eyes on Tia. But as Toshiro saw a yellow cero within the espada's free hand, he had to immediately pull her forward, while at the same time, he pushed himself in the opposite direction. This gave him enough momentum to get out of the way of the attack and to side flip to the right when Tia spun herself around and fired her cero at him.

As Toshiro was moving through the air in his flip, her turned his head toward Tia and narrowed his eyes once more. 'Her movements are perfect. Not a single step out of place in any of her attacks. And nor does she leave herself open...her every move has a certain defensive pose that covers any vital point.' he thought to himself as a small smirk appeared on his face.

"I guess we are a lot alike." he muttered out, landing his icy feet on the spirit particles in the air.

Once he touched down, Tia sonidoed directly in front of Toshiro and slashed her blade toward his head yet again. Though he ducked under this easily, he instantly had to bring his ice-covered hands up to block a swift knee aiming for his face. The force of this attack caused white haired captain to slide backward a few feet through the air, but he immediately vanished the moment he stopped. This caused Tia's eyes to narrow as she swiftly spun around to block Toshiro's roundhouse kick to her midsection.

As her guarding arm made contact with the icy captain's foot, her whole body was pushed a few yards to the side before she was able to regain her footing. When she did, she narrowed her eyes heavily and quickly focused them on Toshiro, whom placed his icy foot down and faced her. "Are you sure about following him? He'll cut you down the moment you lose your worth." the white haired captain said as he narrowed his eyes slightly on Tia.

Though her eyes briefly flickered, Tia immediately glared daggers at Toshiro, flipped her zanpakuto around and held it with the tip pointing at the city below. "As if following you would be any better." she began as a bright yellow aura surrounded her body.

"I've heard about the things you've done in the past and know that even if you were to become more powerful than Aizen-sama...you would be far worse than him. Ute...Tiburon." Tia finished as a heart-shaped surge of water erupted behind her.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to this as he just watched the water close around the blond espada in a cocoon-like cyclone. "True...I probably would be worse." he muttered silently, briefly closing his eyes.

After his words, Toshiro snapped his eyes open as Tia sliced the water away with her new weapon, to which all of the blue liquid fell to the town below. "But..." he began in a near whisper.

Once the water was gone, it revealed Tia's resurreccion form, her arrancar clothes being completely replaced by white armor. She had gained spaulders on her shoulders, which shared a large resemblance to shark fins, along with two ribbon-like protrusions on her back. Her hair was now much more messy due to her braids no longer holding it together, she also gained two blue lightning bolt-shaped marking on her cheeks.

A thin, spine-like structure was seen on her stomach, which spanned from her waist, between her breasts and up to a collar around her neck. This collar had also extended down to cover the vital areas of her chest, but left the rest uncovered. She now wore a make-shift mini-skirt, consisting of bones that appeared to surround a dark undergarment. Tia also had a pair of knee-length boots and elbow-length gloves, both ending in semi-long protrusions that provided extra armor.

Her weapon had now taken the form of a broad pata, which resembled an elongated shark tooth and bared what appeared to be gill-like markings on either side. This weapon also had an unusual hilt, with a hand guard that completely covered her hand. The sword also possesses what appear to be gill markings along either side of the blade.

"...I'd never take the life of any of my comrades, no matter what the situation. I'll put my own life on the line before I'd to let them get hurt." Toshiro finished as he shifted his feet apart slightly.

Tia narrowed her eyes to this for a moment before glancing over toward Rangiku as she blocked attacks from all three of her fraccion at once. "Is that so?" she asked silently, turning back to Toshiro, whom just watched her carefully.

"But how am I supposed to believe something like that? Coming from someone who killed his best friend after not even a year of knowing him." was all she said before pointing her weapon toward the strawberry blond and fired off a blast of water.

Toshiro's eyes widened heavily to this, to which all he could do was to shunpo directly in front of the attack and take it full blast. Once it hit, the force of the water knocked him backward a few yards and even melted some of his ice away. As he looked to Tia with heavily narrowed eyes, she had an almost surprised expression, yet she quickly returned to a straight face as she returned his look.

'So...he told her my past. 'This' must be Tia's 'true purpose'. Aizen knows that I don't want to kill my own kind, and now that she knows things about my past, it won't be too hard to break my defense with random claims of my actions.' Toshiro thought quickly as he brushed away a bit of water coming from his brow.

"It's true...I've done many things that I'm not proud of. Hell, I've even done things that are inhumane even by Aizen's standards. But...I never plan to do them again." he spoke aloud, clenching his icy hands into fists.

"Hmph...don't make me laugh." Tia muttered, sonidoing toward Toshiro and swinging her weapon many times toward the dodging captain.

"You can talk all you want...but I can see that underneath all of your noble talk of 'learning from your mistakes', you're nothing but a monster that secretly craves to kill." Tia claimed as she aimed her weapon at Toshiro's chest as she thrust forward.

The white haired captain let out a breath as he simply shifted to the side and out of the way of the espada's attack. But then his eyes slightly widened once more as Tia said her next words with much force; "We watched your fight against Amagai Shusuke."

As Toshiro briefly paused, Tia used the moment to charge a yellow cero on her weapon, to which once she swung it toward him, the cero engulfed Toshiro's entire body. But even as this happened, when the blast cleared away, it only revealed his clothes to be lightly burned as he raised his hand up to block the attack. The blond arrancar narrowed her eyes slightly and shook her head; "Though I am still confused." she began once more, letting out a silent breath.

Toshiro looked to her and raised a brow in question, "About what?" he asked back silently.

"You're far more powerful than I am. If not for mentioning your past deeds to drop your guard, you would be fighting on par with me, even without the use of your zanpakuto. Yet regardless of what I've heard and only slightly seen...you're truly like two different people." she continued, causing Toshiro to blink briefly and raise his brow even higher.

"I've heard about the things you've done in the past by Aizen-sama. And I've even seen your fight against Amagai through a hidden camera Aizen-sama set up. Both of which made you appear like a battle hungry monster that slaughters just to kill. But...I had once gone to the World of the Living to observe you and you were the complete opposite. You seemed very un-violent and almost peaceful. So which one are you, Hitsugaya Toshiro? Guardian? Or monster?" she finished, narrowing her eyes slightly as she gripped her weapon even tighter.

Toshiro looked at her silently for a long while, to which he eventually tilted his head down and smiled sadly. "You know...I have no idea." he said, his tone being rather silent, yet Tia could still hear, causing her to narrow her eyes.

"I started off this way too..." Toshiro continued, Tia's eyes blinking a few times as even Sosuke didn't know the white haired captain's whole past to tell her.

"...it wasn't something that happened only after my hate for Aizen appeared during his betrayal a hundred years ago. Ever since I was young, I've always had a dark urge to hurt others because of all the hurt I had been through with my foster parents and the villagers. Though I tried to keep this in check, after my friends and I split up, those feelings rose up too quickly and I ended up becoming the 'monster' you saw and heard about." he spoke, tilting his up, then over toward each of his comrades fighting.

Though Barragan's fraccion had all been annihilated, said espada still remained, yet he still had yet to use his resurreccion. All the while, Coyote and Lilynette were standing off to the side of Toshiro and Tia, as if waiting to see what will happen between them. Yet the white haired captain just sighed lightly and looked to the blond arrancar once more; "I know it sounds like I'm making an excuse...and actually...you might be right. But I told myself that after Aizen is dead...the 'monster' inside of me must die with him." he finished, looking to Tia with a hard stare.

Said espada blinked her eyes to this, then narrowed them for a moment, her looking from him to the blazing fire that contained Sosuke within. "Hate can't be smothered so easily. If it's strong enough, it'll simply move from one 'face' to another. Right now, that 'face' may be Aizen...but who's to say that further down the line, it won't change to someone else?" she said silently, turning her attention back to Toshiro.

Whom of which just smirked lightly and shrugged, "I don't know...but I believe that if I stick by my friends, I won't fall into that 'madness'."

Tia raised a brow to him and his words, then glanced over toward Rangiku and the rest of the shinigami. "I see...but unfortunately, I can't take that chance. Your friends have already let you fall this far, there isn't any guarantee that it'll stop here...besides killing you." she claimed, narrowing her eyes heavily on Toshiro as she charged forward and thrust her weapon at him.

As her attack came toward him, everything around Toshiro seemed to slow down as his mind worked extremely fast. 'She's right...even with Rangiku around me every day I never stopped what I was doing. Byakuya and even Soifon showed obvious distaste to my actions, but despite all that...I've just done whatever I wanted. And all because I told myself that I was doing it for the greater good of Soul Society. Yet the only person my plans don't effect...is me.'

Toshiro looked at Tia's weapon coming closer to him, it heading toward his chest as the espada sped up midway through her attack. 'No...I'll take whatever punishment I deserve later. So no matter what happens to me...I will make sure that Aizen will die today. But right now...I will prove that I'm better.' he continued in his mind as he stopped his guarding hand from rising to block and simply watched the arrancar come toward him.

When Tia saw this, her eyes widened slightly, but she didn't stop her momentum as her weapon pierced into Toshiro's chest. As this happened, a bit of blood came out of his wound, Tia's weapon blocking most of the crimson liquid from escaping. "Wh-Why didn't you dodge or block?" the blond espada questioned as her eyes remained wide.

"Because..." Toshiro began, a few drops of blood coming out of his mouth as he spoke; "...I'm showing you the difference between me and Aizen."

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I hope you all enjoyed, so stick around to see what happens next. Ha~! I've always wanted to say that. XD Till next time everyone. Ja Ne.


	118. Chapter 118

**Chapter 118:**

As Toshiro dodged out of the way from Tia's slash, Rangiku was left alone against the three fraccion in the blond espada's service. Though she gave her captain a quick glance as he dodged away from another attack, she immediately turned back to each of the three arrancar before her. Rangiku quickly shunpoed forward, punched one with the shortest hair, then sent a spinning back kick into the one with the tannest skin. During her last movement, the strawberry blond shifted her eyes over to the side as she saw the last remaining fraccion coming forward with a thrust of her sleeve held weapon.

Rangiku narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw this, yet she merely used the momentum of her kick to flip away from the attack coming toward her. After she dodged however, each of the three woman immediately came at her, blades ready and aimed for her head. Yet the lieutenant merely smirked lightly as she waited until the last moment before shunpoing out of the way, which caused all three arrancar to lock blades with one another.

The moment each of the weapons hit, Rangiku appeared just above the center, grabbed a hold of the blades and spun them around quickly. All three of the arrancar's eyes widened to this in shock as they were each swung to the side in a cyclone. This caused the three woman to go flying out in separate directions as their zanpakuto's finally unlocked, to which they stopped themselves after a few yards. Yet once they did, Rangiku brought her hands out and fired off three Sokatsui spells simultaneously at each of them.

Once each of the attacks hit their targets, a large blast of smoke erupted around the arrancar, blocking them from view. Rangiku glanced around to each of them and raised a brow; "Don't tell me you're giving up. I haven't even gotten warmed up yet." she halfway complained as she looked around to each billow of smoke.

The moment the words left her lips, Rangiku's eyes narrowed slightly as different colored ceros were seen charging from beyond the smoke. When she saw this, the strawberry blond quickly grabbed her kanata's grip, to which she unsheathed it quickly just as all three cero's shot toward her. Though it was unseen as the mixed energies engulfed her body, Rangiku released her zanpakuto and used the ash as a shield from the onslaught.

Yet when the ceros exploded around her, Rangiku could hear the laughter of one of the arrancar she was fighting. "Ha! Serves you right! You big breasted bitch! Looks like all you were good for were your looks!"

Though the lieutenant seemed calm, her eye brow twitched in aggravation as she looked through the smoke cloud covering her and toward the one that spoke. "You are so dead." she growled out to herself.

"Idiot. She's still alive, we've probably barely even scratched her with that attack. Stay focused, Apacci...it's quite unattractive when you laugh at such meager things." one of the others spoke as she raised her sleeved hand over her mouth.

Apacci immediately looked to her comrade and brought her fist up; "What was that Sung-Sun? Do you want me to beat you up next?" she declared loudly.

"Stop it both of you! We're here to fight against this woman so she won't interrupt in Harribel-sama's fight." the last remaining one called out, her narrowing her eyes on Rangiku as she became visible once the smoke cleared.

"Mila Rose is right...why fight among ourselves, when there is perfectly good prey right in front of us?" Apacci commented as she took on a small grin.

Rangiku looked to each of them for a moment before giving a small smirk and sheathing her zanpakuto once more. This action made each of the other woman narrow their eyes heavily, but only Apacci spoke up. "Don't you think you're underestimating us too much? You had to use your zanpakuto to block our ceros, what makes you think the rest of the fight will be different?" she all but growled out to her.

The strawberry blond glanced over to the short haired arrancar and smirked; "My main style of fighting is in hand-to-hand combat. I've been part of the Onmitsukido for nearly a hundred years after all. Though I should be thanking my Captain for his extreme training for how far I've come. If not for that, I never would have even made it into the Onmitsukido...much less become the Commander for the Detention Unit."

Though each of the arrancar looked to one another with a slight confused expression, they merely readied their blades and positioned themselves in a fighting position. But the moment they narrowed their eyes on the lieutenant, she vanished completely, to which she appeared directly behind Mila Rose and sent a back hand to her head. This blow knocking her forward violently, the brown haired woman's eyes rolling back in a daze, her barely able to register what had just happened until her mind cleared.

But by the time Mila Rose had managed to turned around, she saw Apacci dodging away from a few of Rangiku's attacks and even throwing a few of her own. Though her blows appeared to come close, nothing landed on her opponent's flesh. Then Sung-Sun joined in as she came up behind Rangiku and slashed her weapon toward her head. Yet even as Rangiku ducked under this, she quickly had to flip off to the side when Apacci blasted a large cero toward her.

As she hovered in the air for a moment, Rangiku quickly shunpoed just above Apacci, to which she used her feet to grip said arrancar's neck and throw her directly into Sung-Sun with swift forward flip. But immediately after the two had collided Mila Rose came up behind Rangiku and thrust her blade right toward her back. Though the strawberry blond managed to dodge, this attack had come within centimeters of Rangiku's skin and sliced through some of her clothes.

Once she saw this, Rangiku's eyes narrowed slightly as she ground her teeth and instantly vanished in a shunpo. Though all three arrancar looked around for her, none of them could find a trace of the strawberry blond, to which they searched the sky and the streets below. Yet not one of them had seen Rangiku as she suddenly appeared behind Apacci, said woman being kicked hard in the back of the head and knocked directly into Mila Rose.

The moment she saw this, Sung-Sun turned quickly toward where Rangiku had just been, her eyes widening slightly when she was hit in the stomach by a strong palm. This blow causing her to lose all the air in her lungs and gasp heavily, but she wasn't able to get the chance to take a breath as the strawberry blond elbowed her in the face and knocked her back.

Rangiku then turned her attention to Apacci and Mila Rose as they charged at her, their blades swinging extremely fast and toward every part of her body. Though the strawberry blond was able to dodge each attack, many of their slashes came within inches of her, to which she once again vanished in a shunpo. Once she appeared to the side, she took in a few deep breaths, yet she kept her focus on each of her opponents, whom gathered together and prepared for another attack.

But the moment they felt Tia releasing her zanpakuto, they all turned and looked, including the lieutenant. Whom of which raised a brow; "Does Aizen really think someone can beat Captain in his own element? Idiot." she muttered to herself silently as she finally caught her breath.

At the same time as saying this, Rangiku quickly took a step backward and caught both Apacci and Sung-Sun by the wrist as they came in for a dual thrust. This caused both women's eyes to widen, but as Rangiku quickly dragged them forward by force and used their own weapons to block Mila Rose's attack, their shock turned to frustration. Yet once they all began charging ceros within their opposite hands, Rangiku quickly vanished in a shunpo.

But the moment she appeared, the three arrancar immediately fired their attacks toward her, to which Rangiku narrowed her eyes lightly. "Hado no. 73: Soren Sokatsui." she muttered out silently as she brought both of her hands out in front of her.

Two large blasts of blue fire immediately came out of Rangiku's hands and hit the three mixing ceros, effectively blowing all of them away, including her own kido. "Damn...these girls are really giving me a tough time here. I guess I'm really gonna have to step it up." she said silently to herself.

After the explosion, a large billow of smoke began to flow between the arrancar and the lieutenant, blocking both side's view of one another. But as it began to clear, all three of the fraccion's eyes widened once more when they saw Rangiku fly toward them at a blinding speed. Though they were just about to ready for her arrival, the strawberry blond suddenly appeared to the side of Apacci and clothes-lined her with a single arm. The short haired arrancar choked on a breath from this blow, to which she was sent spinning around in midair.

All the while, Rangiku sent a spinning back kick into Mila Rose's face, which knocked her back and into a tall building nearby. But then as Sung-Sun appeared behind her with a downward slash, the lieutenant leaned forward and brought her opposite leg straight up to kick the attack away. Once the green haired arrancar's blade had been knocked back, Rangiku immediately straightened herself up, placed a hand under her arm, and blasted a Shakkaho spell into Sung-sun's chest. This causing said arrancar to fall backward through the air, only to land on the roof of a house below, her sustaining only a few, but heavy burns from the attack.

As Apacci's momentum finally slowed down, her eyes shifted over toward her injured comrades, to which she blinked in shock. But as her body made one last cycle from the spin, Rangiku suddenly sent a powerful elbow into her rib cage, breaking a few bones in the process before she was blasted into and through a house. Once she saw the hole the arrancar made, Rangiku let out a heavy sigh and looked over toward Toshiro, whom appeared to just be talking with Tia.

"I sure hope you convince her soon. I don't know how much longer I can hold back. Three against one is going to wear me down too quickly." she stated silently, her sounding out of breath as she glanced around to each of her opponents as they stood themselves up.

"I'm barely holding back right now cause they're a bit stronger than I thought...things might get complicated if they use their resurreccion right now. I might even have to use 'that'." she continued to herself as her hand unconsciously moved toward her katana's grip.

Just as she was preparing for a possible attack, Rangiku heard the sickly sound of flesh being pierced, to which she immediately snapped her attention toward her captain. Yet once she did, her eyes widened heavily when she saw Tia's weapon bored into Toshiro's chest, just above the clip that held both his zanpakuto in place. "C-Cap..tain..." she whispered out in shock.

But before she could do or think anything further, she snapped her attention to her own opponents as she heard them call out their release commands. "Tsukiagero, Cierva!" "Kuichirase, Leona!" "Shimekorose, Anaconda!"

Immediately following this, each of them were surrounded by their own unique colored auras, Apacci having red, Mila Rose with orange and Sung-Sun in dark purple. But as Rangiku watched the three transform, she gave a glance over toward her captain once more. "You better have a good reason for doing that Captain." she muttered out silently before looking to the arrancar once more.

Apacci had become more deer-like in her appearance with brown fur covering nearly her whole body and deer-like antlers above her brow. Her feet had also become hooves, along with a small tail behind her that stood straight up for a moment before falling down. Both her eyes were now an amber color, plus she had gained a red outline around them that looked almost like mascara. Along with all of this, Apacci also had small lightning bolt-shaped markings on both sides of her face, similar to that of Tia's.

Mila Rose seemed to keep her theme of an Amazon warrior, only now her outfit was more armor-like. She had two claw-like bones holding her breasts, an armored thong-type garment, a thick armor around her neck and a pair of boots that extend to her upper thigh. She seemed to gain sharp lion-like fangs, an orange 'X' mark on her forehead, and a long lion mane with gold highlights. Though she retained her broad sword, it became much larger and longer than before.

Sung-Sun's appearance was now that of a female's torso with a long slender anaconda's tail from the stomach down. She gained three more pink dots under her left eye, plus her black furry necklace becomes thicker and more feather like. Her mask had extended around the back of her head and grew armor plating, similar to a cobra's head.

The moment they each transformed, all three of them vanished in sonidos, to which Rangiku's eyes widened slightly from their increase of speed. But the strawberry blond immediately dodged away from a wild punch coming at her from behind by Apacci. She then flipped away from Mila Rose's slash from the right and again as Sung-Sun sent a snake from her sleeve toward her face. Yet before Rangiku could even land her feet on the spirit particles in the air, she once again had to dodge another punch by Apacci.

"Damn...all I can do is avoid their attacks. Even though they themselves don't seem to get along with one another, their fighting styles are in perfect sync." she muttered to herself silently, her moving extremely fast as she kept dodging.

Though nearly every attack sent toward her came within mere millimeters from her skin, Rangiku managed to dodge every one of their attacks. However, after a few moments of this, the strawberry blond's clothes were becoming shredded, to which she eventually narrowed her eyes and finally grabbed her zanpakuto. "Unare, Haineko!"

Aas she called this out, her blade turned to ash and flowed out of the sheath without her even moving the hilt. Once the ash came forth, it surrounded her in a shield and blocked each of her opponent's attacks in unison, to which she gave a small smirk. "I guess it's now or never...shunko." she muttered.

-Fifty feet away, two minutes ago-

Toshiro looked at Tia with narrowed eyes for a few moments, to which said espada did the same, only her eyes quickly closed after a brief second. "Why?" she began silently, opening her eyes once more and looking to the white haired captain.

"Why don't you make sense, Hitsugaya Toshiro? You're powerful enough to not even need me on your side, yet you're going through so much trouble to turn me away from Aizen. Why?" she continued as her eyes narrowed heavily and her jaw clenched down slightly.

The icy captain briefly closed his eyes and gave an invisible smirk; "Because...I don't want to see you going through the betrayal Aizen would give." he muttered silently as more blood dripped down from his mouth.

Tia's eyes briefly flickered to this, but she quickly narrowed her eyes once more and pulled her weapon away from Toshiro's chest. This allowed a massive amount of blood to gush forth from his wound, causing him to stumble forward in his daze of blood loss. But though he stayed standing, Toshiro coughed out even more blood as the crimson liquid began to fill his lungs. "I've already had to witness too many people being betrayed by that man...if I can spare even just one person from that fate, I'll do whatever it takes." he continued silently, the wound in his chest slowly starting to heal on its own.

"So you wish to spare me of that, huh?" Tia asked as she looked at Toshiro with a hard stare.

"Not only that...but I also want to make you an ally." the white haired captain said, his regeneration powers slowly accelerating and showing that his injury had already healed halfway.

"Ally? For what purpose?" the blond espada questioned as her hard stare became more intense and her posture became a bit more firm.

"Well, I have multiple reasons...but the main one is because...we're the same." was all Toshiro answered with as he just looked at Tia with his invisible smirk, his wound finally becoming fully healed.

To his words, Tia blinked her eyes briefly before looking down at the blood staining her weapon and finally to the regenerated area that she had stabbed him. "'We're the same'." the espada echoed silently.

"If that's true...then what will you do if Aizen were to cut me down from this 'betrayal'?" Tia questioned as she looked at Toshiro in a testing manner.

Though he was silent for a few seconds, he looked down and let out a breath before tilting his head back to look at her. "I'd stop it by any means, and if I couldn't...then I'd sacrifice myself. I'd rather risk my own life than to see my friends and allies be harmed." he claimed, narrowed his eyes in a very serious way.

Tia's eyes widened slightly to this, to which she let her arm relax and fall to her side along with her weapon. "I see..." she began silently as she and Toshiro looked to one another.

But just before either of them could do or say anything, they both snapped their attention toward Rangiku as she called out; 'Shunko!'

The moment Rangiku yelled this, a large blast of white kido erupted from her back and shoulders, causing all three of the arrancar to be blown backward. It had also made the top half of her shihakusho to be ripped away, this revealing a black, skin tight shirt that appeared exactly as Yoruichi's and Soifon's. As the clothing was finally torn away, Rangiku just gave a small smirk and glanced around to the lightning-like kido flowing around her.

"It's been a while since I've used this...I hope I'm not too rusty." she muttered with a small smirk.

Rangiku then glanced around to each of her opponents, brought her arms out to either side and began focusing the kido around her to both her hands. But just as it seemed that she would commence her attack, she immediately stopped as she heard Toshiro's voice. "You can stop Rangiku. Our fight is over."

Once he said this, Rangiku quickly looked up to him with a pout, yet she never let her shunko diminish. "Aw~! And I just activated it too." she all but whined out as all of Tia's fraccion looked to their leader in shock.

"Harribel-sama!" Apacci called out in the unasked question of 'why'.

"It's alright everyone...I've seen him as someone who we can believe over Aizen." Tia began, shooting a cautious glance over to Toshiro.

"Though he has gained my favor, I won't order you to follow me. If you wish to stay on the side of Aizen, it is your choice." she finished silently as she looked to each of her fraccion.

But no sooner had she spoken, Mila Rose quickly came up to her and shook her head quickly; "We're here to assist only you, Harribel-sama." she claimed.

"That's right...we will only follow you, no one else." Apacci added in with a confident nod and grin.

"Even if I must tolerate these two idiots, I'm willing to do so if it means that I can stay at your side." Sung-Sun said as she finally uncovered her mouth and gave a small smile.

Tia smirked lightly to each of the three, but nodded her head lightly in response before turning to Toshiro and Rangiku. The former of which was walking toward the strawberry blond, whom still had her shunko activated and charged for an attack. "You can relax now...you don't have anyone to fight." the icy captain said.

Rangiku pouted to him once more and huffed; "But I wanna use my attack~! I've already got it charged and everything~!" she whined out.

Just as he was about to say something, his lieutenant suddenly shifted to the side and placed her hands together. "Perfect." she muttered out as she immediately blasted an enormous amount of kido out of her hands.

This attack hurled through the air, to which Toshiro quickly looked ahead to see the designated target. "Perfect." was all he muttered as he took on another invisible smirk.

The point of attack was the Segunda Espada, whom was just raising a large double edged axe into the air. But just as he seemed about ready to speak, his attention turned toward the kido blast, yet it was too late for him to dodge away as it hit him full force. The resulting explosion was very large, it completely destroying everything within a three block diameter. This caused everyone to quickly turn their attention to Rangiku as she smirked lightly; "About time I got to use that." she commented.

The Head Captain simply cracked an eye open as he watched, but he eventually closed it and shifted his body to the side. Chojiro, Marechiyo and Isane were all blinking in complete shock, it being obvious that they didn't expect such power to come from a fellow lieutenant. Soifon let out a breath and looked away, her appearing somewhat jealous of the fact that Rangiku's shunko was more defined then her own.

Retsu was just staring to Rangiku with an interested expression, to which she eventually smiled lightly, yet approvingly. Shunsui and Jushiro had both blinked at first, but eventually gave their own small smiles and nods of support. Toshiro looked to her with a raised brow, but continued to have his invisible smirk on his face as he glanced over to Tia and her fraccion. "Welcome to the Gotei Thirteen." he said silently.

But before anything else could be done or said, the sound of Barragan's voice from within the large smoke cloud of the explosion. "Is that all you've got?"

Everyone immediately turned toward the espada as the smoke finally cleared and revealed Barragan with only a single arm, but the rest of his body fully intact. "Though I used quite a bit of power to eat away at the kido, I'm still surprised there was enough to overwhelm me and take my arm." he continued as he looked directly toward Rangiku with a narrowed eye.

"Hmm...I thought that explosion was too small to be from me." the strawberry blond said as she smirked lightly, her shifting herself into a fighting position just in case.

"Hmph...but all for naught." Barragan said silently as he pointed his axe downward and gained a red aura around his body; "Kuchiro, Arrogante."

As he said this, a slit-eye pendant between the axe-blades let out a surge of red spiritual energy, but then it turned to black and purple flames that engulfed Barragan's body. While this happened, the elder espada's flesh began to burn away, reducing his entire body to a skeleton. But just when all his flesh was gone the flames suddenly turned to a purple cloak with black fur around his collar. Though he retained both of his golden arm-bands, several lengths of chain of the same color now dangled from both of them. Barragan also wore a pair of white pointed-toe boots and a golden crown with many jewels around the band and even a chain running down on the left side.

"So...who wishes to die first?" he questioned from his skull mouth, it not even moving at all as he spoke.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed, till next time everyone~! Ja Ne.


	119. Chapter 119

Well...before I start, I'd like to say thank you to Tuli-chan once more for her help. ;) And another thanks to all of my reviewers, you guys and gals are awesome. ^^ Thank you all for the support. :D An now, the moment you've all been waiting for...literally. ;D

* * *

**Chapter 119:**

"So...who wishes to die first?" Barragan questioned as his skull head turned from side to side as if gazing at everyone before him.

"Barragan Louisenbairn..." Toshiro spoke up as he walked forward, to which all eyes turned to him; "...why are you fighting against those with a similar goal as yourself?"

The skeleton espada tilted his head a little to this as he opened his jaw slightly; "Hmph...'similar goals' you say?" he began, turning his full body toward the icy captain.

"How insolent! As if I care that we both wish to kill Aizen Sosuke! I will kill him with my own powers! And then I'll destroy every last shinigami as payment for the humiliation I endured for having to serve under such a pathetic being!" he continued in an arrogant tone, him bringing his axe into the air and generating a pillar of black and purple spirit energy around his body.

"Especially you, boy! A shinigami becoming an arrancar is nothing but a sacrilege! I'll wipe you out of existence!" Barragan yelled as his spirit energy finally stopped flowing and he pointed his axe directly at Toshiro.

Said captain looked at the espada with a cold expression, to which he eventually let out a silent breath and glanced over to the side as to hide the smirk on his face. "Wow...hearing it for myself is indeed kinda funny." he muttered silently in slight amusement.

The moment he said this, a sudden blast of kido went hurling toward Barragan, which shocked him heavily as he had paused for a brief moment before sonidoing out of the way. As he landed in his new location, his skull head swiftly turned toward the source of the blast, him seeing two figures walking out of a garganta.

"Sorry we're late Toshiro...we had some trouble in dropping Orihime off." Kukaku said with a shrug, her placing her real hand to her hip.

"It's fine. She's safe, right?" Toshiro asked as he raised a brow to the raven haired woman and her brother.

"Of course." Kaien stated with a smirk as he placed his trident on his shoulder; "Though I'm sure she'll go running to her friends to help them."

Kukaku gave him a small nod before looking to Toshiro and smirking widely; "So...is 'this' the only one left to fight? How boring...he's a skeleton already." she said in a disappointed sigh.

Though many people sweat dropped to this comment, a few of the captains and lieutenants were looking at Kaien in shock. Upon seeing this, Toshiro took a few steps toward Barragan, which gained everyone's attention once more. "I'll explain later, right now we-" but he was interrupted as Jushiro suddenly hugged Kaien.

"I'm so happy to see you alive! It's been such a long time!" the white haired man called out happily, him continuing to hug his former subordinate tightly.

"U-Um...Captain Ukitake...you can let go of me now." Kaien muttered with a sweat drop, to which Jushiro eventually did just this and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry...I guess I got a bit excited about seeing you alive." the white haired man said, scratching the back of his neck for a moment.

As Toshiro raised a brow to all this, he gave an invisible smirk, then brought his right hand up to the katana on the same side and unsheathed it. He then quickly swung a large amount of ice toward Barragan, which blocked a large wave of purple and black fog. But once the strange cloud, touched the ice, it began disintegrating, along with any and all part of the buildings it touched in the process. As everyone turned their gaze to this, each of their eyes narrowed heavily as the Segunda Espada let out an echoing chuckle.

"Impressive. Even when distracted you have sharp reflexes." Barragan said as he stepped forward, Toshiro's ice shattering apart completely in an instant.

"However...that won't help you against my power. I am the King of Hueco Mundo. I am God. And all of you shall fall by my blade." he continued, raising his axe into the air as another wave of the purple and black haze flowing out of him.

"Get back!" Toshiro commanded, everyone immediately doing so as the fog caused everything within an entire one block radius to rot away and leave absolutely nothing.

"Whoa! What the hell is this guy's power?" Kukaku asked as she appeared beside Toshiro and narrowed her eyes heavily on Barragan.

"He controls aging." Tia began as she came walking up next to the icy captain as well; "Anything that he touches with his power will immediately age and die." she finished as she quickly sonidoed to the side of Barragan.

Tia then brought her weapon up above her head and narrowed her eyes; "Cascada." she muttered out as she slashed her weapon through the air, creating a huge amount of water that went directly toward her opponent.

But as the rushing liquid came closer to the crown wearing espada, he rose his axe out and swiped it to the side, to which the water just seemed to disintegrate and vanish. "Hmph...I should have known that you'd attack me first." Barragan spoke silently, his tone sounding as though he were grinning smugly.

Upon this comment, Toshiro gave a quick glance over to Tia as she kept her eyes narrowed on Barragan. "La Gota." she said as her weapon shot out a blast of water, it being the size of a large car.

Yet once again, Barragan merely slashed the water to nothing as he gathered his powers around the double sided axe. But regardless of not hitting her mark, Tia continued to fire shot after shot of water at the Segunda Espada. Though Barragan kept on disintegrating each attack with his axe, he eventually sighed heavily and turned his skull toward the others. "I'll be more than willing to take you on as a group. This one-on-one fight is boring me." he stated.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent." Tia whispered as she blasted another La Gota directly at his back.

But the attack never hit as a purple and black fog surrounded his body, which caused the water to disintegrate before it even reached him. This caused Tia to narrow her eyes, then quickly sonido away as Barragan's shield suddenly came at her. Once she landed in a spot near of Toshiro, she glanced to him with a very slight nod, to which he returned the gesture. "He and I have met before." the blond arrancar began as she shifted her body to the side.

"It was far from pleasant, since he gave me the only options to either join his army or basically leave Hueco Mundo entirely." Tia continued as she brought her weapon out, gathered water at the tip and shot it out.

This blast of water never made it to Barragan as he lifted his free hand up and pointed it toward Toshiro and Tia. "Don't think you can hurt me with such weak attacks." the skeleton espada claimed, stepping forward as he sent forth yet another wave of the purple and black cloud.

As it came forward, everyone once again shunpoed or sonidoed out of the way from this attack, to which they eventually surrounded Barragan. When Toshiro and Tia came to a halt beside one another, the latter glanced to the former for a moment before turning her attention back to Barragan. "Who said I was trying to hurt you?" she asked with yet another blast of water from her weapon.

Toshiro gave her a brief look as he took on a small smirk, to which he stepped forward and pointed his katana's blade at his opponent. Once the surge of water came close enough to the fading mist, it suddenly split apart and formed into a dozen ice spears. But though they began shattering under the last signs of Barragan's power, they still managed to reach him without breaking completely. Yet regardless of this, the crown wearing espada merely blocked the attack with his axe, the ice shattering easily.

"How boring. Your attempts are so pathetic it's almost sad." Barragan spoke with a tone to fit his words.

Toshiro just gave a small smirk as he shunpoed fairly close and to the side of the espada, to which he swung his blade and created a large wave of ice that completely froze Barragan over. Immediately after this, Toshiro side flipped over his opponent's head as a purple and black mist burst from the ice and went directly toward where he had just been. Barragan then turned his skull head to the side as Toshiro landed on the air, but the icy captain vanished completely.

"Where are you looking?" Toshiro asked, his voice coming from directly behind Barragan, whom spun around and blasted a surge of his power toward him.

But as he did this, Barragan's jaw opened slightly in shock as Toshiro had once again disappeared, to which the espada shifted his head around once more. Yet every time he caught a glimpse of the white haired captain, he would shunpo to another spot. "You might be powerful...but you're far too slow." Toshiro commented as he came up once again behind Barragan.

Though he was about to send another wave of ice toward the espada, he immediately shunpoed away as Barragan released his powers in every direction at one. "How amusing...you think just because I can't catch you that I won't be able to kill you?" the skeleton arrancar said with a laugh.

"You're too naive! I don't need speed when my power is absolu-" but he was cut off as Toshiro tilted his katana to the side slightly.

This action caused a large amount of water to form around Barragan and freeze him in a block of ice. But the moment he did this, Toshiro quickly vanished and appeared on the other side of Barragan before the ice shattered. Yet once it did, the lower half of the espada's body went with the ice, to which Barragan let out a yell of pain. "You bastard! How insolent! You dare to harm God? I'll kill you!"

The icy captain smirked lightly as he turned around and looked to Barragan; "It's too bad for you...the molecules for water don't age. They stay constant no matter how old they get...and since your power over aging can't split atoms, I think it's safe to say that you can't win with as much water Harribel and I created around you." he said, glancing over to Tia with an invisible smirk.

"W-What?!" Barragan demanded as he shifted his skull from Toshiro to Tia and back again; "All things die! There is nothing that cannot die!"

"Well, that's true...save for molecules and the atoms that create them. And unfortunately for you, since my zanpakuto is able to manipulate those molecules to create water...your aging powers can only go so far against mine." Toshiro said as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Barragan's jaw opened widely, it being apart that he was shocked to this, to which he eventually snapped his mouth shut and raised his axe as high into the air as possible. "You bastard! I will kill you! No one defies the King of Hueco Mundo! No one defies God!" he yelled out, him generating an enormous wave of his purple and black fog, it flowing all the way to the ground and turning everything to dust.

As nearly everyone got away from this attack, Toshiro just narrowed his eyes and brought his zanpakuto out, creating a large wall of ice in the process. "Didn't you ever learn anything? It's the most basic rule of 'Physics'...'Matter can never be destroyed, it can only change form.'" the white haired captain said as his body began to take on a bright white aura.

All the while, Barragan began to let out a battle cry, him pouring out a constant cloud of his aging power. However, after a brief few moments, his entire concentration became focused entirely on Toshiro, him now pumping his powers out in a straight line aimed at the icy captain. His attack making the ice begin to crack and shatter apart, yet Toshiro merely responded with a small tilt of his katana. This action regenerating the ice within seconds, to which Barragan grabbed his axe with both hands and increased his powers once more.

"I will not be defeated! All things age! You and your pathetic science laws shall die! My powers are absolute!" the skeleton espada yelled as his remaining body gained a purple aura with a black outline.

"Hmph...I guess even as old as you are, you're still too young to understand the complex laws of the universe." Toshiro said with a sigh, closing his eyes in the process.

But as he snapped his eyes open, his white aura became larger and the ice that was blocking Barragan's powers began to expand. This caused the espada to open his jaw once more, him being shocked yet again as the fog began to dissipate around the huge amount of ice that began to surround him. "I-Impossible..." he all but whispered, him being in the center of a sphere of ice fifty feet in diameter.

Yet as he was being closed off from the rest of the world, the remainder of his body began to freeze over from the extreme cold that was filling the globe. Though he shattered this ice with his powers, the ice quickly reformed and continued to progress. Yet as this happened, he saw a shadow fall over him, to which he tilted his head up toward the source. When he did, he saw Toshiro standing in the only place that hadn't been sealed off by the ice, him having a cold expression on his features.

"No...you just refuse to believe in things your mind cannot understand." the white haired captain said, him gaining a small smirk in the process.

"How human of you." were the last words Barragan heard before his body completely froze over.

Once he said this, Toshiro allowed the last area of the sphere to freeze over, to which he then shunpoed next to Tia. "I'll give you the honors." was all he said, him not even looking to her as he sheathed his zanpakuto and glanced toward the large fire that contained Aizen.

After his words, the blond espada gave a quick nod before firing a quick cero at the large ball of ice, to which it shattered. As it did, the remaining half on the skeleton arrancar vanished to dust, not leaving a single trace. Rangiku blinked to this, then turned to Toshiro with blinking eyes; "That was amazing Captain. I didn't know how we were going to beat him with the kind of power he had." she said.

The icy captain looked to her and raised a brow, but as Kukaku, Kaien and even Soifon came up closer to him, he sighed heavily. "Actually...it's only because of how arrogant he was of himself and his power that I beat him." he began, causing each of them to blink.

"Though my reiatsu was higher than his, I was using more in regenerating the ice then he was in breaking it apart. And if it wasn't for injuring him early on with the water that Harribel gathered in the air...he would have killed me before I would have even gotten the chance to use Bankai." he continued, to which Rangiku and Soifon's eyes widened.

"His powers over aging aren't something to be taken lightly. In a one on one fight...I actually don't know if I would have won without using my Bankai at the very beginning." Toshiro said with a heavy breath before turning his head toward the large flames once more.

"But aside from that...now we only have Aizen, Tosen and Gi-" but the white haired captain cut himself short as he quickly turned to the side in slight shock when he saw a very large garganta opening slowly.

'What? Reinforcements? But who?' Toshiro thought to himself as everyone else had turned to look along with him.

But as they watched, everyone's eyes narrowed heavily when they saw two figures standing within the dark portal. Though no one seemed to recognize the pair, Toshiro's eyes glared icily at them; "I knew I should have killed those two when I had the chance." he muttered silently.

There stood Yammy and Wonderweiss within the garganta, a gigantic bulbous bodied hollow with a single yellow eye directly behind them. Upon seeing this, nearly everyone's eyes widened at the sight of a hollow that dwarfed every building in the entire town. Yet for those that didn't appear shocked, they merely narrowed their eyes even further as they stared at it.

"Looks like Hooleer is here. I thought we had more time." Coyote commented as he came up beside Toshiro with Lilynette.

"Aizen must have given a signal to Wonderweiss to come here." the light green haired arrancar said with a shrug, her crossing her arms in the process.

Toshiro looked to them and raised a brow; "What do you know about it?" he asked, glancing over to his other comrades as most gathered in front of the Head Captain.

Yet before Lilynette could say anything, the large hollow stepped forward and opened its mouth. Once it did this, the hollow took in a deep breath and blew out hard, to which the flames surrounding Aizen completely diminished as if it were a mere candle fire. Though no one appeared surprised to this, when the hollow suddenly tilted its body downward and began producing dozens of menos from its mouth, everyone's eyes looked at this in shock.

"Wha-What kind of a monster is that thing?" Rangiku said almost breathlessly, it being unclear if she was shocked, or simply disgusted.

"Well...Aizen made it for the sole purpose of distracting all of you from Yammy's transformation." Coyote said with slightly narrowed eyes, him looking at said espada as he took on a red aura.

Toshiro looked between the two, then gave a nod and quickly turned toward the Head Captain and the others. "Leave the menos for now, focus on the arrancar." the elder man commanded out.

This caused the white haired captain to smirk lightly; 'Looks like he already guessed the situation without even needing information.' Toshiro thought, him then looking to Tia, Coyote and Lilynette.

"Can you take care of the menos? I'm going to check on something at one of the pillars before I fight Aizen." he requested, to which Tia raised a brow at first but eventually nodded lightly and the other two just repeated her last gesture.

When Tia went over to her fraccion and told them what they would be doing, Toshiro gave a brief smirk before shunpoing off. However, he did not leave without eyes watching or even alone, him immediately noticing Rangiku and even Kukaku's presence behind him as he went. Though Toshiro didn't look back at them, he slowed down his pace for them to catch up, to which Rangiku came up on his left, while Kukaku on his right.

"So what is it that you're checking, Captain?" the strawberry blond asked with a slightly raised brow.

"The strength of the barrier." the icy captain began as he continued on with the pair on either side of him.

"I don't want it breaking during my fight with Aizen." he finished, to which Rangiku blinked and Kukaku grinned lightly.

"Good idea...I can only imagine what you're going to do to him." the raven haired woman commented as her grin began a bit wider.

Toshiro glanced over to her, gave a small nod and invisible smirk as the three arrived to a seemingly random area of the town. "Ushoda...is everything alright at this end?" the white haired captain asked.

After his words, a small shimmer of light shined before the three, to which a tall off-white pillar appeared in place of the light. Though the structure itself was quite tall, Hachigen's large form atop of it made it seem a bit smaller than it should have. Said pink haired man looked to Toshiro and nodded his head; "Yes...as are things with the others. Though Shinji and Hiyori are having difficulty concentrating in strengthening their side, it should be fine once you begin your fight." he reported.

Toshiro gave the man a nod and smirked lightly; "Thank you for doing this Ushoda, I know how much all of you wish to pay Aizen back for what happened. But I promise to make him suffer extra long for each of you." he said with slightly narrowed eyes.

The usual kind and passive expression on the large man's face gave way to a set of narrowed eyes and a rather cold stare as he nodded. "Please do." was all Hachigen said before Toshiro vanished in a shunpo.

Rangiku blinked to this for a moment before quickly following after him along with Kukaku, but as they went, the sight of Hooleer suddenly exploding in a massive amount of blood caused them to pause. "Ew...and I though it looked nasty before." the strawberry blond commented with an expression to fit her words.

As the three watched this, they also noticed Shunsui and Jushiro standing in the air just above where Hooleer's corpse was, their released zanpakuto's blades dripping with blood. Then they each shifted their gaze over to the disintegrating bodies of the menos, Tia, Apacci, Mila Rose, Sung-Sun, Coyote and Lilynette all gathered together above them. Toshiro gave a small smirk to this as he glanced down at Retsu, whom was standing beside a shocked Isane as they were before a heavily wounded, but still breathing Yammy.

The white haired captain raised a brow to this as even he couldn't help the shiver going up his spine when he saw the expression on the raven haired woman's face. 'Even with all my power...I can't help but fear her a little. Though it doesn't look like he even got to release his resurreccion...it's still a bit frightening.' he thought silently as he quickly turned his head away and toward Soifon, Kaien and Marechiyo.

All of which were looking at Aizen, but only the petite captain and the former lieutenant had a glare on their features, both seeming to be on guard in case of an attack. All the while, the other raven haired man looked as though he were ready to wet himself just by staring at Aizen, Tosen and Gin. Toshiro merely sighed to this along with Rangiku and even Kukaku, the latter of whom spoke up in a silent tone. "Why did he even come along anyway? He probably won't be of any help."

Rangiku held back a laugh to this as she shrugged, "Who knows...how he came to be a lieutenant is a bit of a mystery in itself." she said with a small, but amused smirk.

Toshiro glanced to the two with a raised brow, but then he shifted his eyes over to the Head Captain and Wonderweiss. Said arrancar appeared to have released their zanpakuto as his body modified almost completely, only the lower half of his face seemed the same. The upper half however was made up of a tall mask that had three small horns and seemingly hollow eye sockets. His shoulders and thighs had grown significantly larger, with the shoulders popping out and upwards. His arms and legs were also altered in size, them being much skinnier and longer than before. There were even five holes in his abdomen, with three lines within each one, save for the middle.

"Whoa...that kid was creepy before. But now he's just bizarrely strange." Kukaku muttered silently as they came to a stop just to the side of Tia and Coyote.

Toshiro let out a breath as he flexed his ice-covered fingers and turned his attention to Aizen as he narrowed his eyes heavily on the brown haired man. But just as the man returned his glance, the white haired captain suddenly appeared directly before him, causing Aizen's eyes to widen slightly. Yet he wasn't able to react as Toshiro grabbed the brown eyed man by the face and pushed him directly into the top of a building with little effort.

Immediately following this, Tosen charged toward Toshiro, but was cut off as Soifon blocked his blade with her own. Then Kukaku came up to the side and kicked him hard in his ribs, breaking a few in the process as he was knocked into and through a building. Upon seeing this, Gin reached over to pull out his own zanpakuto, but Rangiku grabbed him by the wrist and pressed her zanpakuto against his neck. "Back again, huh?" she said silently with an almost amused smirk.

All the while, Toshiro walked slowly toward the building and stopped on a piece of metal that was sticking out. As Aizen stood up, he looked up at Toshiro with a small smirk; "Interesting...you're much more aggressive now that we're inside of a barrier." he said, bringing his zanpakuto out.

"Hmph...well, I don't feel like delaying this anymore." Toshiro said narrowing his eyes on his opponent.

"Oh? And how do plan on doing that? This area still isn't large enough to protect your comrades from feeling the full effect of your reiatsu." Aizen said with a continuous smirk.

"True...but then I don't intend to let my spirit energy leak out carelessly. Besides, I already told myself and everyone else that I would kill you...no matter what." Toshiro said, gripping his katana tighter and pointing the tip toward Aizen.

"I'll finish what I should have all those years ago." he continued, him bringing his free hand up and toward the sky.

As he did, the entire area became dark as gray and near black clouds filled the atmosphere. Upon seeing all of this, Aizen's eyes narrowed, him having to cover his eyes slightly as a heavy snow fell from the air. This snow immediately blew directly toward him at high speeds, the wind picking up to over 140 miles per hour. "Quite impressive...you have yet to release your zanpakuto, yet you're able to use your Tenso Jurin power to such an extent." the brown haired man muttered as he looked to Toshiro.

Said captain merely smirked lightly as he brought his hand down; "Oh believe me Aizen...'that' isn't anything compared to when I do use my Shikai." he commented, shifting his katana to the side and tilting it.

Upon this action, the winds increased even, but Aizen immediately had to block as Toshiro rushed toward him with a strong swing. Once their blades made contact, a surge of both of their spirit energies caused a brief calmness in the wind. Though it only lasted a split second, the snow around them settled gently to the roof around them before picking back up with the wind. But as it did, Aizen immediately went flying with it as the force of Toshiro's swing was too much for him to handle.

"Now it begins." the icy captain muttered, his voice dying with the howling wind around him as he vanished.

* * *

Yep...it is 'that' moment you've all been waiting for. XD Toshiro vs Aizen. But trust me, this fight in itself will have much more then just a fight...it will have some of the biggest twists and revealing of secrets then any one will realize. ;D Anyway, till next time everyone. Ja Ne. ^^


	120. Chapter 120

I'm going to warn everyone now. This chapter is quite long and is pretty much all fighting. So if you don't want to read a long fight, skip over to the parts just before each of the dialogue spots...some of it is rather important, so I don't recommend skipping over too much. And for those that enjoy fighting...I really hope you'll enjoy this one. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 120:**

As Toshiro shunpoed, he appeared a few yards away from Aizen, whom was still flying backward through the air from the icy captain's previous swing. Once the brown haired man reached him, Toshiro immediately swung his katana toward Aizen once more. Though he blocked this strike, his blade was knocked to the side from the force of Toshiro's attack and left him wide open for attack. Aizen's eyes narrowed heavily to this as he quickly brought his blade back in case he needed to block.

But the white haired captain took this opportunity to generate the crescent moon blade off his zanpakuto and swing it at Aizen's chest. Despite deflecting the blade, the brown haired man quickly brought his other hand around and fired a Shakkaho spell. Toshiro watched this coldly as he quickly cut the kido in half, to which he then sidestepped and kicked Aizen's blade away when he appeared behind him.

Toshiro then used the momentum of his kick to spin himself around and send a powerful swing toward his opponent, whom raised his zanpakuto up to block. The brown eyed man glared heavily on the captain before him, but then his eyes widened slightly as when the two blades hit, Aizen's was knocked back into him and sent flying back. As Aizen flipped himself around, he quickly landed his feet on the surface of a nearby building and leapt off it at an extreme speed, his eyes narrowing heavily on the icy captain.

Aizen then shunpoed directly in front of a stationary Toshiro, but when he saw said captain raising his katana, he immediately appeared to the side and slashed down at his head. Toshiro turned his eyes to the man but then spun himself around and kicked both him and his blade away, this making Aizen slide backward a few yards before regaining his footing.

The former captain allowed an aggravated sneer on his features as he immediately charged toward Toshiro, to which he blasted a powerful Sokatsui spell at the white haired captain as he did. Yet Toshiro merely snapped his fingers at this kido, causing it and his bala to explode, the wind and snow around him seeming to pause from the blast. But Toshiro then grabbed the moon shaped blade into his hand and threw it to his left, yet nothing visibly happened

Yet when Toshiro pulled the chain to bring the blade back and raised his katana up, he felt an impact on his zanpakuto. Immediately afterward, the 'Aizen' to the side instantly shattered and reveal the real one before Toshiro with his katana locked with the icy captain's.

Aizen's narrowed eyes turned to a glare once more as he looked at Toshiro, whom of which gave a small smirk in response. This caused the brown haired man to quickly shunpo away, the white haired captain immediately catching the small moon shaped blade and looking to Aizen at his new location on his right. But when he turned, Toshiro noticed a small cut on the brown eyed man's cheek, which gave a small drop of blood.

"I didn't expect you to run after such a small cut." Toshiro commented in amusement as the blizzard continued to roar around them.

Aizen merely raised a brow to him and gained a light smirk; "I'm not running. I'm simply watching you carefully." he said, raising his katana slightly in a defensive way.

"Are you sure? Cause it seems more like you're waiting for a way to explain how I saw through your Kanzen Saimin." Toshiro said as he suddenly appeared beside Aizen, whom quickly attacked with a slash.

But Toshiro had vanished before the katana could reach him, to which he then placed two of his ice-covered fingers on Aizen's shoulder. "I guess I can tell you..." he began as Aizen placed two of his own fingers over the shoulder Toshiro was touching.

Yet just as a blast of yellow electricity-like kido blasted toward the icy captain, Aizen's eyes widened as he quickly turned his head forward, him seeing Toshiro's icy fingers right in his face. Upon seeing this, the brown haired man shunpoed out of the way, but was stopped as a blade went through his shoulder from behind. This caused Aizen's eyes to widen heavily and to turn toward Toshiro, whom was smirking lightly.

"...it won't be much fun if I don't give you a small chance." he finished, tossing Aizen into a building just by swing his katana to the side.

As Aizen stood back up, he looked to Toshiro with narrowed eyes, him bleeding from his wound and even having a bit of dirt of his clothes from already being thrown through two buildings. Toshiro took a step forward and readied his katana to the side; "Though it's not as good as Byakuya's Senkai, this snow blowing around us acts in the same manner. So long as the snow touches you, I'll be able to find you no matter where you are." he said as he clutched the moon shaped blade in his left hand tightly.

Just as Aizen's eyes narrowed further to the white haired captain's words, he quickly ducked under the small blade as it came right at his face. Yet as he did this, Aizen then shunpoed directly in front of Toshiro and swung a powerful slash with both hands. The icy captain immediately blocked this attack with his own katana, him only using one hand in doing so. But despite this, it was obvious Toshiro was using much more strength then his opponent as there was a subtle shake in his arm.

Though Aizen noticed this, he quickly had to shunpo out of the way as the small blade came flying back toward him after Toshiro tugged the chain toward him. Once he was out of the way however, the brown eyed man immediately came right back at Toshiro on his left side with a powerful swing of his katana. Yet just as the small crescent shaped blade came close enough, the white haired captain grabbed and used it to block Aizen's attack.

As he did this, Toshiro then spun his katana around in a reverse grip style, to which he swung the blade toward Aizen. Whom of which narrowed his eyes slightly to this as he flipped himself up and over the white haired captain's head. All the while, Aizen pointed his left hand toward his opponent and blasted a large Soten Sokatsui spell at him.

But before the kido could reach him, the white haired captain closed his eyes as he muttered out his own spell. "Danku."

The moment the two made contact, it created a large explosion and generated a large amount of smoke around the fighters. This cloud blocking Toshiro's view of the brown haired man as he shunpoed behind him and sent a thrusting attack at his back. Though the blade came within centimeters of the icy captain, he quickly turned to the side and grabbed Aizen's wrist. As he did this, said brown haired man became slightly wide-eyed and attempted to free himself before Toshiro's own thrust could hit him.

Yet just as the blade pierced through Aizen, Toshiro quickly sent a swinging back kick toward the air behind him. His ice-covered foot immediately making contact with an invisible force and caused the image of Aizen to shatter. But even as the real brown haired man appeared behind him, Toshiro quickly had to back flip over another thrust from Aizen. When he did, Toshiro placed a single foot to the blade, causing it to drop down from his weight, which had made Aizen's eyes flicker in confusion as Toshiro's weight shouldn't have been enough to knock his blade down.

Despite the brown eyed man instantly ducking under a slash from Toshiro, his eyes glared up at the white haired captain, him seeming to be drawing conclusions about what just happened. Yet Toshiro never gave him the chance to think any further as he sent a strong slash down at him. Aizen quickly blocked this strike, parried it to the side and gave a small smirk as he pointed a hand toward Toshiro. "Saju Sabaku." he said silently, a long golden chain wrapping itself around the white haired captain's arms.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed to this, but then they widened slightly as Aizen appeared behind him and sliced his blade just above the ice covering his neck. But this merely made Toshiro smirk as he pushed himself higher into the air, causing Aizen's katana to hit and bounce off the ice on his neck. This made the brown haired man to glare his eyes to Toshiro, whom was freezing the binding spell over with a thick coat of ice.

"Sorry...I should have told you sooner, but Bakudo spells of any level don't have much effect on me." Toshiro stated as the gold chain shattered apart.

But even as this happened, Aizen shunpoed quickly to his left side and muttered out yet another kido spell; "Kongobaku."

After he said this, a large ball of fire came hurling from his palm at Toshiro, whom had to quickly shunpo out of the way to dodge. But the moment he landed he then switched his katana to his left hand and blocked an incoming slash from Aizen. Toshiro narrowed his eyes on him for a moment before widening them slightly as he immediately turned to his right and moved himself backward. Yet despite this, a small cut on his cheek appeared and a few drops of blood rolled down his face before the wound healed almost instantly.

"Not bad...you managed to use the fire as a cover to escape the snow." the white haired captain said, narrowing his eyes slightly on Aizen as he appeared to his side.

"Well, you became overconfident in your ability. So I had to make sure you fully understand who it is you're dealing with." the brown eyed man commented as he took on another small smirk.

The two stared at one another for a few moments as the fast winds wiped around them and the cold air showed their calm breathing. But even despite this, both of their minds were working faster than the snow was falling to the town below. 'Three yards between us, minimum safe distance...seven feet. My advantage: speed, strength and snow. His advantage: hypnosis, use of kido to escape my sight and the Hogyoku.' Toshiro thought as his eyes narrowed slightly.

'First, distract target with release of katana. Second, use snow as a shield, blocking vision. Third, use Ikkotsu on ribs, shatter on impact. Forth, blast bala into chest, reveal location of the Hogyoku.' he continued, his grip on his zanpakuto loosening slightly.

But at the same time as this, Aizen had gained a small smirk, his own mind processing the battle just as fast. 'You don't really think I'll make it that easy for you. Counter bala with Shakkaho. Create illusion of blade coming through smoke screen and cast Soren Sokatsui after guard has been misdirected. After impact, shunpo through the blast and thrust finisher through the chest.' the brown haired man thought.

'Parry blade with hand. Use momentum to throw to the side and send a bala to follow. Next, catch zanpakuto and ready for kido absorption.' Toshiro countered as everything both he and Aizen had thought till that point became a reality.

But once Aizen shot his third kido spell, the white haired captain's eyes hardened as he saw a simple Byakurai spell coming toward him. "Distract with kido..." Toshiro said silently, him quickly turning around and blocking Aizen's blade with his own.

"...and attack from behind." he finished as the small crescent moon blade wiped behind him from the wind and deflected the Byakurai spell into a building nearby.

Aizen gave a smirk to Toshiro as they pressed their blades together, the former using both arms while the latter only used one. "I'm impressed, Captain Hitsugaya. Our minds were all but fused during that attack, I've never had the opportunity to have a 'true' battle of the minds like that." the brown haired man said as he smirked wider at the small shake Toshiro's muscles made from the strain.

"Hmph...sad for you. I battle like this way every time I spar against Kisuke. Though it was rather interesting to try it out against you." Toshiro said as his shaking stopped and he knocked Aizen backward with a powerful swing of his blade.

Yet even after this, the brown haired man steadied himself quickly and looked to the icy captain as he followed after him. "That's almost unfair...you have more practice." he commented in a sarcastic way as he immediately blocked Toshiro's incoming slash.

But Aizen's eyes widened slightly as the force of this attack blasted him back once more, however he was unable to stop himself as he slammed into and through a large house. The brown haired man quickly exited the building, yet Toshiro just continued to look down at the hole Aizen made. Then as Aizen charged toward the icy captain, he quickly sidestepped out of the way and narrowed his eyes on one of the windows.

Immediately after Aizen flew by, Toshiro brought his zanpakuto forward, just as an enormous blast of blue kido came hurling toward him. "He must have used the full incantation for Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho." he muttered out silently as his eyes narrowed even further.

Once the kido made contact with the tip of Toshiro's blade, he began to absorb the blast, while at the same time, pointing his pointer and middle finger to his right side. As he did this, Aizen suddenly appeared on his right with a downward slash coming directly for Toshiro's arm. Yet he never made contact as the icy captain's fingers blasted out the kido he had just absorbed, causing him to dodge out of the way.

But Toshiro's eyes widened slightly as he quickly turned to the left, to which he saw Aizen smirking lightly with another slash aimed for his arm. Though the white haired captain raised his hand to block, he was too slow and took a deep cut on his left arm, which sliced through many of the tendons and left his arm useless. This making Aizen smirk wider and look at Toshiro with an overconfidence that made his blood boil. Yet the icy captain hid a small smirk as his wound healed extremely fast with his high speed regeneration, this being covered by his torn sleeve.

"Hmph...but it appears that even with all that practice, you're still no match for me." Aizen said as he wiped his katana to the side, the blood on it flying off and leaving the blade clean.

"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Toshiro asked as he gave a small smirk at the faint glow on Aizen's left hand.

Said brown eyed man looked at this in slight shock, his mind quickly working back to when Toshiro had pointed his fingers toward him. He then recalled seeing a small piece of ice out of the corner of his eye coming directly toward him, to which he narrows his eyes heavily and attempts to scrape the ice off his hand. But it was too late as his entire arm was fully covered in ice, to which it suddenly shattered to nothing as Toshiro snapped his fingers.

Aizen's eyes widened in pure shock as he covered the stub that was his shoulder; "D-Damn it..." he growled out in pain as his eyes narrowed on the icy captain and even twitched in his anger.

"Fusing with the Hogyoku has made you too confident. Though you've been mostly on the defense, once you land a hit, you're blinded by your own power. But I guess I'm not too far behind." Toshiro said, him muttering the last part as he appeared behind Aizen and kicked him hard in the back.

This blow knocked the man forward, to which he went into and through almost five buildings before he was able to stop. Yet the moment he did, Toshiro elbowed him hard in the back of the head, making Aizen's eyes roll back on impact. Immediately following this attack, the icy captain spun around and sent a strong back hand into Aizen's spine, which blasted him down into the street below. Once he hit, Toshiro appeared to the side of the brown haired man and front kicked him in the ribs with great force.

As Aizen was flown to the side and through many buildings, his eyes glared heavily on the form of Toshiro as he zoomed over head, then down and through a house he was approaching. This caused his eyes to narrow, but just as he went through the wall and into the house, his eyes widened heavily. What he saw was Toshiro crashing through the ceiling, his blade coming straight for his chest and for his heart.

Aizen quickly flipped himself around, him able to dodge away from the icy captain's attack and get out of the structure as he went through a window. "Damn...I have no choice." he muttered to himself as he reached inside of his jacket pocket.

Toshiro had quickly come flying toward the man, but he suddenly stopped once he came within a few yards of him. This caused Aizen to raise a brow and fix his hair as it had been ruined by all the attack from the white haired captain and the impacts of the buildings. "What's wrong? You suddenly stopped." he questioned as he just stared at Toshiro.

"You've become calm, so it's only accurate to say that you've come up with a plan. And even with one arm, I can't take you too lightly." the icy captain stated as he narrowed his eyes.

As their eyes met, their minds seemed to synchronize and the snow flying by appeared to move extremely slow around them. 'His one limb makes my advantage. His advantage...element of surprise. Likeliness of him making the first move, 45%.' Toshiro began to himself.

'I must make the first attack, primary target must be the left side. Take out his legs with sweeping kick, deliver elbow to chest and block wild thrust toward stomach.' he continued, both he and Aizen narrowing their eyes even further.

'Once blocked, use momentum to regain footing. Next, make Byakurai spell from finger. Upon his dodge, will attempt another sweeping kick, must jump over, avoid showing wounded arm. Use higher ground to stab his side.' Aizen thought as Toshiro stepped forward.

'Catch and pull blade to the side, then run through with zanpakuto.' the icy captain added in just as their thoughts became real.

But just as Toshiro's katana was coming toward Aizen's chest, the blade was suddenly caught by a newly regenerated left arm. This made Toshiro's eyes widen in shock, but as the brown haired man released his katana, he quickly turned to his other hand, which tossed a small black box against his chest. As he saw this, he immediately pushed his feet down on the air to shunpo, but he never got the chance as the box suddenly expanded around him and trapped him inside.

"This is my own specially made Caja Negación. It'll trap you within another dimension for about a few seconds...or at least to you." Aizen explained as the box began to close.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to this as once the box closed, he had fully appeared within a realm that was fully purple and didn't seem to have any direction as he was suspended in midair. As the white haired captain looked around he narrowed his eyes and flared his spirit energy, this creating a few cracks in the dimension around him.

'He said it would only hold me for a few seconds 'to me'...what did that mean.' he thought to himself as the cracks eventually filled the area and eventually shattered.

But as it did, Toshiro's eyes widened as he saw that all the storm clouds were gone and Aizen's reiatsu was far beyond his own. "What the-" he began, but stopped as he looked to the side and saw a single figure in the sky above him.

This person was dressed similarly to how Aizen was, only his jacket had four coattails rather than two and their entire head was covered in a white mask. As Toshiro narrowed his eyes on this being, it suddenly turned its purple color eyes toward him, which gave the white haired captain a feeling that it was smirking at him. But just as Toshiro was about to move toward it, Yoruichi suddenly appeared next to the figure and sent a powerful punch toward it.

Yet the figure caught the blow with extreme ease, which caused Toshiro's eyes to narrowed heavily. "How is this possible?" he asked himself before Yoruichi was thrown to the side and into a building, shocking him even further.

"Shall I explain it?" Aizen's voice spoke up from behind him, to which the icy captain quickly turned and looked at the figure that had just been in the sky.

"I created that device as a way to take you out of the fight until a time that I could finish subjugated the Hogyoku fully. Though to you it was only a few seconds...out in the real world, it's been almost fifteen minutes." Aizen said as he once again gave the feeling of a smug smirk.

Toshiro's eyes widened to this as he then tilted his head down at the foot that was making contact with his chest. Once Aizen hit him, the white haired captain was blasted backward and through multiple houses and buildings, reducing many of them to rubble. But as he came to a stop and stood himself up, Aizen was directly behind him and slashed Toshiro deeply across the back.

As the crimson liquid gushed from this wound, Toshiro suddenly shattered into many shards of glass, to which Aizen then turned to the side and caught a swift kick aimed for his head. "It appears you will be the best choice in testing the Hogyoku's power." the mask wearing man said silently as he gripped Toshiro's ice-covered foot tighter.

Immediately after this, Aizen threw Toshiro to the side, yet he stopped himself after a few feet and charged back toward him. Yet upon doing so, the percussion wave of stopping himself and leaping forward knocked down an entire block of houses. Once Toshiro came within inches of punching Aizen, said man vanished and appeared just to the side of him. This caused the icy captain's eyes to widen as he quickly had to turn his body and block the slashing attack with own zanpakuto.

When he did this however, the force of Aizen's assault blasted Toshiro back once more and through the rubble of many already destroyed buildings. "And here I was hoping for more of a challenge. You best use your Bankai...or you'll end up like the Visoreds you left to guard the pillars." Aizen said as he was standing before Toshiro.

Said captain looked at him in shock as he quickly noticed that not only were the Visored's spirit energies weak as if injured or unconscious, but also all of the arrancar. Yet his shock only increased as he also felt the same for Shunsui, Jushiro, Soifon, Marechiyo, Chojiro and even the Head Captain. Though he felt somewhat relieved when he felt Retsu and Isane nearby, both of which appeared fine and healing the injured, his eyes once again widened as he felt Rangiku's reiatsu.

She was trapped within a barrier on the other side of the town, all the while, Gin and Tosen were directly beside her. But though the two seemed to have less spirit energy then they did in coming to the World of the Living, they were both still alive. This made Toshiro's eyes narrow heavily and look to Aizen as he stood himself up to his feet, almost stumbling as Yoruichi flew by him and attacked the masked man. Yet Aizen merely swung his katana to the side, which knocked the woman away and through a brick house.

"Ah yes...your Lieutenant. She was quite the handful when you vanished, her ash made it just as difficult to fight you in the blizzard. But in the end, her powers weren't enough to stop me." Aizen said as he briefly turned his head toward the three in the distance, him not even being phased by Yoruichi's sudden attack.

But just as Toshiro and Aizen made eye contact once more, the latter immediately back flipped and dodged out of the way from Isshin's thrust. Whom of which was dressed in his shinigami uniform, including the haori that he had strapped to his left shoulder. This appearance made Toshiro narrow his eyes slightly and let out a silent breath, all the while the rave haired man looked back to him.

"Took you long enough." Isshin commented with an amused expression, to which the icy captain just sighed and brought his right hand over his left.

"Shut up. I was just getting warmed up." Toshiro said as the ice on his hands began to dissipate till it left his bare hands.

Aizen watched this carefully as Isshin appeared to be guarding his white haired friend, whom then broke the ice on his neck and dropped the pieces on the ground. The mask wearing man narrowed his eyes slightly to this, yet he brought his open hand and katana out to either side. As he did, Kisuke appeared on his right and had his slashing attack blocked by Aizen's zanpakuto, while Yoruichi's punch was caught by his other hand.

"Now!" Kisuke called out as both he, Yoruichi and Isshin immediately jumped away, to which Aizen looked to each of them before to Toshiro.

Yet the moment he did, the icy captain vanished and appeared directly before him in the same moment, causing his eyes to widen slightly. But Aizen's shock didn't end there as Toshiro punched him hard in the stomach, which shattered his body apart and blasted him all the way back into the barrier around the town. However, he never made contact as Toshiro appeared behind him and backhanded him across the back, knocking him forward and into the ground.

Upon impact, his body crumpled into the street and created a large crater that spread over two and a half blocks. "I-Impossible." Aizen said to himself as his body slowly regenerated and he stood up slowly.

"I see Grimmjow didn't tell you about my ability to control my ice's density." Toshiro spoke up from the side of Aizen.

Said man turned to look at him and narrowed his eyes; "So you used that to train your body to handle carrying large amounts of weight." he speculated, sounding very confident.

"Indeed. However, one shard about this big can weigh up to three hundred pounds." Toshiro began as he held up a small piece of ice the size of a marble.

"Just how much weight do you think I carry around with ease on a daily basis if every piece of ice I have follows those statistics?" he continued as Aizen's eyes widened briefly before narrowing heavily.

"Well over one hundred tons in total. So you see...it doesn't matter if you now have more spirit energy then I do in my current state. My speed and strength far surpass yours." he said, Toshiro suddenly being behind Aizen, despite the one before him finishing the sentence.

Though Aizen didn't turn to face him, he spoke up in a calm tone as his body fully healed; "I see...so why didn't you remove the ice the moment our fight began?"

"Hmph...I'll be putting everyone in danger in using this strength, but now that you've already placed them all in Unohana's care...they're actually safer now than if they were still in the fight." the icy captain said silently as he raised a hand up and looked to it as he flexed his fingers, the 'Toshiro' that had been left behind finally disappearing.

"So your Lieutenant as my hostage holds no value then...does it?" Aizen questioned, his tone actually sounding as though he were mocking Toshiro.

"Exactly. Besides, she can handle herself...I'm not really worried about her if you had to go through the trouble of putting her inside a barrier, rather than taking her out along with everyone else. But look at it this way...you'll get to test out the Hogyoku's power after all." Toshiro stated as a ground shaking elbow was immediately slammed into Aizen's back, snapping said man's spin completely in half.

As they watched this from the top of a building, Yoruichi, Kisuke and Isshin narrowed their eyes, the former of which looked to the other two and spoke up silently. "Are you sure he'll do it?"

"There's no doubt. And we have to be ready for when he does, or we'll all be dead." Kisuke claimed with a hard stare.

"But...shouldn't we at least tell him before it does?" Isshin questioned as he looked to the blond.

"If Aizen is to be stopped...I'm afraid we don't have a choice." Kisuke said as he gave a glance up toward Rangiku as she watched her captain fight against Aizen.

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There you have it, it's still not over...so there are many more twists to come. Make sure not to overlook anything that happened here, cause then you just might miss something. ;)


	121. Chapter 121

Well...I don't have too much I need to say, other than...'Thank you Tuli-chan for your awesome help with this chapter!' ;) But I'd also like to thank all of you as well, my readers and reviewers. ^^ If not for you guys...who knows if this story would have even gotten this far. :) So thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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**Chapter 121:**

-Ten minutes earlier-

Starrk continued to fire cero after cero from both of his pistols at Aizen, whom shunpoed out of the way from each and every one. But even as he did this, Harribel appeared above this and sent a gigantic surge of water down toward the brown haired man. Though said man didn't even bother turning his head up to watch this, he muttered out a single word and stood completely still. "Danku."

Yet as Aizen stood there, the water went pouring down around him, while at the same time a sudden cero flew through the water and right at him. This made Aizen smirk lightly and slice the blast in half easily; "I never imagined that even your combined power would be so much weaker compared to mine." he said silently as he shunpoed away.

When his feet touched a mere foot from where Starrk stood, the Primera Espada's single visible eye became wide. But just as Aizen's katana swung upward to slice Starrk across his chest, his blade was blocked by the appearance of Kyoraku and his dual zanpakuto. As Aizen stared at the captain, he smirked lightly and quickly shunpoed out of the way as Ukitake came fly down at him with both blades swinging at his head.

As Aizen appeared off to the side of each of the three, he quickly sliced his katana to the side without even looking. This action caused an incoming blast of water to be cut in half and fall to the streets below him. "Is that all you have?" Aizen asked with a small, but confident smirk.

"But I suppose the four of you are doing much better then the failed arrancar, or the weak ones and their pathetic monster. Must be because you're all experienced fighters that you can fight rather well together." he continued, glancing from each of the injured bodies of the Visored, Harribel's fraccion and even the large creature that laid before Unohana and Kotetsu as the pair healed all but the beast Akon.

"Unlike Soifon and her waste of a lieutenant." Aizen said as he glanced over to the unconscious raven haired woman and the heavily gashed man near of her.

"Though I will say...his will to sacrifice his own safety to dampen my strike was quite admirable." he continued with a nearly sarcastic tone as his gaze turned fully toward a large crater off to the side.

"However...'his' sacrifice was far greater. Taking the entire blast of his own zanpakuto's flames was quite brave indeed, yet that's to be expected of the Head Captain." the brow haired man said as he looked upon the heavily burned and unconscious body of Yamamoto, there being pieces of Wonderweiss's body around him.

But just as he finished his words, Kyoraku suddenly appeared to the side of Aizen and slashed at him from above. "Takaoni." he muttered out during his attack.

Aizen narrowed his eyes to this, yet even as he stepped away to dodge, his eyes widened slightly as he felt the barrel of a gun against his shoulder. Upon feeling this, the brown eyed man quickly tried to move away, but he wasn't fast enough as Starrk pulled the trigger and blasted a large hole in Aizen's shoulder with a cero. Immediately following this, Harribel sent a slashing attack toward her opponent's midsection, yet Aizen narrowed his eyes heavily as he moved out of the way just fast enough to avoid it.

But when he did, his eyes widened once more as he saw Ukitake pointing his blade at him, to which the same cero that blasted through his shoulder came right back at him. Aizen shunpoed out of the way of this, yet his attention quickly turned behind him as Kyoraku appeared there in a crouch. "Irooni...white." the gray eyed man muttered as he slashed Aizen up his back.

This attack cut Aizen very deeply, causing a large amount of blood to gush from the wound. But even after this, all four of his opponents came charging toward him, to which he hid a small smirk. Once they reached him, his image shattered away and revealed Chojiro, making them all stop and become wide eyed. The silver haired man staggered on the air for a moment before his eyes rolled back and he fell into and through a shop.

Yet before any of them could react, Kyoraku was sudden sliced deeply on his back twice in a row, to which he soon joined Chojiro down below. The remaining opponents became even more wide eyed to this as they quickly came at Aizen as fast as possible. Ukitake reaching him first, but was immediately stabbed through the chest before he could even finish his swing. "I-Impossible..." the white haired man muttered silently as he fell backward and into the street.

Starrk and Harribel came at Aizen from either side, yet the former was kicked backward, while the latter was sliced across the waist very deeply. The tan woman barely managed to gasp as a cero passed by her when she fall to the ground near of the other three. But as this happened Starrk fired off multiple ceros at Aizen, yet he just sliced them all with his zanpakuto, smirking the entire time.

"How very sad." the brown eyed man said silently as he appeared before Starrk and slashed him across the chest.

"D-Damn it..." Starrk cursed as he fell backward; "I'm sorry Toshiro...we weren't enough to stop him."

"Starrk!" Gingerbuck called out from the pistol in said man's left hand.

Aizen smirked a bit wider as he looked down at each of the five laying on the ground; "You were amusing to fight, I'm glad you kept me entertained for a while." he said, briefly closing his eyes.

He then turned his attention toward Rangiku as she kicked Tosen in the face with a kido covered foot, which sent him hurling into a building. Upon seeing this, Aizen let out a sigh and shook his head; "Even with the mask I gave him...his powers still aren't enough to fight against her shunko." he muttered to himself.

The brown haired man instantly shunpoed before Rangiku, whom blinked in shock at first, but quickly jumped backward and grabbed her zanpakuto's grip. "Looks like I'll have to do things myself." Aizen said silently as he gave a short glance down at Gin, whom stood nearby with his usual smile on his face.

-Current time-

Aizen crashed into and through dozens of buildings as he went flying across the town. But before he was about to hit the barrier, he was instantly slammed into the ground as Toshiro appeared above him and punched him hard in the stomach. The mask wearing man narrowed his purple eyes as his body cracked under the pressure. "You are indeed strong. But that can't help you against an opponent that can heal any wound you inflict." Aizen said as the shock wave from Toshiro's attack blasted everything away in a three block radius.

"We'll see about that." Toshiro said as he grabbed Aizen's blade with his bare hand, him ignoring the shallow cut it made in his hand.

Once he caught this swing, Toshiro then grabbed his opponent by the face and threw him into the air, to which Aizen stopped himself after reaching a few yards over the tallest remaining buildings. Yet once he stopped, Aizen looked around quickly as he lost sight of the icy captain after being thrown. But he didn't have to search for long as he side stepped to the side and watched a blade going right by the side of his face.

Toshiro smirked lightly to this as he pulled the chain back to retract his zanpakuto, to which he then threw the small blade on the other end. Aizen turned himself around, brought his katana up and allowed the chain to wrap around the blade. Yet as this happened, both Toshiro and Aizen immediately pulled the chain their own ways, causing the latter to start sliding forward. But after a brief second, Aizen suddenly used the force of Toshiro's pull to send himself right at the white haired captain.

At the same time as this, Toshiro caught his zanpakuto and raised it up to block Aizen's strike toward his neck. As the two blades made contact, the force of the mask wearing man's attack created a large shock wave that destroyed an entire block of already half destroyed buildings. "Why are you still using such foolish tactics? You should know by now that it means nothing against me." Aizen commented as his tone sounded increasingly confident.

" I wouldn't be so sure. Besides...I'm not your only opponent." Toshiro said as he suddenly jumped back as a large blue wave of spirit energy came hurling toward Aizen.

Just before he was engulfed in the blast, the purple eyed man had glanced down to the town below and saw Isshin with his zanpakuto to his side and a small grin on his face. "A mere Getsuga Tensho is a waste." Aizen said to himself silently as the blue spirit energy dispersed as he flared his reiatsu.

But immediately following this, Aizen tilted his head up when he saw a shadow covering him, to which he saw Kisuke over head. "Shibari, Benihime." the blond called out as he swung his blade.

This action launched a long, blood red net of condensed energy directly over Aizen, this knocking him down a few feet from the air and wrapping around his entire body. But as Aizen moved to break free, Kisuke appeared behind him and stabbed his katana into a part of the netting on his back. "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi." Kisuke muttered silently as his eyes narrowed from beneath the shadow of his hat.

Immediately following his words, orbs of fire the size of a soccer ball started to sprout along the outside of the net. Once they covered over every part of Aizen's body, Kisuke shunpoed away as a tremendously large explosion blew around the mask wearing man. This blast disintegrated everything in a hundred foot radius, yet when it died down, it revealed a fully regenerated Aizen. "Is that all you've got?" he questioned almost smugly.

But as soon as these words left him, his eyes quickly shifted from side to side as both Toshiro and Yoruichi came at him. He then raised both his hands up to block, him keeping his attention fully on Toshiro as the two reached him in less than a second. Yet his eyes widened slightly as they both cried out 'Shunko' in unison, to which Aizen was immediately engulfed in a flash of white kido and completely cut in half by their attacks.

As Toshiro and Yoruichi appeared on separate sides of their opponent, they turned around to watch both halves of Aizen to fall the ground below. Yet as soon as he hit, Toshiro quickly raised a hand and snapped his fingers, sending a large white bala at both halves of Aizen. Once the attack connected, a large blast consumed the split body and proceeded to destroy a house nearby.

After seeing this Toshiro glanced around the town and raised a brow slightly; 'I expected there to be destruction...but there is almost nothing left of the town.' he thought to himself before turning back to Aizen.

"Is it over?" Yoruichi questioned as she narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

"I don't think so. Despite him being in his chrysalis stage, he'll probably still be able to regenerate his lower half even if it's destroyed in the blast." Toshiro stated silently as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"So how do we actually kill him?" Isshin asked as he appeared in a shunpo beside the pair.

"With much difficulty." Kisuke answered with a sigh as he walked toward them, him fixing his hat along the way.

"Indeed." a voice said from behind them, to which all of their eyes widened and turned quickly at a fully healed Aizen.

Though they all tried to move away, all of them were too late as deep cuts appeared on their chests. But immediately afterward, Kisuke suddenly blew up like a balloon and popped while the other three shattered into ice. Upon seeing this, Aizen narrowed his eyes and looked to the side as he saw Yoruichi coming toward him. He turned himself to face her, but was suddenly forced straight into the street below as Toshiro grabbed him by the back of the head and pushed him all the way down.

But when he felt the pressure leave his head, he stood himself up and was instantly hit by a shunko induced punch. This blow knocking him backward only a few feet as his feet dug into the ground, yet as Yoruichi shunpoed away, he was faced by Kisuke as his blade slashed down at him. "Kamisori, Benihime." was all the blond said before a red arc of red spirit energy came forth from his zanpakuto and hit Aizen across the chest.

Yet regardless of hitting point blank range, the attack did little damage to his body, which regenerated within the few seconds it took for Kisuke to shunpo away and Isshin to take his place behind him. The moment Aizen saw the raven haired man he narrowed his eyes slightly, yet simply allowed for him to make his attack.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Isshin called out, to which an enormous amount of spirit energy flooded out from his zanpakuto and hit Aizen fully, this blast being five times large then his previous one.

As the attack engulfed Aizen, each of his four opponents grouped together to the side and narrowed their eyes once more. "How much more can this guy take?" Yoruichi breathed in slight fatigue.

"Much more than any of us can dish out." Toshiro stated as he narrowed his eyes even further; "No matter how much any of us hurt him, there just isn't a way to stop him from regenerating."

"So not even a constant assault would work." Isshin speculated as he, Yoruichi and Kisuke look to Toshiro with a raised brow.

"By the way...where did you put your other zanpakuto?" the tan woman questioned as she looked the white captain over as if to see it somewhere on him.

"I put it over there...I've been dropping and picking it up the whole time. Though I have to be careful about where I drop it at times, it's usually quite effective when I need to switch from hakuda and zanjutsu." Toshiro explained as he pointed over to the remains of a skyscraper, his zanpakuto sticking out of a piece of rubble.

"It may be effective...but I'm sure he doesn't appreciate you just leaving him." Yoruichi stated with a light sweat drop.

Toshiro glanced from her to the other two as they nodded their heads, to which he huffed and looked to the side. "He already knows that I'm not going to just leave him there. I always pick him up at the end of the battle or for the killing blow."

"Still...how mean." Kisuke muttered with a small, yet amused grin.

The white haired captain rolled his eyes to this, then looked to Aizen as he stepped out of the Getsuga blast with heavy wounds that didn't appear to be regenerating. Seeing this made each of the four's eyes narrow heavily, yet only two of them had an idea of what this truly meant. "That was excellent team work. If it had been anyone else...they would have been dead." Aizen began as the mask around his head was almost split entirely in half, along with most of his chest.

But as they watched him approaching, his wounds revealed his insides to have become a strange purple and white energy that didn't give any blood. "Of course...it's thanks to the Hogyoku's power that I've lasted this long. You four truly are a very dangerous combination." Aizen continued as his wounds closed and his mask began falling apart, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

When the mask had broken away fully, it revealed Aizen's normal face, only he now had waist length hair, purple sclera and blue-white eyes. His jacket now sprouted a ragged high collar that was purple on the inside and had opened up enough to show part of his upper chest. This appearance made each of the four narrow their eyes heavily, but before any of them could react, Aizen suddenly appeared between Kisuke and Isshin.

This made the two turn to him quickly, but not fast enough to dodge away from the slash and kick the brown haired man attacked them with. These blows knocked the pair backward and in different directions, to which they crashed into the ruble of multiple fallen buildings. Yoruichi narrowed her eyes and immediately swung a downward kick at Aizen, yet he turned himself around and caught her foot.

The purple haired woman's eyes narrowed even more, yet she quickly flipped herself away as Toshiro came up with an uppercut to Aizen's chin. The long haired man raised a brow to this yet he seemed to let this attack hit him, to which he was sent flying into the air. But regardless of this, the icy captain ground his teeth slightly as he immediately spun around and kicked the air behind him. Though nothing was seen, Toshiro's foot made contact with something and revealed the true Aizen, whom was knocked backward a few yards.

"Hmm, not bad. Even without the snow, you're able to guess my movements." Aizen said silently as he shunpoed out of the way of a double attack from Kisuke and Isshin.

"But..." he began as he appeared directly in front of Toshiro, whom narrowed his eyes heavily on him; "...you'd be doing far better if you were alone." he finished as he vanished just before Toshiro's punch could connect.

Yet even after missing, the force of the white haired captain's attack created a large shock wave that blasted all the debris of the houses and building away one hundred feet away. As Aizen had shunpoed away, Yoruichi quickly appeared behind and above him as she swung a fist toward him. Though he brought his hand up to block, her eyes narrowed and she quickly activated her shunko before finishing her strike.

But regardless of this, Aizen still caught her hand with ease and just looked at her with a small smirk. "You're in the way." was all he said before throwing her to the side with great force.

Though she went a few dozen yards, Toshiro quickly caught her before she hit a half destroyed building. "Thanks." the tan woman said with a small smirk as they both hurried back toward the brown haired man as he back handed Isshin across the face and blocked Kisuke's slash with his katana.

Though Aizen dodged out of the way from Toshiro's roundhouse kick, he merely swung his blade to the side as Kisuke pressed him back and toward Yoruichi's own kick. This action made the blond go flying back, then allowed his to block Yoruichi's foot and for her to join Kisuke off to the side as he finished his swing. Once they were out of the way, Toshiro appeared above Aizen and snapped his fingers, blasting him with a powerful bala.

Yet the brown haired man raised his free hand and crushed the blast in his hand, to which he smirked at Toshiro lightly, whom then flipped a downward kick at his head. Once the attack came toward him, Aizen simply moved to the side slightly and sent a slash at the white haired captain's neck. Toshiro immediately turned his narrowed eyes toward his opponent and caught the blade coming toward him with his bare hand.

The two stared to one another for a brief second, neither noticing the small amount of blood dripping from the icy captain's hand as it gripped Aizen's zanpakuto. But as Toshiro pulled the blade and the brown haired man forward, him instantly delivered a powerful elbow into his stomach. This blow made Aizen's eyes widen slightly as it blasted him back many yards before he was able to stop. Yet once he had paused his momentum, he grinned lightly as he glanced over toward Tosen and nodded.

Said man gave a nod back as his usually blind eyes were able to see Aizen's gesture thanks to his hollowfication. Though the tan man turned to Rangiku and unsheathed his katana, his eyes immediately met Gin's as the silver haired man opened his own and grabbed his wrist. "Hold on will ya. I've gotta betta idea." Gin said with a much smaller smile than usual.

Though Rangiku watched the two with narrowed eyes, she quickly noticed Gin's hand reaching toward his zanpakuto, to which she widened her eyes in shock. But once he pulled the blade out, he pointed it toward where Aizen was and muttered out his Shikai release. "Ikorose, Shinso."

As his blade flew through the air, Tosen's own eyes widened, him readying to attack Gin as he flipped his wrist out of the silver haired man's grip. Yet as they watched, both Rangiku's and Tosen's eyes widened even further, but only one of them was in horror. "I-Imposs...ible..."

Once Aizen blocked Isshin's slashing attack and kicked Kisuke in the stomach, he immediately noticed Gin's blade coming toward him. But despite this, he gave a small smirk when he dodged out of the way of Toshiro's quick cero and follow up spinning kick. To which he just simply watched as the extending blade came forward and pierced through Yoruichi's back just as she came charging at him. This made each of her three comrades look to her in pure shock, yet Toshiro's was far more than anyone else's.

Toshiro's eyes widened to their fullest extent, his body froze in place, yet shook uncontrollably as he was filled with disbelief, sadness, rage and horror all at once. Yet though no one made a sound as this happened, Toshiro felt a ringing in his ears as though he had just gone through a deafening blast. But as Toshiro's eyes saw Gin's zanpakuto piercing through her stomach, as if in slow motion, he quickly shunpoed toward her and screamed out her name in desperation. "YORUICHI!"

Toshiro immediately appeared behind her, grabbed the blade and forced it away from his friend's body. He then quickly took her to the ground below and laid her down and began using a healing kido, him being completely silent as he did. Though he couldn't see it, his spell had very little and slow in progress, that made it hopeless in his attempt. Yet Toshiro continued to concentrate as he kept his eyes on Yoruichi, whom returning his stare weakly. "I'm sorry Toshiro..." she said silently as blood came out of her mouth.

"Don't speak." was all the white haired captain could muster out as his throat was clenching too hard for him to speak properly.

But as he continued to look at her, a few tears fell from his eyes, to which Yoruichi herself gained tears of her own. Yet she placed a hand to Toshiro's cheek and gave a small and fading smile, this making her white haired friend look at her in shock and tremble even more. "Toshiro...I lo..." Yoruichi began, but never finished as her hand dropped from his cheek and her eyes rolled back, yet her lids stayed open.

As he saw this, Toshiro caught Yoruichi's hand as if fell and just stared at her lifeless body in complete disbelief. "I-It's not...possible." the icy captain whispered to himself as he wrapped his shaking arms around Yoruichi.

"I...I promised that I'd protect her no matter what and stand by her side till the very end." Toshiro said silently as more tears came rolling out his eyes, him taking in very ragged and short breaths all the while.

'Even with all the power I gained to keep her safe...I wasn't able to do anything to protect her.' Toshiro thought to himself as he suddenly felt something inside of him shatter.

All the while, the unconscious bodies of Isshin and Kisuke fell to the ground behind Toshiro, followed by Aizen stepping down from the air and looking to the icy captain. But after a brief moment, he turned his gaze over to Gin and narrowed his eyes slightly; "Though I appreciate your willingness to help me...I would have liked to enjoy seeing his reaction to his lieutenant's death before 'her's'." he stated.

Gin smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he closed his eyes once more; "Well...we do have to hurry and get to Soul Society to make the Okin, don't we? It's not good to draw out this fight any longer than needed, right Captain Aizen?" he asked with an innocent tone that made it hard to tell his true motives.

Aizen stared at him for a moment before giving a shrug and turning his attention back to Toshiro as he continued to cradle Yoruichi's body in his arms. "I suppose I should end things now." the brown haired man said as he appeared behind the icy captain and swung his katana at his head.

Just when Aizen's blade came within millimeters of Toshiro's head, his zanpakuto suddenly bounced away as a gigantic blast of white and black spirit energy came bursting from the white haired captain's body. This made Aizen, Tosen, Rangiku and even Gin's eyes to widen as they saw this. Yet the thing that shocked them the most was the horrifying roar that Toshiro let out as he screamed out as if in pain. This sounding like the mixture between Toshiro's own voice and a hollow, but the latter seemed similar to a very large animal's howl.

"W-What the hell is this?" Aizen demanded as he watched a set of dragon-like wing shoot out of Toshiro's back.

"C-Captain..." Rangiku breathed as her knees gave out, her collapsing down to the bottom of the barrier as the icy captain turned slowly toward Aizen.

Still cradling his beloved friend's body, the usually turquoise eyes of the white haired captain turned bright gold before dark crimson red. Them becoming like two, icy embers of fire burning into the soul of those they looked upon, which were focused completely on the brown haired man behind him. Upon just looking at these eyes, Tosen suddenly fell to his knees, his breathing almost stopping fully by pure fear as even Aizen took a step back. Said man's eyes narrowed heavily as he shifted his gaze over to Gin, whom had his eyes open wide as they showed a heavy fear for the beast that had just awoken.

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Well...in the words of my good friend Tuli-chan; 'Sh!t just got real'. XD Till next time everyone, Ja Ne. ;D


	122. Chapter 122

Alright...here is the real Chapter 122. ;D It's a bit shorter then what I've been doing...but blame by schedule for getting so busy the last few weeks for that. =/ Anyway, a quick but extra big thanks to Tuli-chan for her help with this. ;) It might have gotten boring really fast otherwise. XD But anyway...all those that are interested in the 'Idea Contest', make sure to read the note after the chapter is over. ;) So, without further ado...here's the chapter. ^^

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**Chapter 122:**

Dark storm clouds filled the sky, them becoming so thick to the point of it appearing nighttime as far as the eye could see. The only light in the fake town of Karakura being the rapid lightning crashing down around the dragon-like creature that emerged from an enormous pillar of white and black spirit energy. This reiatsu all but shaking the earth and heavens as Toshiro walked forward with Yoruichi in his arms.

But the white haired captain did not appear as he did before; he now had a large set of white wings on his back that each stretched twenty-five feet in length. He also had a white, dragon-shaped mask that had black tribal-like markings on either side while a large, turquoise color, four point star covered the front. Though it could only be seen from the areas that his skin was showing, his whole body had become snowy white in color and even held similar tattoos as those upon his mask.

His white hair had become much longer, it stretching down midway past his thigh and seemed to flow not only down his back but even over his shoulders. Toshiro also had a fifteen foot long white tail that rose and curled into the air, but though it appeared somewhat thin, it was very clearly strong. This tail had small spikes leading down to the tip, each one being black in color and allowing them to be easily seen. Yet the hollow-like captain's eyes were shielded in the darkness of his mask and even the shadows that the clouded sky provided.

Though there was one thing missing from his appearance that he had before this transformation, no one even noticed as they just stared in shock and fear. As Toshiro walked forward, Aizen shifted his feet slightly as if readying for an attack, but he never had time to react as he was suddenly slammed to the side by Toshiro's tail. Whom of which was now standing directly behind where Aizen had just been, to which he slowly walked into a nearly collapsed house.

This causing everyone conscious, save for Toshiro, to become wide eyed in shock as the brown haired man flew across the town and slam into the barrier with enough force to make a long crack in it. Despite Toshiro going inside the house, Tosen immediately came charging in with his mask reactivated and his katana ready. But Toshiro just swiped his wing to the side and blasted Tosen back the way he came, to which he nearly collided with Aizen as he was going toward the newly transformed captain.

The white haired captain came up to a bed that had fallen from a higher level of the house and laid Yoruichi's dead body on it as if she were made of glass. He then let out a silent growl that sounded as though he were in pain, to which he placed a clawed hand to her forehead. Though Aizen reached Toshiro to watch this, he paused and immediately raised brow in light surprise.

"How interesting...I'm glad to see that I won't be fighting a simple minded monster." Aizen muttered silently as he eventually smirked.

"I suppose not putting Kurosaki Ichigo and yourself on the same level was the best choice." he continued as he watched Toshiro walk out of the house and turn his head directly toward Gin and Rangiku.

Though Toshiro's eyes still couldn't be seen, it seemed apparent of whom he was staring at, to which Aizen frowned and walked forward. As he approached, Aizen could hear Toshiro letting out a quiet growl, but as the icy captain flexed his claw-like fingers, he suddenly vanished from sight. Aizen's eyes widened heavily to this, him turning just in time to watch his face being grasped by a clawed hand. This caused the brown haired man's eyes to widen heavily as a white cero began gathering in Toshiro's hand.

As he watched this, Aizen grabbed Toshiro's wrist with one arm and swung his blade with the other. Yet his attempt was in vain as the icy captain caught Aizen's katana with his right hand and just clenched his face harder with his left. The brown haired man's eyes hardened as he ground his teeth and used all his strength in a last effort to get away. But he instantly froze in fear as Toshiro's eyes finally became visible from within his mask, his katana in Toshiro's hand even shook slightly as he could only stare.

The icy captain's eyes appeared to be solid crimson with a black slit pupil, yet the cold and merciless aura they gave made everything within Aizen's body to become paralyzed. "You're in the way." Toshiro said silently in a deep and very dark sounding voice, which caused Aizen's lungs to clench, not allowing his to take another breath.

But before he could recover any air, Toshiro fired the large cero, which disintegrated Aizen's head completely and even blew a hole through the barrier hundreds of yards away. After this happened, Tosen, Gin and Rangiku's eyes widened in shock as they just watched Aizen's decapitated body crumble to the ground. Yet Toshiro merely turned his blood freezing eyes toward Gin once more, but his sight of the sliver haired man was somewhat covered by Tosen. This made his red eyes to narrow slightly before he suddenly appeared in front of the tan man and stabbed his clawed hand through his chest.

"Move it." was all Toshiro said as his hand pierced out through Tosen's back, Rangiku' and Gin's eyes widening once more as they watched.

Tosen's own eyes also became wider as he turned his head to Toshiro in shock, him gasping for air before choking on his own blood. Much of the crimson color liquid gushing from both his wound and mouth as Tosen's body spasmed slightly from the pain. Then as the white haired captain swiped his arm across the air, he sent the tan man hurling down to a destroyed building, to which he created a gigantic crater upon impact.

Yet even as Toshiro tossed Tosen down, he immediately turned his sights over to Gin yet again, whom of which narrowed his eyes heavily and had his zanpakuto ready. But the icy captain just appeared in front of him and grabbed the silver haired man by the throat before he or Rangiku could even blink. Gin immediately lost most of the air in his lungs from the shock, to which he choked heavily and attempted to bring his zanpakuto up to stab Toshiro.

Though the blue eyed man nearly had the tip of his wakizashi pointed at the white haired captain, said hollowfied being grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm around and made him stab himself in the shoulder. Gin ground his teeth in pain as he brought his free hand up to Toshiro's as it continued to choke him; "Looks like..you're..pretty mad...'Gaya." he said between strained gasps for air.

The icy captain narrowed his red eyes on Gin, whom froze up in fear just as Aizen did before him. But as Toshiro let out a silent growl and dug his claws into the man's flesh, he briefly paused when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him from just a few feet away. "CAPTAIN!"

After this scream, Toshiro turned his head toward Rangiku almost directly next to him, yet his eyes were immediately hidden from her from behind his mask. "Don't kill him Captain! Even though what he's done is unforgivable...you promised me!" Rangiku continued as she had her hands pressed against the walls of the barrier, her having small tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Please Captain. I understand how much you want to kill him for what he did to her, but I need to know. Give me this one thing before you kill him Captain...please." Rangiku continued, her anger and confusion toward Gin's actions, sadness for Yoruichi's death and pain for having to watch her friend suffer so much showing all at once.

Toshiro seemed to stare at her for a long while with a silent growl, his grip on Gin's neck tightening further and further as blood dripped from his claws. But after what seemed like an eternity, the white haired captain turned his head toward Gin and slowly released his neck. As soon as he did, the blue eyed man immediately fell to his knees and began gasping for air, to which he coughed a few times in doing so.

"Fine." was all that was heard from Toshiro, his hollowfied voice having a dark and somewhat deep tone to it.

Immediately following his single word, Toshiro smashed the barrier with a swing of his tail, to which he turned his head to the side. Rangiku stepped forward a few steps, to which she looked from Toshiro to Gin, her giving the latter a burning glare of hate. But then she quickly turned back to Toshiro and hugged him tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks as she did. "I'm sorry Captain...I'm so sorry." she whispered out as her trembling arms continued to hug her superior.

Though Toshiro seemed to remain motionless, one of his hands clenched tightly and even drew blood as Rangiku eventually released him. The strawberry blond stared into the eye sockets of Toshiro's mask for a moment before kissing the surface of it, directly where his cheek would be. She then turned to Gin as he stood himself up, to which she glared at him once more; "I have a few questions...and you're going to answer them before you die." she stated with so much anger in her tone that it seemed like she would kill him right there, but the tears of sadness in her eyes spoke differently.

The white haired captain just turned himself away from this silently for a few moments. He then immediately sonidoed away and came up to the house that he placed Yoruichi inside of and stood right outside, yet at an angle that allowed him to see her. He stayed motionless for a long while before he heard a small movement to the side, to which he slowly turned his head at the beheaded body of Aizen. Toshiro then moved toward him, but just as he knelt down and sunk his claws into his chest to grab the Hogyoku, an enormous blast of purple reiatsu erupted from the small glowing gem. Though nothing happened to Toshiro himself, he stood up and backed up slightly and seemed to just watch.

As the reiatsu finally stopped, it revealed Aizen standing there with a wide smirk and a heavily changed appearance. "I am quite grateful to you...Hitsugaya. Thanks to you giving me the fear of death, the Hogyoku has evolved a step further and has transformed me to a being even higher than what I was before." Aizen said with a smirk.

Said man's eyes remained the same, but his hair was even longer and thicker then before, yet it was still swept back and out of his face. This allowed Toshiro to see a strange, black, sideways eye-like gem in the center of his forehead. Though his outfit was now a simple one piece robe, the place where the Hogyoku was had long purple lines leading away from the strange stone. These lines had spread across Aizen's body, but while most of them lead up to his neck and shoulders, they never touched his skin.

But the biggest changes that happened on the brown haired man were the three sets of feathered wings on his back. These making him appear like an angel as each wing stretched as long as his body and high above his head. Yet none of this made the icy captain before him even move a muscle, to which Aizen raised a brow briefly before he brought his katana out. This blade being fused to the brown haired man's hand with a strange white armor covering it; "I'm glad to see that you haven't gone mad in fear of me. Despite it being obvious that I am now more powerful than you." Aizen said as his smirk widened slightly.

Toshiro just remained motionless for a while before his head tilted up to look at Aizen, his crimson eyes becoming visible once more. But unlike the previous time, the brown haired man didn't show any sign of fear, to which they stared into one another's eyes for a brief moment before spoke up in an amused tone.

"Our battles have been nothing but going back and forth between one another. First you overpower me in our base forms, but then I over power you after I've awakened the Hogyoku's power. Then you over power me with the release of your hollow powers and now I trump even that with reaching my next evolution with the Hogyoku." the brown haired man stated as he stepped forward.

Toshiro watched this with emotionless eyes, which just seemed become an even deeper red as he sonidoed toward Aizen and sent a powerful punch right at his chest. But the purple eyed man just smirked lightly and raised his left arm, to which it snapped in half and burned almost completely away from the cero blast that followed. Yet Aizen barely seemed to flinch as he still blocked the strike and didn't move his body what so ever.

Though the same could not be said for everything else in the path of Toshiro's attack, which was blasted to either side and even put a thin, but long crack in the barrier. Yet as the white haired captain and Aizen made eye contact once more, the latter's eyes widened slightly as if realizing something. But he quickly returned to normal as he grinned widely at Toshiro; "Excellent. You really do have the power I require for my true test of power." Aizen stated as his arm healed quickly, despite the icy captain still having his fist pressed against it.

"However..." he continued as he brought his katana up slightly; "...I cannot allow us to have a full out fight here." the brown haired man finished as he slashed toward Toshiro with great speed.

Though the icy captain ducked under this attack, he sent a quick punch into Aizen's ribs, which cracked under the stress. But Toshiro wasn't finished, he immediately gathered a large cero in his other hand and threw it straight into Aizen's stomach. This blast created a shallow burn in the purple eyed man's stomach, but nothing more as much of the cero's energy was blown to either side of Aizen.

After this attack, Toshiro and Aizen made eye contact yet again, the two seeming to narrow their eyes slightly before they both sent slashing directly into one another. The resulting shock wave blasted everything in a two hundred foot radius to dust, it coming within mere yards of where Retsu and Isane were healing the injured. But as Aizen's blade continued to grind against Toshiro's steel-like skin, the former just let out a sigh as his injuries healed instantly.

"Sorry, but I can't risk my plans any further. I require all of the town's inhabitants to make the Oken." the brown haired man said before vanishing in a flash of light and appearing high in the air.

As Toshiro tilted his head up to the man, his blood red eyes slightly widened when he heard Aizen mutter out; "Bankai."

Immediately following this, the entire world around him became distorted for a moment, to which it completely changed a landscape similar to Hueco Mundo. This made Toshiro narrow his eyes and look around quickly, him not seeing any one else but Aizen, to which he turned back to said man as he landed sand a few yards away from him. "Genso no Sekai." the brown haired man said with a wide smirk.

"I hope you've enjoyed reality..." Aizen began as thousands upon thousands of hollows appeared around them; "...because now you'll be stuck within an illusion. But at least it'll be in a world that looks close to home." he continued as all of the hollows charged a cero in their mouths.

Toshiro glanced around for a moment before just jumped above the blasts, but just as they collided, he felt the full force of the attacks. He ground his teeth slightly as he narrowed his eyes, but then widened them as he saw that he hadn't moved from his original place. Aizen smirked widely to this and stepped forward; "Fascinating...isn't it? All that is reality is a simple illusion, while all that is an illusion becomes a reality." the brown haired man said as he stopped directly in front of Toshiro.

"So while these hollows of illusion become real, you, your power and even movements of reality become an illusion." he continued as Toshiro's eyes widened from behind his mask.

"Have fun." was the last thing Aizen said before he suddenly vanished as though he had never been there to begin with.

The white haired captain narrowed his eyes heavily as he looked around as all the hollows once again charged their ceros. "Damn it." he muttered silently, yet angrily.

As Aizen opened his eyes and looked to the spot that Toshiro had once been, he then looked around the destroyed fake Karakura town. "I suppose it's about time I head to Soul Society." he said silently before turning to Gin as he appeared next to him.

"Sorry I'm late Captain Aizen. Took me a bit longer ta get rid o' her then I thought." the silver haired man said as he turned his closed eyes to Aizen.

Said purple eyed man stared at him for a while, but as he looked over to the side for a moment, he raised a brow and turned back to Gin. "I don't feel her reiatsu at all. I'm surprised...I always thought that you held some degree of emotion for her." he said with an almost testing tone.

Gin just smiled at him and gave a light shrug; "Emotions? Nope, I've got nothin' like that. I told ya when we first met, didn't I? I'm a snake. With cold skin, no emotions, that slithers around searching for prey with its tongue, swallowing down whatever looks tasty." he said as he and Aizen just stared at one another for a while.

But as Aizen was about to say something, he was interrupted when he saw Ichigo suddenly appeared through a garganta to the side of him. Yet the moment he looked at the area around him and saw Aizen's form with Gin directly beside him, his eyes widened as far as they could possibly go. "I-Impossible...To-Toshiro was..." was all the teen could mutter out silently.

Aizen and Gin looked at Ichigo for a few moments before the former's smirk widened and he suddenly appeared directly in front of the orange haired teen. "Hitsugaya Toshiro...is no longer here, and the rest of the Gotei Thirteen have fallen. You've failed." the brown haired man stated as he placed a hand to Ichigo's chest, this causing Ichigo to feel almost the full force of Aizen's reiatsu.

As the teen looked up at Aizen in shock, his body trembled in both fear and the brown haired man's massive spirit energy, to which his breathing almost fully stopped. Upon seeing this, the purple eyed man smirked wider and just pushed Ichigo over like a mere doll, the teen unable to brace himself under the weight of Aizen's power as he fell. "Though I should rid myself of you now, I think I'll leave you as a witness to my rise as a god." the purple eyed man said silently before turning away, walking toward Gin and giving him a light nod.

Said silver haired man returned the gesture before quickly opening a senkaimon and allowed Aizen to walk through, to which he followed after him. But just before disappearing inside the gate, Gin glanced back toward a spot just behind Ichigo and gave a short nod. Though the teen didn't see this, he immediately snapped his attention from where Aizen and Gin vanished from to the source of a voice beside him. "Ichigo."

When he turned and looked up, Ichigo's eyes widened once more in shock as he saw his father leaning against his own katana for support. But while Isshin was cut and bleeding on various areas of his body, he didn't appear to be in much pain from any of his injuries. "D-Dad?" Ichigo muttered out, him finally able to speak and sit himself up as the force of Aizen's reiatsu released him.

Yet even as Isshin came up toward his son, he suddenly collapsed on the ground directly in front of him, to which Ichigo's eyes widened and he immediately rolled himself onto his knees. But as he crawled over to Isshin, he quickly noticed much blood coming out of the man and forming a small puddle around him. "DAD!"

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Alright...well, I hope you all enjoyed. Make sure to R&R (which I didn't even know what it stood for till like a month ago. XD And I think it's more effective at the beginning. =/ So next time I'll do it right. Lol.) Anyway, time for the info about the contest: It's an idea contest that involves you (the readers) to think up an idea for a chapter. ;) So basically all it is; you make a quick summery of what you overall chapter would be and send it to me. But of course it has to take place during the events of the Zanpakuto arc. ;) (And yes...I chose that one because everyone always says that it was the best filler arc that Bleach has. And in my opinion...they're right. XD) But I digress...I'll be choosing either the top five, or top three ideas (depending on how many I get...which thus far is only two, but they were pretty much te same thing, an Olympics. ^^). So I hope to see more ideas from everyone soon, see you all next week. Ja Ne.


	123. Chapter 123

Warning: There will be a rated 'M' moment in this chapter do to a very gory scene. Read at your own risk...though I'm sure most of us don't. XD

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**Chapter 123:**

-Unknown Area-

Toshiro glared at all of the hollows that surrounded him, the white haired captain having many heavy burns all across his body. None of which were regenerating as his clothes were now reduced to only a quarter of his haori and most of his kimono pants. Even his wings were completely crippled, them having burns, tears and even large holes, which made flight impossible.

"Shit...I can't dodge or do anything to avoid their blasts." the icy captain muttered in a growl as even his mask was half broken.

'No matter what I do, it's just a simple illusion...which means I can't do anything.' he thought silently as yet another barrage of ceros hit his body and exploded.

When the blast calmed, Toshiro ground his teeth from pain as even more burns were engraved into his flesh. Yet none of the hollows even hesitated as they began charging their own respective ceros once again, to which the white haired captain let out a growl. But he merely accepted another wave of ceros, each one creating more injuries and even shattered the lower half of the remainder of his mask.

'Think...every Bankai has a weakness. Especially those that are this powerful. Mine is the split second my defense falls when I activate it, Yamamoto's is his low defense against long range attacks. Rangiku's is the same as Byakuya's, they both have a safe zone and Komamura's is the fact that he is injured along with the giant he summons.' Toshiro thought to himself as he looked around quickly.

But as he did, another blast of ceros hit him, to which he fell to his knees and began breathing heavily. "My body can't take much more." he began with a growling groan of pain.

'Without my high speed regeneration powers...being hit by five thousand hollows on a constant basis from every direction fifty-seven times is truly taking it's toll. If i don't find the weakness soon, I'll be dead.' the icy captain thought, him clenching his claw-like hands as another wave of ceros bombarded his body.

Even as the blasts burned more of his skin away and reduced it to ash, Toshiro's mind still continued to work vigorously. "What can I do?" he muttered quietly through gritted teeth.

'Aizen said that everything that is reality is now an illusion and that all illusions have become reality. So I need to create an illusion to beat these things...but my powers have no effect here, so even if I could create an illusion, it wouldn't work. So how?' he spoke in his mind as he stood back to his feet slowly.

'Moving my body becomes an illusion, using my reiatsu becomes an illusion, even using Hyorinmaru would become an illusion.' Toshiro continued as the hollows around him sent another barrage of ceros at him.

But as the white haired captain's mind continued to race, his eyes narrowed slightly as it seemed as though the faster his brain processed everything, the slower the ceros seemed to go. This caused him to smirk lightly even as the crimson energy engulfed him and created yet another explosion that burned at Toshiro's body.

"I see...so that's how it works. It's a commendable weakness since not many are capable of such imagination. But thankfully, I'm not one of those people." the icy captain said to himself as he just closed his eyes.

As he did this, the wounds on his body suddenly began to heal and another Toshiro appeared directly in front of the original. Though this other Toshiro's eyes were open, he had just as wide of a smirk on his face, to which he then vanished in a sonido. The moment he reappeared, he was on the other side of the real Toshiro and simply glanced around to the hollows as blood gushed out of them. But as each of the creatures fell to the sand, they eventually vanished in a similar fashion to normal hollows.

Once they were all gone, the other Toshiro glanced around for a few moments before he saw Aizen's image shimmer into existence. Said brown haired man smirked widely and clapped his hands together; "Well done Hitsugaya. You have passed the first level of my Bankai." he began, glancing between both Toshiros.

"And of course, I'm sure you know by now that your original body can no longer be harmed by attacks from the outside. But now that you've created an image of yourself through your mind...you hold both your fates in your hands. Of course, you still have three levels left to go...and each one will become more difficult than the last, so I hope you're mentally prepared for what you're about to go through." Aizen stated before vanishing immediately afterward.

The second he disappeared, the area around both Toshiros changed, it becoming similar to that of his home back in Rukongai. This made the other Toshiro to narrow his eyes, him giving a glance at the original Toshiro, whom remained fully motionless. But then his eyes widened slightly as he realized that while the original Toshiro remained the same, he had become the same age as he had been the day he met Yoruichi.

"Wh-What?" he muttered aloud before quickly turning as his adoptive father suddenly punched him across the face.

'Toshiro's' eyes widened even further, him just looking at Kansoyue with a mixture between confusion and burning hatred. But as the man came closer, 'Toshiro' found himself suddenly frozen in fear, it seeming very familiar as he could only watch Kansoyue hit him once more. "You damn pathetic waste of space! You ruined my plans to gain favor with the Kuchiki clan! That was the only reason why I adopted you in the first place! Now I'm stuck with you!" he screamed out with a kick to 'Toshiro's' ribs.

As the other Toshiro stood himself up painfully, he glared heavily to Kansoyue and ground his teeth angrily. 'Damn it...I've been reduced to what I was a hundred and thirty years ago.' he thought as his body froze in fear once more as the brown haired man cam up and back handed him across the face.

"Just go and get yourself killed in Zaraki like all those other idiots! Get out of my sight so I never have to look at your hideous hair again!" Kansoyue yelled and sent a kick into 'Toshiro's' stomach before he could stand.

'Shit...even though his hits wouldn't normally be enough to kill me, it seems that they're getting stronger after each one. If I don't figure how to get out of this one too, he might end up killing me in a few more minutes.' Toshiro thought as he gasped for air, but was cut short when the brown haired man punched him across the face.

This blow knocked 'Toshiro' way back and directly into a tree, this giving him the opportunity to see that each injury was sustaining was being transferred to his original body. 'Aizen was right...I thought that this illusionary body would take all the damage, but even my real one is being hurt.' he thought quickly.

Yet he was immediately grabbed by the front of his clothes and thrown hard into the side of another tree, which broke in half on contact. As 'Toshiro' landed on the ground he gasped for air and glared at Kansoyue; "Looks like I'm going to be able to give you the thrashing I've wanted to give you since the day I met you." he muttered out silently as he stood up.

Though Kansoyue didn't seem fazed by his words, he did pause briefly in his steps, which 'Toshiro' noticed immediately. But the white haired captain still wasn't able to fully dodge away from the brown haired man's kick to his stomach, to which he was knocked back and down on the ground. Yet this blow was far weaker than the one 'Toshiro' had been hit by just a few moments ago, this made him narrow his eyes slightly as he sat himself up.

'It's fear...that's the whole point. This world is playing on the dormant fear I have of that man. But the less fear I feel...the less powerful he'll become.' the icy captain thought as he gained a small smirk.

As he did, 'Toshiro' immediately got to his feet, dodged away from a wild punch for Kansoyue and sent one of his own to the man's ribs. The moment his fist made contact, 'Toshiro' felt his strength returning, to which he then followed up with another punch to the brown haired man's face. This attack blasting him backward and directly into a small house a few dozen yards away, 'Toshiro' quickly noticing that it was the home he used to live in.

Upon seeing his adoptive father crashing into this structure, both Toshiros gained a smirk as the illusionary one regained his original form. But then he snapped his attention over to Aizen as said man appeared once more with another round of clapping. "Well done Hitsugaya. You've even passed this stage...and with record time too." he began as he walked toward the original Toshiro.

"I guess choosing the memory of your 'father' would only slow you down so much when you already have so much pent up anger toward him. But I'm sure the last two will be more than enough to test just how strong your mind truly is...especially the last." was the last thing Aizen said before vanishing.

The moment he was gone, the area around both Toshiros changed once more, this one appearing like the Menos Forest within Hueco Mundo. This caused the illusionary Toshiro to raise a brow in confusion, but then as he saw a brief flash, his eyes narrowed and he quickly dodged away from a punch. But when this blow hit the ground, the earth uplifted and shattered apart twenty feet in every direction.

Once 'Toshiro' landed off to the side, he quickly shifted his gaze around the area, him catching a brief flash of purple, to which his eyes widened briefly. But he immediately had to side flip away from another attack from behind, to which he then blocked a kick in midair. His eyes narrowed heavily as he saw Yoruichi's cold expression, to which he quickly pushed her away.

As they landed a dozen yards away from each other, 'Toshiro's' eyes narrowed even more and he clenched his hands into fists. 'Aizen should know that something like this can't get to me. I already know that she's already dead, so it isn't-' but his thoughts were cut short as Yoruichi suddenly vanished.

"You damn filth! I hate hollows!" she screamed out, causing 'Toshiro' to just freeze in shock before just barely dodging out of the way of the purple haired woman's downward kick.

'What was that? I already got it through my head that she isn't real, so why did I suddenly stop when she said that?' the white haired captain thought to himself before he was suddenly hit from behind.

This blow knocked 'Toshiro' forward, but before he could stop himself, he was immediately hit once more in the back and sent straight into the ground. Yet the attack wasn't over, 'Toshiro' then rolled away as Yoruichi's fist came hurling down at his head. Once he had gotten away from this, he instantly sonidoed away and a few yards back, to which his eyes widened once more.

Standing beside Yoruichi were Rangiku and Soifon, both of whom had similar cold expressions as the purple haired woman. But 'Toshiro's' eyes widened even further as all three women spoke in unison; "We're going to exterminate the abomination that you are, Hollow."

Immediately following their words, all three women jumped toward him at extreme speeds, yet Toshiro's mind worked even faster as he could only stare at them in shock. 'I see...this is my fear of being what I am. I'm afraid of the people I'm closest to despising and hating me for it. But how do I overcome this? This fear comes from within myself, not from someone else causing it.' he thought silently as the three came closer and closer to him.

'Toshiro' took in a short breath before he suddenly vanished from his spot and reappeared far off to the side. But when he did, each of the women flipped themselves around and came back toward him with even greater speed. However, midway through their attack, they spread out and came at him from all different directions. Once they were within a yard of him, 'Toshiro' readied his body to move, but was stopped as Yoruichi yelled at him. "Why don't you just do this world a favor and just die!"

The moment he heard this, 'Toshiro' couldn't help but pause once more, but was instantly snapped out of his daze when he heard all three women call out 'Shunko'. Though each of them were a foot away from the icy captain upon saying this, he wasn't able to get away in time as he was engulfed in an extremely powerful white kido. This blast tearing at his flesh and clothes, him being left with only half of his hakama pants and such deep injuries across his body that parts of his skeleton were visible.

"D-Damn it..." he muttered out as he fell to the ground, his body shaking in pain as he could only watch Yoruichi, Rangiku and Soifon jump into the air to finish him off.

As he watched, 'Toshiro' clenched the ground beneath him and clenched his teeth in both sadness and anger. 'What am I supposed to do? Even knowing that they aren't real, just hearing those words in their voices makes it impossible to suppress my fear. How can I beat this?!' he screamed in his head.

But just as the three women's attacks came toward him, his vision was filled with light before going dark. Yet even as this happened, Toshiro heard faint voices in his mind, it being of when he revealed his true identity to everyone in the Gotei Thirteen.

"_I don't care what you are Captain. You are my Captain and I will follow you even if it means turning against Soul Society."_

"_They will have to kill me a thousand times over before I allow anyone even come close to you Captain Hitsugaya."_

_"Well if the whole Soul Society turns against you even after everything you've done for it...then the hell with them."_

Immediately following these words, the original Toshiro's eyes snapped open, to which he looked at Yoruichi, Rangiku and Soifon as the illusion of himself vanished. Then as the women attacked the empty space, nothing happened, each of the three suddenly disappearing as well. Toshiro shifted his gaze to Aizen as once again, he appeared to the side and clapped his hands with a wide grin on his face.

"Most impressive Hitsugaya. You have successfully reached the very last level of my Bankai. Defeat it...and you'll be free to leave this place. But I do hope you're prepared...what you're about to witness just might be enough to defeat even you." the brown haired man stated with an even wider grin then before as he faded away.

Instantly after he was gone, the area changed yet again, but what Toshiro saw was enough for his eyes to widen heavily. He was standing on a high hill overlooking all of Seireitei, but the usually organized and proud structures were now either frozen over, completely destroy or on fire. There were also thousands upon thousands of dead bodies laying everywhere around the area, most of which were positioned in a way that looked like they had been trying to get away from him.

But along with all these bodies, there was a sea of blood that stained the grass and earth, which made the entire world seem like it turned crimson red. Yet even after seeing all these bodies and blood, Toshiro's eyes finally widened to their fullest extent when he saw the first recognizable person among the corpses. This being the Head Captain, whom was sliced in half by the waist, had his throat completely ripped open and eyes gouged out.

Though Toshiro quickly looked away, everything he saw was far from better as he noticed Retsu and Komamura near of his own feet. Both of which looked as though they were dissected, their stomachs and chests being sliced open and their insides spilling out. Even their hearts were visible, this causing Toshiro's eyes to stay widened as it was apparent to his expert eye that they were still alive when this happened to them.

The icy captain turned his eyes away once more, yet his breath hitched in his throat when he saw Jushiro, Shunsui and Byakuya. All of which had their limbs cut off, skulls smashed together and their own zanpakutos stabbed into their hearts. As Toshiro saw this, he tried to close his eyes immediately, but nothing happened no matter how hard he tried. When he finally gave up, his gaze shifted upward in an attempt to get the images out of his mind.

But when did, his eyes widened even further as he saw the bodies of Shuhei, Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika hanging from trees, each one having their skin ripped away. As the white haired captain turned away, he felt a drop of blood fall onto his cheek, to which he couldn't stop his eyes from watching it fall on his right hand. Yet when he saw the blood touch his hand, he finally saw his blood stained zanpakuto in his hand, which was still impaled on Soifon's chest.

Said raven haired woman was shaking as she tried to remove the blade from her body, but she couldn't gather any strength to do so. She also had long and deep gashes all across her body, her blood gushing forth and flowing onto the already blood stained ground. Toshiro immediately tried to move his hand, but it wouldn't obey his command, causing his eyes to widen further in sadness and horror. Though the harder he seemed to try, the tighter his grip on his zanpakuto became, to which Toshiro's eyes attempted to create tears, yet nothing came.

As he watched the life leave Soifon's eyes, he noticed them looking to his left hand, Toshiro quickly following her gaze. Yet he instantly regretted it as he saw both Rangiku and Yoruichi laying dead at his feet, but the latter was in the icy clutches of his left hand. The strawberry blond had her head halfway cut off, her arms and legs broken in ninety degree angles and skull bashed in from the back.

Yoruichi had her legs sliced open to reveal her bones, her arms were ripped completely off and face cut in various placed. All the while, her neck was remained in the icy captain's hand as no part of his body would listen to him, regardless of how much he wished for it to stop. Toshiro had even stopped breathing upon looking at this scene, his mind finally able to react to everything he was seeing as his eyes shifted from corpse to corpse.

'Th-This...isn't real. This is an illusion. This can't be real!' he screamed in his mind, his mouth not moving as his only expression could be read through his eyes.

-Karakura Town-

A shadowed figure moved across the town, it suddenly appearing near of where Ichigo was shaking his father as said man groaned silently in pain. But the person vanished soon after as the raven haired man eventually pushed himself up with his arms and smirked to his son. "Don't count me out yet...I still have plenty left in me." Isshin claimed as he wobbled slightly to his feet.

Though the shadowed being moved farther away from the pair, they could still hear Ichigo making a comment about how bad of a liar his father was. But they soon came to a stop as Kisuke came into view, whom moved toward Yoruichi's dead body, him placing a hand to hers before her body suddenly swelled up and popped. As the figure came closer, it revealed to be Yoruichi herself, but when she reached the blond man, she suddenly slapped him across the face.

"I can't believe you did this to him!" she screamed out as she grabbed Kisuke by his front, curled her hand into a fist and punched him hard.

The blond just took these blows and hid his eyes under his hat, a bit of blood dripping from his mouth; "I'm sorry Yoruichi. But you know why I had to." he said silently as he stood himself up.

"I'm sure Toshiro had accounted for the fact that his powers would throw the balance off the spirit particles in the pillars. I know he wouldn't have let the barrier fall." the tan woman claimed as she continued to keep her eyes narrowed on her friend.

Kisuke glanced down for a moment as he wiped the blood from his chin and looked at her with shadowed eyes; "Of course he did. That's why he had Shinji and the others stationed at each pillar...and that's also why I asked Kukaku and Kaien to fill in their spots when Aizen defeated them." he said, turning his head to a large hole in the wall nearby.

As he looked, he saw Kukaku far out in the distance, her standing a top one of the pillars, yet she appeared heavily exhausted as she breathed heavily. "And if I hadn't made this plan to get Aizen and Toshiro out of the World of the Living, then hundreds of people may have died from the force of their reiatsu." Kisuke said as he and Yoruichi walked out of the house.

"How could you have possibly known that Gin would go for me?" the golden eyed woman asked with narrowed eyes.

But when Kisuke didn't turn to her, or even shift his gaze, Yoruichi's eyes widened slightly before narrowing again. "When did you even talk to him to set that up?" he demanded as she stopped in her tracks.

The blond tilted his head down for a moment before glancing over to her and letting out a breath; "I had some help from Tessai and quite a number of his forbidden kidos." he began, turning his head to the side.

"So that's why he couldn't come with us." Yoruichi stated, her tone sounding somewhat bitter.

Kisuke looked back to her before down at the rubble covered ground; "It pains me to have to use my own friends in this manner, but we don't have much choice when the fate of the World of the Living, Soul Society and even Hueco Mundo are at stake." he said, adjusting his hat so it would fully cover his eyes.

"But how do you know that Toshiro will make it out in time to stop Aizen?" the purple haired woman asked, her tone still making it evident that she was furious.

"I don't." was all the blond said as he looked over to Isshin and Ichigo, the latter of which helped the former to walk toward over to Kisuke and Yoruichi.

"Urahara-san...what happened to Toshiro? Aizen said that he-" Ichigo began, but was cut off as Kisuke looked at him with a slight glare.

"He's trapped inside of Aizen's Bankai at the moment, there isn't any way for his to escape unless he does it on his own. So we can't expect any help from him anymore." the blond stated firmly.

"But we have to help hi-" yet once again, the orange haired teen was cut off as Isshin headbutted him in the side of the head.

"We can't back track Ichigo. Toshiro knew the risks of fighting Aizen when he came here, so the least we can do is kill Aizen." the raven haired man claimed as he looked at his son with a serious expression.

Ichigo looked at him for a moment in slight shock before turning to Kisuke and Yoruichi, to which he nodded his head with determination in his eyes. "Alright...so how do we finish this fight?" the teen asked as each of the other three shared a knowing glance with each other.

"The Final Getsuga Tensho." all three friends said at the same time.


	124. Chapter 124

**Chapter 124:**

-Unknown Area-

Toshiro ground his teeth heavily as he tried to turn his head away from everything he saw, but no matter what direction he looked, he saw more and more dead bodies. Yet even without looking at this scene, just the simple smell was enough for the icy captain's mind to start panicking. 'This isn't real. It's just an illusion! I know that none of this is really happening, I just have to move past these images and get out of this place!' Toshiro all but screamed in his mind.

But the longer Toshiro looked and even smelled all the mutilated bodies, the less he was able to think straight. To which he eventually began shaking in horror and shock, his nerves and senses being overwhelmed by everything. All the while, the white haired captain was calm and collected on the outside, his body not allowing any inward expression to come forth.

'Concentrate...none of this is real, it's an illusion to break my will. I have to endure and push past my fear of this happening.' Toshiro thought silently as he took in deep breaths through his mouth as to avoid the smell.

As he continued to just stand there, his eye lids began twitching from the overwhelming urge to close his sight off from everything. Yet no matter how long he stood there, his senses were unable to ignore the horrible and powerful things around him. 'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I can't do this! It won't stop!' he screamed within his mind as it seemed ready to break at any second.

But suddenly, Toshiro's eyes widened to their fullest extent as he heard a voice, to which tears finally reached his eyes. "T-To...shi...ro..."

When he turned his head over to Yoruichi in his left hand, whole body trembled as he completely stopped breathing. Yoruichi cracked a golden eye open, which looked directly at him as she spoke in a blood gurgled voice. "Why?"

Her single word made Toshiro's mind crack heavily and cause him to release an enormous amount of reiatsu in every direction. All the while, the white haired captain screamed in pain as tears flowed from his eyes and all of the dead bodies flew away from him. "STOOOP!" he yelled out to no one.

Immediately follow this, Aizen appeared with a grin and came walking up to the icy captain, to which his sudden surge of power slowly seized. "Oh~? But I was having so much fun watching you squirm." the brown haired man stated as he glanced to the scene around them.

Toshiro just narrowed his eyes heavily, but then they widened as he saw cracks appearing in the area around them. Aizen also became wide eyed to this, to which he eventually glared toward Toshiro and ground his teeth in aggravation. "Damn you...I didn't think you would have enough power to actually break through my Bankai." was all he managed to say before he and the entire world around Toshiro simply shattered apart.

Immediately afterward, Toshiro looked around quickly, him seeing that he was back in the Fake Karakura town. But as he wiped the tears from his eyes, he immediately saw Yoruichi and Kisuke off to the side, to which his eyes widened heavily in shock once more. "Y-Yoruichi..." he muttered out as his throat clenched up and his body froze in place.

Yoruichi quickly noticed him to the side and shunpoed directly into him, knocking him down in the process. "Toshiro! Oh my god Toshiro! You're okay!" the purple haired woman called out in joy as she hugged the white haired captain tightly.

But as all this happened, Toshiro was too distracted by Yoruichi's sudden appearance to notice the small shimmer in the landscape that occurred each time Aizen's Bankai would change setting. Though the icy captain felt like he wanted to suspect something, his mind wouldn't allow him. Toshiro being unable to reach past the fact that he was away from the horrible effects of Aizen's Bankai and that Yoruichi was right in front of him.

"Yorui..chi, but...how?" he questioned as Yoruichi smiled to him through tear filled eyes.

"Kisuke...he used a dummy right at the last second and saved me. He wanted to try and tell you, but you reacted so quickly that he wasn't able to. But it doesn't matter, I'm just glad that you're alright...what happened to you?" the tan woman asked back as she seemed to refuse to let go of Toshiro.

"I-I...was trapped in Aizen's Bankai...I had to endure quite a number of things before I was able to break myself free." he said with a slight shutter as if trying to free himself of the horrifying things he saw.

"Aizen's Bankai?" Yoruichi echoed in shock before looking Toshiro over a few times; "Are you sure you're okay? I can only image what kind of sick and twisted Bankai that freak would have."

Toshiro let out a breath and nodded lightly; "Yeah...it was indeed quite terrifying. But I made it through with the help of a few experiences." he said with a small smirk as he looked at her.

Yoruichi blinked at him at first but then smiled wiped away her tears and stared back at him; "I hope they were good experiences." she commented before giving him a light kiss to his cheek.

The white haired captain nodded once more and smirked a bit wider; "They were." he muttered silently as he finally wrapped his arms around his purple haired friend.

Whom of which hugged him tighter and let out a few shaky breaths as if to show that she was still getting over the fact that Toshiro was alive. But as they stayed in one another's embrace, Toshiro eventually looked to Kisuke, who just watched the two. Yet the icy captain noticed something strange in his presence, as though he were simply a mere shadow of himself.

Though Toshiro's mind tried to think on his, it was quickly distracted when Yoruichi blocked his view of the blond man and quickly kissed him deeply on the lips. Despite this sudden action shocking the white haired captain slightly, his previous thoughts about everything just vanished and he returned the kiss. Which seemed to last for hours, yet only seconds went by before Toshiro was released from the locking of the lips. "Y-Yoruichi..." he muttered out as his mind began to feel cloudy.

The tan woman merely placed a finger to Toshiro's lips and smirked lightly; "Shh. Don't worry Toshiro...I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." she said as she kept him in her embrace.

Toshiro began to smile lightly as he hugged Yoruichi a bit tighter, him feeling the happiness of her return full force. "I-" he began silently, but was suddenly interrupted by a thundering voice in his head that echoed loudly.

"_What are you doing Master? You know this is not the real world, why are you accepting it so easily after a few mere lies?"_

The white haired captain widened his eyes slightly in shock as Yoruichi's form shimmered for a moment like oil in water. He then stood up quickly and immediately turned around, to which he suddenly found himself in his own inner world. "Wh-What?" he muttered out over the howling winds.

As he continued to look around, Toshiro quickly turned and saw Hyorinmaru in his dragon form only a few feet from him. _"You are still within Aizen Sosuke's Bankai. The first four levels were merely to show you despair, only to trap you within the final level since it shows you a world that you wish to come true."_ the ice dragon spoke as his voice all but halted the blizzard whipping around the only two living beings.

Toshiro looked up at Hyorinmaru with shocked eyes before tilting his head down and giving a small smirk; "You're right. I let my guard down the second I saw Yoruichi alive. I just have to accept the fact that she's gone and fight on, so her death won't be in vain." he stated, looking up at his zanpakuto spirit once more.

"Thank you, Hyorinmaru." he finished before turning around, him appearing back in the illusion of the Fake Karakura town.

But the moment he did, he smirked lightly, clenched his hands into fists and let out a huge surge of reiatsu. Upon this action, both Yoruichi and Kisuke vanished, then the world around him distorted as though it had become gelatin. Toshiro smirked a bit wider as he then relaxed his hands and simply walked forward, him suddenly appearing in the real Fake Karakura town in his hollow-like form. As he looked around, he noticed that he was in the exact spot he had been before entering Aizen's Bankai.

"This is the real thing, right?" he questioned aloud, to which he raised his right hand out to the side.

"_Yes."_ was all that was heard in Toshiro's mind before Hyorinmaru suddenly came flying directly into his master's hand.

Once the white haired captain caught his katana, he let out a breath as his whole body began to glow a subtle white before his hollow-like form vanished. But when it did, the blade he reforged from Kusaka's broken one appeared in his left hand, to which Toshiro smirked a bit wider. Yet when he sheathed both blades at the same time, he started to look around once more and instantly noticed Kukaku and Kaien off to the side.

The two siblings walked slowly and almost painfully toward a direction to the icy captain's right, to which he raised a brow. "What happened?" he questioned silently before following after the pair quickly.

As he came up behind them, Toshiro was just about to ask them about what occurred in his absence, but instantly stopped when he saw Yoruichi. "W-What?" he muttered out in shock, Kaien and Kukaku turning to him at the sound of his voice.

"Toshiro!" the raven haired woman called out as she immediately came up to Toshiro and looked him over for injuries.

But as the icy captain didn't appear to even notice her as she finished checking him for wounds, she frowned slightly and hit him in the back of the head. "Hey! Don't ignore me just because you see your 'first' girlfriend." she claimed, crossing her real and fake arm in the process.

Toshiro blinked to her as Kaien came over and patted his sister on the shoulder; "Now now, don't be too mean to him." he said as he looked to the white haired captain with a smirk.

But after his words, Kaien quickly had to duck under a swinging fist as Kukaku looked to him with a clenched fist. "I haven't even begun to be mean to him. And if he doesn't want me to, then he should look at me a bit more." she declared as she turned to Toshiro quickly, her chest swaying slightly as she did.

The icy captain sweat dropped to this and just gave her a light nod; "Sorry...but a lot has happened." he responded with, to which Kukaku gave an approving shrug.

"So what did happen? You just suddenly vanished while we were trying to keep the barrier up." Kaien questioned with a slightly raised brow.

Despite hearing his words, Toshiro was only halfway paying attention as his mind swam with questions as he kept glancing over to Yoruichi. Whom was talking with Kisuke and seemed to be suppressing much anger, but toward who he wasn't sure of. Yet the icy captain cleared his throat and quickly looked to Kaien and Kukaku; "I was trapped inside of Aizen's Bankai. I only escaped because Hyorinmaru helped me see through the final illusion." he explained with an almost grim expression, causing both siblings to blink in shock.

"Whoa...though I figured that his Bankai would be something pretty 'unfair', but the way you look makes me nervous about even asking." the black haired man said with a suppressed shiver.

Kukaku looked from her brother to Toshiro and raised a brow slightly; "Though I am interested in knowing what you went through...I guess it'll have to wait." she said with light shrug.

"True...Aizen and Ichimaru have already gone to the real Karakura town in Soul Society, so it's likely that they're going to destroy it pretty soon." Kaien claimed with a nod of agreement to Kukaku.

"Ichigo and his dad have already left to stop Aizen." the raven haired woman began, her almost saying 'his dad' with a sarcastic tone.

Both Toshiro and Kaien raised a brow to her in question, to which Kukaku looked back to them and narrowed her eyes slightly. "I don't care what you say...I'm not going to call him 'Uncle' until he says he's sorry." she stated firmly.

The white haired captain merely shrugged lightly before looking around with narrowed eyes; "Where's Rangiku?" he asked a bit more forcefully then he intended.

"The last saw of Rangiku...was when Ichimaru knocked her out over near that store with some sort of kido. Though she's obviously still alive, that kido made her reiatsu completely vanish...so I'm not sure of how to wake her up." the raven haired woman said, pointing a finger to a destroyed building a few dozen feet away.

Toshiro let out a sigh of relief to her words, but when he seemed ready to head toward his lieutenant, he caught another glance at Yoruichi, to which he stopped as his gaze hardened. 'I know this is reality...but how? How is it that she's still alive? Was I placed under Aizen's hypnosis into believing she had died?' he thought to himself.

But as he continued to stare, Kukaku sighed heavily and suddenly shoved him forward and called out to her purple haired friend. "Hey! You have a visitor!"

Upon this, Yoruichi turned her head toward Toshiro and blinked in shock as said captain just stared at her with a mixture of confusion, joy and surprise. "T-Toshiro!" the tan woman called out as she vanished from sight.

Though the white haired captain was usually always able to follow his friend's movements, he wasn't able to see a thing before a flash of purple knocked him to the ground. Once he finally saw Yoruichi on top of him, she was hugging him very tightly, which buried his face in her chest and her own in his hair. "Oh my god! I'm so glad to see you got out! I'm so sorry Kisuke put you through such a horrible thing!" she all but cried out as tears fell from her eyes.

Toshiro shifted his head to the side as to both breath and get a glimpse at the blond haired shop owner to the side. Whom of which was facing away from everyone and hiding his eyes with the shadows of his hat; 'What did he do?' the white haired captain asked himself as his eyes narrowed on his friend.

But he didn't have to wait long for the answer as Yoruichi eventually loosened her hug and looked at Toshiro. "After my last attack, Kisuke had knocked me out with some toxin he made, then he had someone drag me away and outside the barrier so when I woke up I couldn't get back in or be sensed." she explained, making Toshiro blink a few times in shock before turning to Kisuke once more.

Though the icy captain seemed ready to ask the question 'why', it never came as he let out a breath and stood himself and Yoruichi up. "I see...so my clash with Aizen was doing that much damage." he said silently.

The blond man turned around and merely gave a nod in response, to which Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly on him. "But how did you know that Aizen would use his Bankai?" he questioned.

Kisuke was silent for a while before a small smirk appeared on his face and he finally revealed his eyes; "I wasn't completely sure, but I placed you and even myself in his position and figured that he'd do it as to avoid killing off half of the people required for making the Okin." he said in a near whisper as he adjusted his hat slightly back to show his eyes a bit more.

'No he didn't...he must have received confirmation from someone who would have known for sure. Which means that it had to have been Gin. He's the only person close enough to Aizen that would know that he would resort to using his Bankai in that type of situation. So if that's true, then he never had any intention of actually hurting Yoruichi.' Toshiro thought silently, yet quickly to himself.

The white haired captain eventually let out a sigh before nodding his head lightly; "I see." he muttered before looking to Yoruichi.

"How long ago did Isshin and Kurosaki leave?" the white haired captain asked, to which Yoruichi, Kisuke and even the Shiba siblings sweat dropped slightly to his choice of titles.

"About five minutes ago, which was about two minutes after Aizen had left." Yoruichi responded after clearing her throat.

The icy captain gave her a nod before looking over to Retsu, whom was walking toward them with her usual light smile on her features. Toshiro then glanced over toward where Kukaku had told him Rangiku was, to which he looked back to Retsu and pointed toward the strawberry blond's direction. "Go help my lieutenant, then help Kaien and Kukaku...Yoruichi, Kisuke and I will follow after Kurosaki and help stop Aizen." he said in a request-like tone, to which the raven haired healer just gave him a light nod before rushing off toward Rangiku.

"If Rangiku wakes up before everything is over, tell her to head to Soul Society. And when you see Yin and Yang...tell them 'it's time', they'll know what I mean." Toshiro continued as he looked from Kukaku to Kaien.

Both siblings gave him a nod in response, the white haired captain quickly turning around and facing the senkaimon Kisuke created during his words. But as Toshiro, Kisuke and Yoruichi walked through, the former stopped right in the gateway and looked back for a moment to the destroyed town. Though he couldn't see anyone after Kukaku and Kaien were out of sight, he narrowed his eyes for a moment as if making a silent promise that he'd succeed. After a brief second passed, Toshiro immediately turned back around and continued through the senkaimon.

After coming into the Dangai, Toshiro looked to a waiting Kisuke and softened his narrowed eyes, but only slightly. "I understand your reasoning for doing what you did...but do it again and I'll make sure you're sent to Tenjiro just to stay alive." he muttered silently in a near growl.

Kisuke cleared his throat and just gave a light nod of his head before they glanced around for a moment with inspecting eyes. Though it was apparent to all of them that there was something missing, it was Yoruichi that realized it first. "The 'Cleaner'...it's gone."

Toshiro turned to her along with Kisuke, to which they both narrowed their eyes and looked around once more. "Isshin is probably going to use this window of time help Kurosaki-san to achieve the Final Getsuga Tensho." the blond stated.

Upon hearing this, the icy captain quickly turned his attention back to Kisuke and gave a light nod. "Well...it's better then the alternative route to learn it." he said, tilting his head down briefly before each of the three quickly hurried off toward the direction of Soul Society.

As they went, the three immediately noticed a few holes within the walls, to which they briefly glanced toward one another with knowing nods. "He must have used his Kaikyo Kotei." Kisuke said silently.

"And judging by the size of the holes...we must have missed them by under a minute." Yoruichi commented as they continued.

"Which means that Kurosaki must have succeeded in learning the Final Getsuga Tensho...and it'll make it that much easier to defeat Aizen." Toshiro stated with an almost dark tone in his voice and a smirk to fit it.

The white haired captain's friends each shared a glance before they all shunpoed through the Dankai quickly, to which they arrived before a pure white opening. Yet the moment they went through, each of the three immediately saw a large building directly in front of them, to which they walked out one at a time in order to get through. Once they did, the three found themselves at the end of a heavily littered alleyway. "Well...this is off to a great start." Yoruichi muttered as she pinched her nose to the garbage smell around them.

Though Toshiro and Kisuke gave a light sweat drop, the three walked out of the alley and looked around the street before them. But when each of them turned to the right, their eyes narrowed slightly as they immediately saw Gin sitting on an upturned piece of cement with his usual smile on his face. Yet it was the sight of Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Chizuru, Don and Zennosuke facing the silver haired man that made the three to shunpo between the opposing people.

Upon seeing Toshiro, Gin's smile widened and even tilted his head slightly to the side as he stood up from his 'seat'. "My my...you're quite quick ta get free o' Aizen's Bankai. You're always more an' more impressive." he said, his grin remaining constant.

"Toshiro!" Tatsuki called out as she and the rest of her group each stared at the white haired captain and his friends.

Toshiro looked to each of them and sighed lightly; "Where is Kurosaki?" he asked silently, him briefly glancing over toward Isshin.

Said raven haired man was laying unconscious many yards away down the road, but his beard and mustache were a bit longer than what they had been before leaving the World of the Living. 'He must have been in the Dangai for quite some time.' Toshiro thought to himself as he instantly turned to Tatsuki as she spoke up.

"This guy in white suddenly appeared and started chasing after us, but then Ichigo came along and took him way out toward those mountains over there. We have no idea what's been happening since then." she reported as she pointed a finger off to the left side of the city.

But the moment everyone turned to look, a shock-wave hit the town and nearly knocked each of the humans down. Though everyone remained on their feet Toshiro, Yoruichi and Kisuke narrowed their eyes slightly as they saw a tall black structure forming near one of the mountains. "Kurohitsugi." the blond man muttered silently as they all watched it instantly shatter apart a few seconds after being completed.

When the three saw this, their eyes slightly widened for a brief moment before they each glanced to one another. "Both their powers are incredibly high, we probably won't even be able to approach them till after Ichigo uses the Final Getsuga Tensho." Yoruichi stated with narrowed eyes.

Kisuke gave a light nod to her words, but he immediately looked over to Toshiro, whom had his eyes heavily narrowed on where Aizen and Ichigo were. Though the blond appeared suspicious of what was going on in his white haired friend's mind, he was distracted as Gin suddenly slammed his hand into the back of Yoruichi's head. This made the purple haired woman to fall unconscious, but when Kisuke went to go to her for assistance, he met the same fate as Toshiro smacked him in the same area Gin did to Yoruichi.

"That's for not telling me about your plan." the white haired captain whispered silently.

Though Kisuke hit the ground, Toshiro instantly caught Yoruichi on the way down and gently set her down as if she were a paper thin piece of glass. All of the high schoolers, Don and even Zennosuke became wide eyed to this, but the icy captain immediately silenced any and all questioned they had with a brief glare. But Toshiro didn't look to them for long before he turned to Gin and gave a light nod; "Remember...wait for my signal." was all he said before vanishing.

Gin let out a breath as he opened his eyes slightly; "I guess you must doubt your own ability to come out alive if you're taking them out of this. I just hope you've had enough time." he muttered before turning to everyone else.

"So...who wants ta have a front row seat for the fireworks?" Gin questioned with a wide grin just as a gigantic pillar of purple spirit energy blasted from the mountain area in the distance.


	125. Chapter 125

**Chapter 125:**

Toshiro came closer and closer toward Ichigo and Aizen, but was almost immediately blown back when a gigantic explosion occurred where the two fighters were located. This blast had engulfed the entire area and created flames that spread high into the sky, it even blowing an enormous crater in the area that a whole mountain used to be. But as the icy captain watched this, his eyes widened in shock before narrowing heavily as he continued forward.

Though Toshiro had to climb over a tall wall of uplifted earth, he eventually reached near of where Aizen and Ichigo were. But when he looked upon the two, he saw a strangely transformed Aizen grasping the orange haired teen by the throat in midair of the large crater. Aizen himself now having three sets of bat-like wings, each one ending with a strange hollow head that only had a mouth with flat teeth. But it was the strange black mask that Aizen had over his face that caused Toshiro to narrow his eyes even more.

Despite Aizen still having his long brown hair, his mask covered much of it on the top and even caused his eyes to appear fully white, along with the jewel in the center of his forehead. The mask itself appeared as though it were his real face, as it moved with his true mouth when he opened it to speak. But the visible seams around his normal colored skin was enough to prove otherwise. He also now had a black blade in his right hand, which could only be assumed to be his zanpakuto, regardless of its strange shape.

Aizen's body itself had also appeared to have become more hollow-like as he didn't appear to have any kind of clothing. But he did have strange appendages leading down from his waist to his shins, yet half of his arms and legs were already black as though he had on long gloves and boots. The last thing Toshiro noticed was the Hogyoku, which was still in the center of Aizen's chest and had even been surrounded by a transparent armor.

Ichigo on the other hand had gone through a small transformation of his own, his hair and height had grown by a few inches. But the biggest difference was the strange black, armor-like plating that covered his right hand and half of his arm. This lead to his slightly modified zanpakuto, while on the rest of his arm was a winding chain the lead all the way to his shoulder.

"It's over, Kurosaki Ichigo!" Aizen began in a hollowfied voice as a stream of purple energy came out of his wings and surrounded Ichigo.

This energy had stretched up and around the teen, to which it suddenly solidified and formed a strange white barrier around Ichigo. "You might have briefly over powered me for a few moments, but now I have surpassed your power completely and will finish you off with my own hands!" Aizen continued with a rather smug, but also angry tone.

"Say goodbye to everything you hold dear!" the brown haired man called out as he clenched Ichigo's neck tighter.

"Now die, Kurosaki Ichigo!" he finished with a strong squeeze of the teen's neck.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes heavily to all this, him placing a hand to his haori as if to feel the object within his inner pocket. But as he touched it, his eyes drifted down as he ground his teeth together in aggravation. "Damn it. It looks like I've run out of time...I'll have to finish it myself." he said quietly as he started walking toward the two.

But as he went, the sound of Ichigo's voice caused him to look back up at the two and blink in light shock. "Hmph, 'die'?" Ichigo questioned in a very calm manner.

'He's not affected by Aizen's strength whatsoever.' the icy captain thought as a smirk curled his lips, to which he just watched as the brown haired man's eyes widened from the teen's show of resilience.

"From something like this? Not likely." the teen continued before he suddenly slashed his zanpakuto to the side.

This action broke through the barrier Aizen created and even knocked him back a few yards; "But you were right about one thing, Aizen. It is over...for you." Ichigo stated with a very confident tone.

"Hmph...his physical strength is probably beyond my own...probably." Toshiro commented as a small white aura covered his body.

But as Ichigo reached over with what appeared like a heavily burned left arm, he suddenly paused when Toshiro made his presence fully known by making a pillar of white spirit energy. As the teen and Aizen turned their heads toward the icy captain, Toshiro then unsheathed both of his zanpakuto and held his own Hyorinmaru to the side. "Bankai." he muttered out before the pillar of spirit energy became twice as large and cracked the earth around him.

"Daiguren Hyorinmaru." he spoke silently from within the large amount of reiatsu that surrounded him.

Once Toshiro emerged from the pillar in his Bankai state, he looked up at Aizen as said man took on a small grin. "Do you honestly believe that you're any match for me? This human might be nearly on par with me, but you're far too outclassed in this fight!" the brown haired man claimed as he gestured to Ichigo.

The orange haired teen sent a raised brow at Aizen before glancing to Toshiro with a small smirk; "Don't worry Toshiro...I can handle this from here. This time, I'll be helping you." he said, turning his attention to Aizen once more.

Said captain merely smirked lightly as he gave a nod; "I have no intention of fighting...I'm just getting ready." he began with a small smirk of his own, to which both Ichigo and Aizen looked toward him with a raised brow.

"I just hope this will work...it's the first time I've ever done this while in my Bankai state." the white haired captain continued as he raised Kusaka's Hyorinmaru out to the side.

As he did this, Toshiro's body gained a black and white aura, to which the entire area completely froze over in the blink of an eye. Immediately following this, the sky turned black as night and a strong blizzard began. "Sekai o Toketsu, Kyoguren Hyorinmaru: Kori Getsuryu." he whispered out silently before a vast amount of spirit energy blasted out of Toshiro, to which both Ichigo and Aizen had to brace themselves in the air to keep from being knocked back.

Yet while this reiatsu continued to pour out, Ichigo noticed that it was stretching high up into the sky and parting the clouds, allowing some light to shine through. This had also caused the winds to blow harder and faster, but it was only in a thousand foot radius, which continued to swirl around them in a globe. Once the spirit energy had finally died down, it revealed Toshiro in his hollow-like state, but with the same ice armor as his Bankai. However, while his own dragon wings were in their usual place, the ones made of ice were placed just below them and acted as their own set.

Though on the outside of the globe, none of Toshiro's spirit energy could be felt, it was like gravity had intensified twenty times over. Yet due to their strengthened forms, none of the three within the area appeared to be effected by this intense reiatsu. "As I thought...using both my Bankai and Resurreccion is quite punishing on the body. I probably can't stay in this form for any longer than a few minutes. But at least it'll be enough." Toshiro said silently before looking up to Ichigo.

"You better do it now." he stated, to which the teen nodded his head and turned to Aizen whom was staring at Toshiro with heavily narrowed eyes.

But as the brown haired man was distracted by Toshiro, Ichigo had brought his zanpakuto out and placed his left arm over his right. Yet Aizen didn't even notice these movements as he was too suspicious with the icy captain's actions. "What are you planning Hitsugaya? If you have no intention to fight, then why bother to use that form? I would say that it's a foolish gesture, but you are not the foolish type. So what are you planning to do?" he demanded.

Yet Aizen never received an answer as Toshiro simply ignored him and watched a large blast of black and blue spirit energy blast out of Ichigo, which flowed out and around his body. This completely shocked the brown haired man as his eyes widened heavily, it being apparent to Toshiro that like him, he couldn't sense Ichigo's power at all. Once the reiatsu had cleared enough for Ichigo to be seen, the first thing the icy captain noticed was waist length black hair.

Upon further inspection, Ichigo had also gained deep red eyes, long black hakama pants that looked as though they were made of his own spirit energy and strange grey wrappings that covered his torso and lower half of his face. Though neither Aizen or Toshiro could see this form for long as the reiatsu around the teen flew outward and nearly knocked them both backward. Once they turned back to Ichigo, they only saw pure black spirit energy flowing out and around him, which seemed almost like black fire.

"This is the Final Getsuga Tensho. Which is me, becoming Getsuga itself." Ichigo began, his mouth being unseen due to the wrappings.

Toshiro smirked to this and gave an approving nod; 'Hmph...and here I thought you wouldn't surpass me for another thousand or two years.' he thought to himself.

Aizen's eyes just continued to widen as he looked at this, him finally noticing the true difference in the teen's and his own power. But upon this realization, Aizen immediately charged at Ichigo with his blade at the ready, to which Toshiro held back a chuckle of amusement. "Fool." was all he said as he simply watched.

"I won't accept this! I won't allow a mere human to surpass me!" Aizen exclaimed, swinging his blade at Ichigo to slice his head off.

Though the newly raven haired teen watched this, he stopped the weapon with a single finger and narrowed his eyes slightly. Aizen's eyes widened yet again, but even more this time then the last as he just watched a reiatsu made blade appear in Ichigo's right hand. "How ironic. You nearly killed me back when we first fought just like this...so now I get to return the favor." Ichigo claimed as he grabbed Aizen's blade with his bare hand.

As he did this, the brown haired man quickly tried to pull away, but the teen's grasp didn't even budge whatsoever. Toshiro took on an almost dark smirk as he stepped forward and narrowed his eyes, him wanting to watch as closely as possible. Just as Aizen was about to bring his wings up for an attack, he paused when he saw Ichigo bring his 'blade' up over his head and narrow his eyes on him. "Mugetsu." was all Ichigo said before slashing down his attack.

The moment Ichigo did this, Aizen was instantly cut in half, but as a gigantic flow of black spirit energy engulfed the area, every part of the brown haired man seemed to simply disintegrate. The icy captain let out a breath to this even as the entire area around him became deafly silent and pitch black. "Well done Kurosaki...now, it's my turn." he whispered out in the complete darkness.

Though the blizzard around them continued, the snow seemed to dissolve when it came too close to the black reiatsu. Yet as quickly as the attack came, it just suddenly vanished and revealed Ichigo standing in midair with a long cut in the land scape from his attack. All the while, Toshiro stood just to the side of the crater and just smirked lightly as he watched the teen float down toward him.

'But I must admit...you truly are a wonder Kurosaki. Not only did you surpass me in less than a year, but you managed to single handedly defeat one of the most powerful beings this or any world has ever seen.' the icy captain thought as his smirk widened from behind his mask.

"I guess that's the end of him, huh." Ichigo said as the wrappings around his upper body shattered away and revealed strange, black tattoos across his body.

The white haired captain raised a brow to him and just gave a light shrug; "Not quite." he muttered out.

No sooner had these words left his lips, a crash on the ground off to the side could he heard, to which both the teen and Toshiro turned their attention toward it. When they did, they saw Aizen's normal form with his body still almost sliced fully in half, it only staying together by a few tendons. But then the wound suddenly began healing on its own, causing Ichigo to narrow his eyes heavily. "He can still regenerate?" he questioned silently before vanishing in a shunpo.

Toshiro watched him with a silent breath before slowly making his way toward Aizen and Ichigo, said teen appearing a few feet of the brown haired man. But a few moments later after arriving, the teen's previous changes suddenly vanished and revealed him to appear as he did before using Mugetsu. When this happened, Ichigo's eyes widened slightly and he fell to his knees in what appeared to be exhaustion.

But when Aizen stood himself up, he glared toward Ichigo for a moment before smirking widely. "Kurosaki Ichigo...you lose." he began as he stepped forward.

Said teen narrowed his eyes on the man, but then ground his teeth in frustration when he saw Aizen's zanpakuto crumbling away. "I'm sure you know what this means...now that I'm about to reach a new level, I'm becoming one with my zanpakuto and it's power. Which means that I'll surpass the power that you used to have in a matter of seconds." the purple eyed man claimed, his smirk widening.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes even heavier on Aizen, him unable to stand from the fast draining of his shinigami powers. This making Aizen himself take on a small grin of amusement, him stepping a single foot away from the teen. "It's all over, Kurosaki Ichig-" be he was cut off by a sudden blue colored blast hitting him directly in the mouth.

This blast knocked Aizen backward a few steps and even caused a heavy burn around the area of his mouth. Both the brown haired man and Ichigo quickly turned toward the direction of this attack, them seeming to expect Toshiro as their eyes heavily widened when it revealed to be Masaki. But she had a long sliver bow in her left hand and wore an outfit that appeared exactly like a Quincy's.

The orange haired teen's eyes widened to their fullest extent to this, him stopped his breathing and froze in place. "O-Okaa...chan." he muttered out breathlessly.

"Get away from my son you bastard." Masaki stated with a hellish fury in her eyes as she shot another arrow straight between Aizen's eyes.

Her shot had completely knocked Aizen on his back, to which he sat himself up quickly and glared at Masaki as blood dripped from his forehead. But though both his burns around his mouth and injury between his eyes had healed quickly, he instantly had to knock away an arrow aimed at his throat. "So what was the point of coming here when you don't stand any chance against me?" Aizen questioned as he gained a smirk.

"Well...Toshiro just called me here as an extra distraction...that and so I could meet with my son again when he was mentally old enough not to go into shock after seeing me." Masaki said with a much calmer voice then before as she turned to Ichigo and walked toward him.

The orange haired teen just looked at her in shock, him barely able to blink as his mind was filled with disbelief. Masaki just smiled warmly to him as she kneeled down at his side and hugged him tightly with somewhat shaky arms. "I'm so glad that you're okay Ichigo. I hope your father hasn't been too rough with you." she said silently with a smile as happy tears rolled down her cheeks.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ichigo finally managed to blink his eyes as he turned his head to look at his mother. "I-Is this real?" he whispered out as his throat was too clenched up to speak properly.

Masaki loosened her hug for a moment before she smiled a bit wider and nodded her head; "Yes Ichigo, this is real...and so am I." she said before tightening her hug all over again.

Ichigo stared almost blankly at her for a few seconds before his arms wrapped around his mother and hugged her back. "I...I can't believe it...this is really real." he muttered out as a smile tugged on his lips and small tears came up into his eyes.

Aizen's own eyes narrowed to this, but then they widened as a blade shot into his back and out through his chest, to which he quickly turned his head and saw Gin smiling widely at him. "Hi~." the silver haired man said with a wave.

As this happened, both Masaki and Ichigo turned their heads toward this and eventually broke their hug and stood up, their minds returning to the events occurring before them. "What happened to you Okaa-chan? How can you be here? Why are you dressed like that? And how can you be using Quincy powers?" the teen asked quickly as his mind started to finally process the questions that built up in his mind.

Masaki blinked to him before smiling once more; "Don't worry Ichigo, I'll explain when all this is over. Then I'll answer all the questions you have." she said, patting her son lightly on the shoulder.

Ichigo appeared like he wanted to argue, but he just gave a light nod as he quickly turned to Aizen, whom clenched his teeth together as a bit of blood came out of his mouth. "Tch! And here I expected you to either make a move sooner or much later." the brown haired man stated as his eyes narrowed heavily on Gin.

"Oh~? Well I planned on doin' it afta your first transformation, but 'Gaya told me ta wait." Gin said with a shrug and continuous grin.

Aizen turned his attention toward Toshiro as said captain came up beside Masaki and Ichigo; "Sorry Aizen...but unfortunately for you, 'this' moment is the one I've planned out for many years." he said, him walking closer toward the brown haired man.

Though the brown haired man nearly stumbled when Gin retracted his zanpakuto, he stayed on his feet and just smirked down at Toshiro as they stood only a foot apart. "Is that so? Well I must apologize for ruining your plan since none of you are any match for me." Aizen said as his wound closed almost instantly.

"Even with your combined strengths...I can kill every one of you with a single swing of my hand." he continued, but then became wide eyed as his chest suddenly began to glow a faint blue.

"Wha-" but Aizen was cut off immediately when his entire chest just disintegrated into nothing, to which his whole body just dropped to the ground and left the Hogyoku floating in midair.

"I-Impossible..." Aizen muttered out as he turned his head to look back at Gin, whom just grinned wider, waved lightly and brought his zanpakuto into view.

Once the brown haired man saw a small piece of Gin's blade missing, his eyes narrowed heavily and turned over to Toshiro. "You're quite clever Hitsugaya...I see that he's told you something about his powers that he kept a secret from me. But I've already absorbed too much of the Hogyoku's power, this won't stop me for long." Aizen stated as his body slowly began to heal.

But as this happened, Toshiro gained a small smirk, to which he reached into his haori pocket and pulled out a small object with his left hand. Though Aizen wasn't able to see it, he didn't seem to care as his wound was seconds from healing and he pushed himself up off the ground. Yet just as the Hogyoku floated toward Aizen, Toshiro suddenly grabbed it in his left hand along with the other object and stabbed them both into the top of Aizen's chest.

"Sorry Aizen...but this is the end for you." Toshiro said as a burst of white spirit energy flowed out of Aizen's body, causing his eyes to widen.

"W-What? What is this?" the brown haired man demanded as he looked down at Toshiro's hand buried inside his chest.

"Well, since you don't have much time...I'll give you the short version." the icy captain began as his large wings extended out to either side of him.

"Thanks to your research on creating your own Hogyoku, I discovered the reason why yours was able to feed on my and Kisuke's. It was because you gave it countless souls of both Shinigami and Rukongai citizens, which had turned it 'cannibalistic'. And since merging with the Hogyoku would make killing you impossible, the only conceivable way to finish you off would be to create another Hogyoku in the same manner you did. Then give it the 'wish' to kill you, have it devour your Hogyoku and have it completely destroy your soul." Toshiro said as he pushed Aizen to the ground, his hand driving deeper into the man's flesh.

"So now you, Kisuke, Yoruichi and Tessai know the reason for all of my 'mass murders'." he continued with a whisper, but not quiet enough for everyone around him to not hear it.

As Aizen's eyes widened to this, Gin just kept his smile constant, while Masaki and Ichigo raised their brows in question. The icy captain merely gave a dark smirk as he glared down coldly at Aizen; "Unfortunately...even this process needs quite a lot of time in order to mature." Toshiro stated as the glowing spirit energy began to become brighter.

"I had to personally feed quite a large amount of spirit energy to this new Hogyoku in order for it to become fully active...which happened just a few seconds after Kurosaki used the Final Getsuga Tensho." he said as his dark smirk widened and the glow of the two Hogyokus became brighter and began to crack Aizen's very body as if it were made of glass.

"Which is why all of them can stand near me right now without being pushed to the ground or suffocated." he continued as the brown haired man let out a scream of pain

Said man's chest bursting open from the inside by the overwhelming power of both Hogyokus as they fused together; "Damn you Hitsugaya!" he screamed out with pure rage.

Toshiro just smirked to this, then looked over to Gin with a small smirk; "Get everyone out of here...this whole area is about to be leveled." he said silently as Aizen grabbed him by the arm.

"If I'm going to die...I'm taking you with me Hitsugaya!" the brown haired man yelled as his whole body was full of cracks and appeared on the verge of shattering.

The icy captain just chuckled silently as his icy hand pushed deeper into Aizen's chest, to which he turned to him with a dark smirk. "Hmph...as if I would leave and miss the pleasure of watching you die right in front of me." he said silently, his hand clenching down on the two objects within it.

Gin opened his eyes a bit before he shunpoed over to Ichigo and Masaki, both of whom were longing at Toshiro with concern. "Let's go...we best get outta here." the silver haired man said before shunpoing away.

Ichigo looked from Gin's leaving form to his mother, who looked down briefly before looking to Toshiro with narrowed eyes. "Be safe...and come back alive." she whispered.

Immediately after her words, the orange haired teen blinked to her in shock, but as he turned to the icy captain, he gave a small smirk of confidence. "Well...if anyone can survive this, you can." he muttered out before he and Masaki vanished.

Toshiro let out a breath and narrowed his eyes further on Aizen as said man spoke up in an almost cocky tone; "Hmph...you know you can't survive this. If a transcendent being such as myself won't...you most definitely will not!"

The white haired captain smirked to this and simply reached into his haori pocket and revealed a small white orb. "True...but like I said, 'this' moment is the one I've planned out for many years." he said as he placed the pill inside his mouth.

The moment he did this, the energy the had been building within Aizen's body finally began to burst out, causing pure white reiatsu to start blasting out of him. As this happened, the brown haired man's body began to shatter apart, to which he screamed out in pain and as many curses as possible. "Damn you Hitsugaya! Damn you straight to hell!"

Toshiro merely gave a small smirk as he watched Aizen's body fully explode; "Sorry...already been there, and I didn't like it too much." he muttered out as he swallowed the pill at the same time he was completely consumed by the blast.

* * *

And so marks the end of the war, next chapter will be the end of the arc and the start of the next. ;) I hope you all enjoyed the Winter War now that Aizen has at last been killed. XD And just to clear everything up...most of the experiments I've shown Toshiro doing were in fact for the Hogyoku. ^^


	126. Chapter 126

**Chapter 126:**

*Cue corny, yet catchy music.*

Toshiro: *Lets out a breath and looks to the camera.* Welcome everyone, to the next episode of BLEACH C Station.

Rangiku: *Smiles widely with a nod.* That's right Taicho, last time we had the ever so lovely and kind Tuliharja as our guest. *Whispers silently.* See Chapter 93 for reference.

Toshiro: Yes, and now this time...*Looks to the side.*...we have the author himself, Ice Prince Hitsugaya. *Gestures to me as I come walking out waving to a large crowd of shinigami, whom cheer for me.*

Me: Thank you...you're too kind. *I smile sheepishly and sweat drop heavily.* No really...I probably haven't mentioned any of you before or know half of your names. *I quickly clear my throat as the crowd becomes quiet, to which I go and sit in my seat next to Toshiro.* Thanks for having me here.

Toshiro: *Nods lightly.* It's our pleasure. Now, Ice Prince...*Looks to his notes briefly.*...we have to ask you the one big question that many have been inquiring about as of late; 'Will you be including 'The Thousand-Year Blood War' in your story, Change One Side, Change The Story?

Me: *I sigh heavily and shake my head.* Unfortunately not. I would truly like to, but certain events that I will be revealing soon will show that in my story...the new arc would be impossible. But since I've been enjoying this newest arc of Bleach so much, I decided that I will have a spinoff fic that will feature my version of Toshiro being sent into various parallel universes and pretty much 'helping the locals'. Which will of course include the canon Bleach universe and a few others that I don't want to reveal just yet. But I will say that for the Bleach canon, it will take place during the newest arc, though the specific time is still not set yet. *I grin widely.* But I think you'll all enjoy what I have planned thus far.

Toshiro: *Raises a brow to me.* You're going to do what to me?

Rangiku: *Smiles widely as her eyes sparkle.* Really?! That sounds so cool~! Will I be in it as his traveling companion~?

Toshiro: *Groans and shakes his head.* Matsumoto...

Me: *I smile lightly and shrug.* Well...like I said, I haven't planned it out fully yet, but the way it's looking...there is room for lots of ideas. *I look to the camera.* Of course my plans for this fic will probably be changing constantly until I actually start, due to the arc still going on. So don't expect me to answer many questions about it just yet.

Rangiku: *Grins widely.* Well...so long as I'm in it, I don't care how much you change it.

Toshiro: *Sighs heavily and shakes his head.* Just don't send me into a world that I'll hate.

Me: Like a planet full of lava? *I smirk lightly as me and Rangiku share a silent chuckle.*

Toshiro: *Clears his throat and looks to his notes once more.* Anyway...another question I'd like to ask you is; 'Why did you have me blow myself up with Aizen?' *Raises a suspicious brow.*

Me: *Blinks a few times and smiles sheepishly.* W-Well...you see...*I chuckle nervously for a moment.*...I thought it would be more dramatic if you did.

Toshiro: *Narrows his eyes on me.* It sounds more like a chance to possibly kill off the main character so you can just end this story now and not have to worry about continuing.

Me: W-What~? Me? Never. *I wave my hand dismissively to him.*

Rangiku: *Blinks at the two of us and leans toward me with her own suspicious stare.* You better not be killing of my future husband.

Toshiro: Yeah...you better no-*Stops quickly and looks to her.* Wait...what?

Rangiku: *Smiles sheepishly and gives an innocent expression to her Captain.* Oh~ nothing.

Me: *Grins lightly before quickly hiding it as Toshiro turns back to me.*

Toshiro: *Clears his throat as he looks to his notes.* Well before we go, we have one more question for you; 'What happened to this week's real update?'

Me: *Blinks my eyes and sweat drops.* Well...um...*Scratches the back of my neck.*...I kinda had a lot of stuff to do this week and didn't have much or any time to work on it. Though I wanted to try and rush and get it done, I figured that the quality of the chapter is better than the speed of the update. *I sigh heavily.* Though I think most probably want both since I've usually always done a pretty good job in doing it...save for the last few times.

Rangiku: *Nods lightly.* Well, I hope you've all enjoyed this broadcast of BLEACH C Station, stay tuned for next week's chapter when we battle the mighty Kraken to save Narnia~!

Toshiro: *Sighs and rolls his eyes.* Have a good day, afternoon or night. The real update will be coming next week, but it won't be taking the place of this one, so go ahead and review for this chapter if you like.

Me: And remember~...*I become a chibi with tears in my eyes.*...I'm only human~!


	127. Chapter 127

**Chapter 127:**

-Karakura Town-

Yoruichi and Kisuke slowly woke up from their brief time being unconscious after only a few minutes, to which they quickly got to their feet. Though Tatsuki and her friends were nearby and asking the pair if they were okay, Kisuke's and Yoruichi's eyes never turned away from the mountain that Ichigo and Aizen had been fighting near. Despite being almost completely ignored, Tatsuki just followed their gaze as a concerned expression came upon her face.

"Ichigo...Toshiro..." she whispered out silently, her seeing the former's Mugetsu only a few moments ago.

Yoruichi glanced over to her for a moment before turning back to the mountains, to which she moved to go toward the fight. But before she even made a single step, Kisuke placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head as she looked to him. "He knocked us out for a reason. We would probably get in the way if we went there now." he stated silently.

No sooner had his words been finished, a strong surge of power flew out from a single point within the mountains. As it hit the town, everyone conscious felt an electric-like shock rush through their bodies, to which they each looked to one another. But after the surge had fully passed over the area, Kisuke spoke up with completely hidden eyes as he adjusted his hat. "Now we definitely have to stay back. He's already merged the two Hogyokus together and probably nothing can survive the following blast."

Though it was obvious that Keigo was about to ask what he was talking about, he never got the chance as an enormous explosion occurred on the mountainside. This blast had completely destroyed every mountain nearby and filled the sky with fire as the explosion passed directly over the town. As everyone watched this with shock in their eyes, Yoruichi kept her main focus on the source of the explosion.

After a moment, the purple haired woman glanced back at Kisuke and the others as they were distracted by the ever growing blast, to which she vanished in a shunpo. But as she went on, she quickly noticed another presence nearby that was heading in the same direction, her immediately seeing Rangiku jumping from roof top to roof top above her. Instantly after seeing her, Yoruichi jumped up to the roof of a house on the opposite side of the street, to which she and Rangiku made their way to the continuing explosion.

Yet as they exited Karakura town and came closer, they found themselves almost being completely blown back from the force of the blast. "Well...this is a little inconvenient." the strawberry blond muttered silently as she and Yoruichi covered their eyes with their arms and moved forward.

But just as they both dodged away from a falling boulder, they quickly had to repeat this when three figures nearly hit them as they flew through the air. Though Gin, Masaki and Ichigo each landed on their feet, the distraction of seeing Yoruichi and Rangiku made them all go tumbling into a group of trees nearby. After the three got back to their feet, Yoruichi and Masaki blinked at each other a few times before Rangiku did the same with the brown haired Quincy.

"Masaki?" the purple and strawberry blond women said in unison.

"Yoruichi? Rangiku?" Masaki responded as she looked from one to the other.

All the while Ichigo watched this and blinked his eyes as well; "Wait...you two know my mom?" he all but demanded.

Gin just looked away and smiled lightly; "Well...don't you think that they'd introduce one another to their friends when they started dating?" he asked in a light tone, despite the explosion still continuing and blasted fire in the sky to the farthest district of Rukongai.

Ichigo blinked his eyes in shock at the silver haired man, to which he then turned back to his mother, whom just smiled rather sheepishly to him. "Your father was the first shinigami I ever met, but he soon introduced me to his friends...which were only Kisuke, Yoruichi, Toshiro and Rangiku. Well...they were the ones I didn't know already. He met Ryuken by chance, even before I went to live with his family." Masaki said with a small smile to Ichigo.

Immediately after she said the white haired captain's name, both Yoruichi and Rangiku narrowed their eyes slightly on her. "Speaking of Toshiro...where is he?" the tan woman questioned.

Masaki looked to Yoruichi for a moment before turning her attention to the explosion opposite of the town. But though the blast itself appeared to be calming, Rangiku and Yoruichi quickly followed the brown haired woman's gaze and instantly shunpoed in that direction. After they vanished, Masaki turned back to her son and Gin with a rather solemn expression spreading on her features. "I think we've gone far enough." was all she said before she and Ichigo quickly followed after Yoruichi and Rangiku.

Gin merely let out a silent breath and opened his eyes lightly to look at the explosion when it fully died down. "My oh my...I really hope that you'll be in one piece when they reach you." he said with a silent sigh.

-Almost a mile away-

Toshiro opened his right eye and ground his teeth in pain as he could feel that the entire left side of his body was heavily burned and his entire top was gone. The icy captain was laying on the ground with his left side on the ground, to which he tried to move his left arm to pick himself up. But he quickly realized that he couldn't do this as it felt as though his entire left side was numb, making him attempt to open his left eye. Yet even this didn't work, making Toshiro bring his right hand up to his face, only to realize that the left side of his face was almost completely gone.

He quickly rolled himself onto his back, him instantly seeing that his left arm and leg were also burned away, leaving his only clothes to be half of his hakama pants. This caused Toshiro to widen his only eye to widen in shock, to which he looked around the destroyed area. Upon seeing everything burned or blasted away for what seemed like miles, his eye narrowed heavily. 'Hmph...looks like I couldn't calculate the true power of the explosion after all.' he thought to himself.

Toshiro then noticed his two Hyorinmaru blades off to the side with only a bit of dirt on them, to which he let out a silent breath and laid himself down. 'At least they weren't destroyed.' he continued, closing his eye briefly.

As he laid there motionless, the white haired captain stared up at the fully clear sky and let out a few strained breaths. 'Though that pill healed me and restored my spirit energy on a molecular level.' he began in his mind, him not trusting his throat or lungs to actually speak.

'I guess it's still no match compared to two Hogyokus blowing up. The continuous explosions must have drained me of my reiatsu...not even my high-speed regeneration could keep me in one piece.' Toshiro continued as he shifted his eye over toward where the explosion had begun, it being almost a hundred feet away.

'I'm glad Aizen isn't here to laugh at me and say that I didn't plan 'this' moment well enough. Then I'd have to counter with saying that I do have a plan...it's just a little delayed.' he finished with a light chuckle, to which he coughed and ground his teeth once more in pain.

After his words, he suddenly heard the sound of multiple foot steps approaching him, to which he turned his head slightly to try and see who it was. Toshiro immediately saw four figures coming toward him, but his eyes narrowed slightly as he didn't realize that his vision was becoming duller. 'This isn't a good sign...I'm either dying, or I'm going blind. And with these types of injuries, I can only hope it's the latter.' he thought with a short, but harsh sounding breath.

"Toshiro!" Yoruichi, Masaki and Ichigo called out at the same time that Rangiku yelled; "Taicho!" as they all came closer.

But when they arrived, their eyes widened heavily in shock at the white haired captain's physical state. "Oh my god." the orange haired teen choked out.

Toshiro looked directly at Ichigo and smirked lightly; "You do realize that a normal person would go into shock after hearing you say that." he stated in a quiet tone, him unable to speak above a whisper without hurting himself.

Ichigo blinked his eyes to him and cleared his throat quickly; "Sorry about that." he said with a scratch behind his neck.

But then the teen blinked his eyes once more, this time it being in shock as he looked down at the heavily injured captain. "W-Wait a minute! You just said that as a joke!" he claimed, pointing an accusing finger at Toshiro.

Whom of which just smirked lightly and gave a single armed shrug; "Well...with Aizen gone, I'm actually in a good mood, despite my current situation." the icy captain said.

Masaki gave a wide smile to this as she listened to this, to which she kneeled down beside Toshiro and began reaching into her Quincy designed-jacket pocket. All the while, Yoruichi and Rangiku blinked their eyes for a moment, then gave a small smile and placed their hands over Toshiro's wounds. As they did this, a small green glow began to shine from their hands, to which the heavy burns began to disappear in place of normal skin.

But the process was extremely slow and was painfully obvious that Toshiro would die long before the two could heal even the small burns. Though Rangiku already had tears in her eyes, she continued to put all the reiatsu she could into healing her captain. Yoruichi however, was looking at Masaki as she pulled out a syringe, which had a blue liquid inside of it.

"Are you sure that this will work? Even if I give you this much reishi, there isn't much chance of your body absorbing it to heal. Neither shinigami or hollow are used to using reishi from an outside source to fight...or for any purpose for that matter." Masaki stated with a concerned tone in her voice.

Ichigo blinked his eyes to this as he just watched the icy captain give Masaki a slightly wider smirk and nod. Yoruichi looked from Masaki to Toshiro as she just narrowed her eyes slightly in question, all the while Rangiku did the same, only she took on a slightly raised brow. But after he nodded, Toshiro lifted his hand up slightly and pointed to his left side with a burned finger. "It's a better chance then being like this." he said silently before his arm fell back to the ground limply as Toshiro's body grew weaker.

Masaki gave a light nod as she let out a silent breath before she stabbed Toshiro with the syringe on his right shoulder that wasn't too heavily burned. She then pulled the needle out after emptying the contents into Toshiro, to which she just stared at him with a hopeful expression. While everyone took on a similar look, Yoruichi grasped Toshiro's hand into her own as gently as possible. "You better survive, Toshiro." she said silently as a small tear escaped her eye.

Toshiro smirked lightly to her, but his vision was almost fully gone, to which he just closed his eye and allowed darkness to fill his sight. But after a moment, his body began to glow lightly and his wounds started to heal at an extreme rate. This sight made each of the women and the orange haired teen to smirk widely as they simply watched their friend heal on his own. Yet while his limbs began to grow back, each of them either closed their eyes or looked away as the regenerating powers moved quite slow and made the process rather graphic.

The icy captain smirked to this, but he slowly took on a small frown as he looked down toward where the part of his midsection was starting to return. 'I lost part of my lungs from that blast, which means that it won't ever grow back. And if I use artificial organs, my regenerating powers won't work correctly around my chest anymore.' he thought as his eyes narrowed slightly.

'I'm either going to be coughing up blood at random times for the rest of my life, or I'll be giving a large target to my future opponents that would lead to an instant kill.' Toshiro continued as his arm was almost fully regenerated.

After a few more moments, everything but the left side of his face had completely returned, to which Toshiro let out a breath of what seemed like exhaustion. 'That reishi gave me a bit of reiatsu, but not enough...I probably won't be able to heal the rest of my injuries.' he thought to himself as everyone had finally turned back to him with sighs of relief at his regenerated limbs.

Toshiro let out a breath before he sat himself up and blinked his only eye as it's vision returned to normal; "Well at least I'm not totally blind." he muttered silently as he tested his arms and legs.

Immediately following his words, Yoruichi hugged him gently, her lightly shaking as she slightly tightened her hold on Toshiro. "That's my Ice Prince." she said silently with a thankful smile.

Though the white haired captain let out a sigh, he smirked invisibly and patted her on the shoulder lightly. "I'm still healing Yoruichi." he muttered out, yet his tone didn't sound as though he really wanted her to let go.

Despite the tan woman actually letting him go, Rangiku instantly took her place and hugged her captain from behind. "Oh Captain~! I was so scared~!" she all but whined out as she hugged him, yet not tightly enough to hurt the still healing wounds on his face.

Toshiro groaned silently, but he stopped midway through as the vibration of his throat nearly made him cough. As he did this, Masaki raised a light brow in question, but she gave a smile to him and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to see that you're okay...I was really worried that you couldn't take in the reishi." she said with a light shrug.

The icy captain shrugged back to her as he gave a small smirk; "What can I say? I'm resilient." he stated as Rangiku let out a shivered breath, this showing that she was still a bit shaken up about Toshiro's near death.

Yoruichi noticed this and gave a light smile, her inching herself closer to her childhood friend and even taking his hand into hers once more. All the while, Ichigo just grinned widely to all this and let out a silent chuckle; "Yeah...not only that, but you're too stubborn to die." he claimed.

Toshiro raised a brow to the teen and let out a quiet chuckle; "You make me sound like an old man." he muttered silently as the wounds on his face had nearly healed and even allowed him to open his left eye.

But when he opened it, the white haired captain blinked a few times and then narrowed his eyes slightly; "Damn...I knew it." he said silently as he placed a hand over his left eye.

-Two days later in the Fourth Division-

Toshiro sat in a chair across from Retsu's desk, them being in the raven haired woman's office as she looked through a few papers on her desk. The white haired captain let out a breath as he rubbed his forehead and glanced around the room with a waiting expression in his right, and only visible eye. But when Retsu looked up and toward Toshiro, she gave him a simple shake of her head, to which he just nodded lightly in response and removed his hand from his forehead.

As he did this, it revealed a large 'X' shaped scar on his face, which seemed as though it were still healing. While one line lead from the corner of his left eye brow to the opposite side of his nose, the other began in the center of his forehead and went all the way to the bottom of the left side of his jaw. Though the two scars intersected directly over his left eye lid, it was unseen as he had his eye open and directed toward Retsu.

However, his left eye now had black sclera, white iris' and an almost dull looking pupil, this making it all too obvious that he no longer had any sight in that eye. Yet as if to confirm this, the raven haired woman tilted her head down and read directly from the papers before her. "Due to high temperatures, the visual cells within the patient's left eye cannot be healed or replaced."

After her words, Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly, to which Retsu gave a light nod and continued on in a silent tone. "The patient's lungs are also unable to be treated, due to the high-speed regeneration causing the lungs to merge with the nearby muscle. This will cause spontaneous coughing that may lead to blood coming out of the mouth when the lungs take in too much blood. It is recommended not to use hakuda styled fighting too often as it has a high probability of creating this occurrences."

Toshiro let out a breath as he glanced to the side with an invisible smirk; "I figured as much. That's why I told everyone not to get their hopes up during that party yesterday for the end of the war." he muttered silently.

As he said this, memories of people coming up to him constantly with questions about his eye and health came into Toshiro's mind from just the previous day. Though many of the people asked out of concern, others had asked it merely out of drunken curiosity, Rangiku being in both categories. Yet despite the icy captain ignoring most of the people that asked these questions, he was always forced in the spot light as he was constantly the center of attention.

But Toshiro was quickly brought out of this thoughts as a soft knock was heard upon the door, to which Retsu spoke up in a silent tone. "Come in."

The white haired captain shifted both his eyes over to the door as it swung open slowly, it revealing Isane with a shy expression on her features. "Excuse me Captain...but everyone out in the lobby are getting a bit antsy, they want to know...well...they want to know Captain Hitsugaya's condition." she said silently, her voice sounding as though she was apologizing.

Retsu looked at the tall woman for a moment before looking to Toshiro, as if seeing if he was willing to tell everyone himself. To which the icy captain turned toward her and gave a light nod in response as he stood up; "Thank you Unohana." he said before walking out of the office with Isane following behind.

Once Toshiro reached the lobby, he saw that it was filled too many people, causing many of them to resort to standing outside. Yet Toshiro was still able to see that everyone among the very large group seemed much more than simply 'antsy' as Isane had put it. There were all of the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei Thirteen, save for Mayuri, along with some of the seated officers, including Rukia and even Ashido. Upon closer inspection, all of the arrancar friends and allies that Toshiro had made, the main branch of Shibas, Go Koga and Ran'Tao were all gathered there as well.

Yet among everyone in the crowd, Rangiku and Yoruichi were at the very front along with Momo, Kukaku and Soifon. To which the white haired captain gave an invisible smirk as he remembered that all five of them were the ones that questioned him the most about his health during the party yesterday. 'Though I think I could have done without Kukaku trying to test to see if I really couldn't see out of my left eye.' he thought silently.

The moment they all noticed Toshiro standing there, they all simply waited for him to speak, to which the white haired captain let out a breath. "I'm blind in one eye, plus I'll be coughing up blood every so often...and there's nothing she can do about it." he said with a light shrug.

But just before many of the people in the group were about to speak up, Senna suddenly pushed herself through the crowd and gestured Toshiro toward the exit with her hands. Toshiro narrowed his eyes lightly to her and let out a breath; "Thank you all for your concern for me, I appreciate it a lot. But I need to pay a visit to the other hero." was all he said before heading toward the door.

As he went, each of the people moved to the side and allowed him through before they headed out of the room themselves. Once Toshiro was outside, he continued on with his own small group, which consisted of: Rangiku, Yoruichi, Soifon, Kukaku, Momo, Kaien, Ganju, Senna and Rukia. Yet as they went, Toshiro glanced over to his left side and narrowed his eyes as if seeing something, to which he gave Soifon a quick nod before turning away. Though he didn't see it, the raven haired woman returned his nod, but they merely continued on as if their exchange never happened.

After a brief moment Toshiro looked to Senna and raised brow to her; "Have you heard from Ryuken yet?" he asked silently.

The orange eyed girl shook her head and let out a sigh; "Nope...apparently after ordering Ichigo to go to the World of the Living, he just left Hueco Mundo and returned back to his hospital. He hasn't spoken to anyone since." she reported with a light shrug.

Toshiro gave a light nod to her, then he turned his head further to the right side, to which he saw Coyote leading his own small group near of his own. This gathering had: Lilynette, Tia, said woman's fraccion, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Nel, Dondochakka, Pesche, the Privaron Espada, Rudbornn and two others that he had come to know as Loly and Melony.

As they all walked on, Toshiro gave Starrk a small smirk and nod as he turned away, to which he merely listened to the sound of a garganta opening and the arrancar leaving through it. But not even a few seconds after hearing the portal close, Senna spoke up once more; "Why is Central 46 still debating on letting them into Seireitei? It's not like they can really do much about it when the Head Captain is over looking it."

The icy captain glanced to her briefly before to the road ahead, then he spoke up in a silent tone. "Even so...it'll be quite some time before they'll be willing to accept arrancar as allies, we've been at war with hollows since the very formation of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. But I think this whole war with Aizen has changed their view slightly, so it shouldn't be too long...especially considering the fact of Kurosaki Ichigo."

After his words, each of the people gave a nod, save for Kaien, whom raised a brow as the group finally arrived to the senkaimon for the Fourth Division. "Yeah...I meant to ask about that during the party yesterday...why does he look almost exactly like me? I know he's my relative...it's still kinda weird." the raven haired man said, giving a light shrug at the end.

Though almost everyone ignored his question, Ganju took it upon himself to answer as Toshiro opened up the large doors to the gate. "I know I was rather freaked out when I saw him for the first time."

Kaien looked to him and smirked with a nod; "Well I'm glad to see someone sees my point." he said before turning to his sister as she spoke up.

"Oh please...the moment they met they started beating the living day-lights out of one another." Kukaku stated with a roll of her eyes.

The oldest of the siblings raised a brow and quickly turned toward Ganju, to which he took on an 'evil' grin and began snapping his knuckles. "Oh~? Is there something you want to say to me, Otouto-kun?" he demanded with a slight twitch of his eye.

Ganju quickly waved his hands out in front of him; "N-N-No! Nothing at all!" he called out before rushing through the senkaimon as everyone seemed to be waiting for them to finish their conversation.

Kaien immediately followed after him, calling out to his younger brother of how he should talk to his 'Nii-sama' with respect. Though this made everyone sigh and sweat drop, they each began to go through the senkaimon and into the dangai. But after they disappeared inside the portal, the doors began to close as if all on their own, to which when they shut, it revealed a man with green and yellow hair, whom wore a strange outfit of various colors. This man looked over to the senkaimon and grinned lightly; "So you're blind in one eye and cough blood when you work too hard, eh?" he muttered silently as he stepped out to face the gate.

"Though it might be a hindrance, you can still be of use to me. So you better hurry back, so I can make good use of your talents." he continued as he turned around and began walking out of the courtyard.

"Once I do...Soul Society is mine." he stated with a grin before vanishing in a shunpo.

Yet unbeknownst to him that he had been watched by Soifon on a roof top not far away, whom had shunpoed out of the senkaimon just before the doors closed. Said woman narrowed her eyes heavily on the man, to which she then jumped down from the roof and watched the man leave. "Just as Captain Hitsugaya spoke of...but what did he mean that he'd make use of Captain Hitsugaya?" she questioned before shunpoing toward her own division.

But she quickly stopped and narrowed her eyes heavily when she saw two figures looking down from a building not far away and staring at the senkaimon Toshiro and the others had left through. Soifon narrowed her eyes on them, but they suddenly vanished with a strange type of power that didn't allow her to give chase. Though she only saw them for a brief second, she could tell that one was a male with what appeared to be dark lavender hair. While the other was a female with blond hair, only she had a small amount of pink in the front. Yet the stranger part of their appearances were their clothes, which looked like they had just come from a poor district of Rukongai.

"Who were they?" Soifon asked silently as she narrowed her eyes further.


	128. Chapter 128

**Chapter 128:**

-Kurosaki Clinic-

Toshiro leaned against the wall in the living room, everyone he had come with from Soul Society either doing the same or sitting on one of the sofas. But they weren't the only ones, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Isshin and Kisuke were all there as well. Yet despite the room being quite crowded, all of them remained silent as they each glanced to one another with somewhat anxious expressions. To which the source of all of this suddenly came down the steps just to the side of where they were all gathered.

Yet the moment Ichigo came down with his mother, the orange haired teen blinked a few times and looked to each of them. "What are all of you doing here?" he asked with a raised brow.

Toshiro pushed himself off of the wall after his words, but crossed his arms in the processes as he took a few steps forward. "I came here to make sure that you weren't feeling any rejection to the serum I gave you to reduce the rate of your reiatsu loss." he said in a halfway questioning tone.

Ichigo blinked his eyes for a moment before nodding his head with a small smirk; "None whatsoever. It almost feels like I'm not losing any spirit energy at all." he claimed in a rather proud tone.

Though the white haired captain gave a nod and was about to speak once more, he was interrupted by Rangiku. "I came with Captain just so I didn't have to do any paperwork."

Toshiro turned to her with a raised brow, yet just when he was going to say something to her, Yoruichi spoke over him as she grinned. "I tagged along because I was worried about my old student." she began with a wink.

"That...and it was convenient to come here with them since I was coming here anyway for the sales on milk." she finished as she let out a sigh and licked her lips.

As Toshiro groaned and rubbed his forehead, Ichigo sweat dropped and merely turned to Kisuke as he gave his reasoning. "I thought it would be interesting to have everyone in one place and see what happens." was all he said as he hid a smile behind his face.

The white haired captain sighed heavily to this and shook his head after rolling his eyes; "Anyone else?" he asked in a sarcastic manner.

"Well...I was worried about Ichigo and decided to make sure he was okay after passing out." Senna said with a shrug, her not noticing Toshiro's tone.

This made said captain to groan and all but face palm as he rubbed his eyes; "I was being rhetorical." he muttered silently, him giving Momo a thankful glance as she seemed not to be participating.

Yet after the orange eyed girl's words, Rukia, Chad and Orihime gave light nods of their heads to show they came for the same purpose. However, Uryu glanced between Ichigo and his mother, to which his eyes narrowed slightly and he spoke in a suspicious manner. "I came here to find out who you are and if you really are a Quincy."

Though the brown haired woman heard his comment and turned to him, they didn't get the chance to go any further as Kukaku decided to speak. "I just decided to follow Toshiro since he was coming out of the Fourth." was all she said with a light shrug.

Ganju blinked his eyes to her, then cleared his throat and looked away as if to show that was exactly what he was going to say. Kaien glanced between his siblings, then gave a huff as he turned to Ichigo and pointed at him accusingly. "I came here to find out why you look like me!" he declared, causing everyone to sweat drop lightly.

Ichigo raised a brow to Kaien for a moment, him and everyone else ignoring Isshin as he tried to say why he was there. "I was going to-" yet the only father in the room was cut off when his son spoke up.

"'Look like you'? That's my line! Heck...I thought you were some kind of clone Toshiro while we were in Hueco Mundo!" Ichigo claimed.

"What?! Me?! A clone?! If anyone is a clone, it's you! I was born well over a hundred years before you were!" Kaien claimed, him pointing an accusing finger toward Ichigo.

Whom of which returned this gesture and spoke up in a similar tone as his raven haired twin; "So what! How about who ever can kick the other's ass is right!"

"You're on!" Kaien called out as both he and Ichigo came face to face with their own respective growls at the other.

"Wow...they not only look almost exactly alike, but they act alike too." Kukaku muttered as she raised a brow and continued to watch the two argue, to which Ganju gave a light nod.

Toshiro let out a breath and shook his head to all of this, but as Rukia and Momo were going over to stop them, Masaki had appeared beside them. This gained both of their attention, but when she placed a hand gently to their shoulders, they simply blinked at her and noticeably calmed down. When she saw this, Masaki gave them a small, but very warm smile, to which she then spoke in a soft and kind voice. "Please don't fight inside, I would greatly appreciate it."

Immediately following her words, the two gave light nods before shaking one another's hand; "Sorry for what I said." Ichigo said with a small smirk.

"It's okay, I'm sorry too." Kaien responded, causing nearly everyone to blink at this in shock.

"B-But...how?" Senna asked as she looked between Ichigo and Kaien, to the former's mother.

Masaki turned her gaze over to the orange eyed girl and just continued to smile; "The best way to stop a fight is to be calm and gentle." she said with a wink.

As everyone blinked at this display, Isshin was merely grinning widely as if he had won every possible award in history. "That's my wife." he muttered silently.

Toshiro glanced over to Isshin for a moment before giving a small smirk and turning to Masaki; "So...how does it feel to be back?" he asked, him gaining the brown haired woman's attention after his first word.

Masaki blinked her eyes to the white haired captain for a moment before smiling warmly and glancing over to the side. "It was hard for Karin and Yuzu to let me go after I walked through the door...but it was one of the best times of my life. Of course they tried to stay up with me all night to celebrate my return, but they fell asleep just before midnight." she said as her smile widened slightly, to which she tilted her head up to the ceiling as if looking at her daughters sleeping in their beds on the next floor.

As Uryu heard this, his previous thoughts came back to which he stepped forward and spoke up quickly. "So how did you come back? And are you a real Quincy?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

Masaki blinked lightly to him, then she gave a soft smile and nodded her head with a quick glance over to Isshin and Toshiro. "Alright...I should tell you what happened, you're a fellow Quincy after all...and Ryu-chan's son." she began with a wink toward Uryu, whom sweat dropped heavily at her nickname for his father.

"According to Toshiro...after Isshin killed Grand Fisher, my soul had finally been set free of his and so I was finally able to move on to Soul Society. But since most souls lose their memories, I arrived in Rukongai with no idea of who I was." she continued as many of the people around her blinked in light surprise.

"Though while I was there...I met a very nice boy who was always worrying about his sister. He couldn't remember anything either, so he didn't know if she had passed on or not, but I always reassured him and said that if she had then he'd know." Masaki said as she looked over toward Orihime for a brief moment before turning away.

Despite the burnt orange haired girl not noticing this, many of the others did, to which Kukaku raised a questionable brow along with Kaien. All the while Ganju just picked at his ear while only halfway listening to the story, which earned him a quick punch to the head by both his siblings. Senna, Rukia, Momo and Chad glanced between Masaki and Orihime, but none of them were able to understand what the connection was.

Toshiro merely remained silent as he gave a small smirk along with Kisuke, Yoruichi and Rangiku, all four of whom were the only ones that knew of Masaki's meeting with Sora. All the while Isshin and Ichigo just seemed clueless to this and just looked at Uryu's focused eyes all but bury into Masaki and her words. But as said woman continued on; "But after a while, I was approached by a man by the name of Tsukishima Shukuro. He told me that I had to go see a person known as Hitsugaya Toshiro once I 'remembered'."

"He then slashed me with his sword, but there was no injury and suddenly, all these memories of my life while in the World of the Living came to me and I remembered who I was and everything that happened just before I died." she continued, rubbing her left shoulder and gave a brief shiver.

As only a select few knew what she was talking about, everyone else raised a brow to her in confusion, yet the brown haired woman just spoke on. "Once I met up with Toshiro, he told me I had to wait to see my family again because the sight of me would have traumatized them." she said with a light sigh.

"And since I didn't want that...I decided to wait till Toshiro had explained things to everyone before making myself known. Of course it was much harder then I thought...especially when I had to meet Toshiro just outside of Ichigo's school before one of his arrancar friends showed up." Masaki said, letting out a light giggle.

"And as for me being a Quincy...well...I'm not sure how I retained my powers after dying. I'm just assuming that as Quincy, we always keep our abilities no matter what. It's just a matter of remembering how to bring them out. But..." she began, holding out her right hand and generating a long silver bow, which had many blue engravings.

"...I'll just let your eyes see for themselves." the brown haired woman finished with a wide smile before allowing the bow to vanish.

Though Uryu's eyes were slightly wide in shock, he seemed a bit more shocked about something other than Masaki being a real Quincy. "But then, that means he's..." Uryu began silently, turning toward Ichigo.

"...half Quincy." he finished, his glasses sliding down his nose slightly as he could only stare at his teen friend in surprise.

Ichigo raised a brow to Uryu and sweat dropped with a sigh; "You make it sound like I'd make a terrible Quincy." he muttered silently.

Toshiro glanced between each of them for a moment before sighing silently and speaking up; "Well...now that 'that' is out of the way. On a more serious note..." he began, looking around to everyone as they turned to him for a change of subject.

"...I must ask that each of you to stay away from Soul Society for the next few days." the white haired captain continued as crossed his arms and looked to each of the people who lived within the World of the Living.

Though almost everyone raised a brow in question toward him, only a select few had waiting expressions on their features for Toshiro to explain himself. "Though I'm not one hundred percent sure...I have a feeling that after today, the Dangai will become all but uncrossable for anyone and everyone." the icy captain said silently.

But just as Ichigo was about to question this, he stopped when they all heard a phone ringing, to which all eyes turned to Rangiku. Whom of which smiled sheepishly, took the soul phone from between her breasts, flipped it open and read the contents. After a moment, she let out a groan and looked around to everyone as she put her phone back; "Sorry...but I've been called back to Soul Society. Looks like Central 46 is calling in all available witnesses to confirm that Gin's actions were for the greater good of the Gotei 13 the whole time." she said with a shrug.

But after her words, she quickly looked to Toshiro and narrowed her eyes slightly, it being obvious of what she was silently asking him. Though the icy captain was quiet for a moment, he gave a light nod to her and spoke up in a confident tone, yet it was noticeably not as confident as it should have been. "It should still be safe for us to make it back to Soul Society. It's likely that he'll want to deal with me personally since I can always use a Garganta to travel."

After his words, Rangiku gave a grin to him before nodding her head and waving to everyone goodbye. She then quickly headed to the door, her opening a senkaimon just outside of it before vanishing inside. But just as she left, Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly before looking down; 'She'll be okay...Inaba shouldn't make any moves until my return so he can deal with the biggest problem first. Though he might send a fake Rangiku here as a way to spy on me. In which case I shouldn't stay here too long.' he thought quickly before turning to Ichigo as the teen spoke up.

"Um...so why wouldn't the Dangai be safe for us travel in?" the orange haired teen asked as he blinked his eyes for a moment.

Toshiro let out a breath as he looked over to Yoruichi, whom just nodded her head lightly in acceptance, to which he turned back to Ichigo and narrowed his eyes slightly. "A man named Inaba Kageroza plans to either overthrow...or destroy Soul Society." he began, causing most of the people around them to blink in shock.

"What?! How?!" Ganju exclaimed, him speaking the words that nearly everyone was thinking.

"He's using the research for Gikon and Mod Souls, then combining it with the reigai that the Shinigami Research and Development Institute uses during their experiments with the Gikon and Mod Souls. And with this, he's going to create reigai copies of virtually every member of the Gotei 13." he continued, making all but Yoruichi's, Kisuke's and Kukaku's eyes widen in shock.

"Though I discovered his activities during Kariya's attack on Seireitei, I wasn't able to piece together exactly what he was doing until just recently. Mainly due to me being busy with my own research with the Gikon and Mod Souls." Toshiro said as he reached inside of his pocket and pulled out a silver case.

As he did and said all this, everyone narrowed their eyes slightly on both him and the small box in his icy hand. But as he opened it, only a select few recognized the contents within it, them being small, white pills that were all lined up on a miniature shelf. After revealing these to them, he snapped the case shut and spoke up in a silent, yet somewhat harsh tone. "I created these pills by using much of the same research."

"Once ingested, they fuse into one's soul and begins regenerating them from the inside out. Which will almost instantly restore their body and reiatsu to the point of their peak...for that moment in time of course. Though due to their massive effect, they can only be used once every twenty days. If used more than that, they won't work at all...and could possibly even kill the one that takes it." he continued, him smirking lightly as he put the case back in his pocket.

"I see...so that's what Ulquiorra used to bring himself back when he was just about dead." Ichigo said silently as he stared at Toshiro.

"That's right. I also gave one to Grimmjow and many of the other arrancar that I recruited, even myself included." the white haired captain stated as he let out a rough breath, it seeming like he was holding back a cough.

"Wait...if you used it on yourself, why do you look like...well...that." Isshin questioned as he gestured to the scar on Toshiro's face and his blind eye.

Though most of the people around the raven haired man gave him light frowns to his inquiry, the icy captain gave a small smirk before he spoke. "The blast from the two Hogyokus was too powerful, so I ended up-"

But he was instantly cut off as he suddenly coughed harshly, to which when it happened again, some blood escaped between his fingers. This made everyone quickly go up to him in a near rush, Yoruichi, Kukaku, Momo and Orihime being the nearest to him as they all watched with mixed levels of concern. All the while, Toshiro just continued to cough up blood for a few more moments before he finally stopped and began to breath semi-normally. Yet when he did, he pulled his hand away and revealed the ice to be completely covered in blood; "...like this." he finished silently.

Upon seeing this, Orihime quickly put her hands up to her hair pins, but she was stopped from summoning her powers when Toshiro placed his unbloodied hand to one of hers. "Don't...I don't want you to heal me Orihime." he said in a near whisper.

"But Toshiro-Nii...you're coughing up blood! I can't just sit here and watch you like this!" the burnt orange haired teen called out in a rather desperate manner.

The icy captain just shook his head to her and took in a few breaths, to which when he let them out, they were visible in the air and drifted down to the floor. "I know Orihime...but I do have a reason for not wanting to fix this." Toshiro began as he looked around to everyone as they stared at him with a mixture of concern and interest.

"I need this to remind myself everyday that my revenge is over." he continued, causing almost all of the people in the room to blink in confusion.

"I've spent nearly every minute of everyday for over a hundred years devising my plan of revenge against Aizen, and now that it's all over...I need to keep the lingering anger under control. Otherwise...who knows what new face my revenge will lead me to." Toshiro said, tilting his head down slightly as his eyes narrowed.

After his words, Momo placed a hand to his shoulder as she watched him with much worry in her eyes. "Shiro-chan." she whispered silently.

Yoruichi brought her hand to Toshiro's other shoulder and gripped it gently as she watched her white haired friend freeze his own blood and shatter it into unseen shards. Kukaku took Toshiro's other ice-covered hand into her own, to which she held it tightly and looked down for a brief moment. All the while, everyone else stared at the half blind captain with their continuous expressions of anxiety, but only one of them spoke up.

"But...you only have vision in one eye, isn't that enough?" Ichigo asked as he seemed like he wanted the white haired captain to accept Orihime's treatment as much as everyone else did.

Toshiro merely gave him a shrug as he looked up at the ceiling; "It's possible. I might just be punishing myself for the things that I've done. But even if that is the case, then I fully deserve it...I'll take this as my penance for killing all of the innocent lives for my own purposes." he replied as he closed his eyes briefly before opening them and looking to Masaki.

"But aside from that...I have a favor I need to ask of you." Toshiro said as his eyes narrowed slightly, to which the brown haired woman raised a brow in question.

Yet just before the white haired captain was about to clarify, everyone quickly turned to the side and narrowed their eyes when they felt the opening of a senkaimon nearby.

-Within the Dangai-

Rangiku ran through the Dangai with swift speed, most of the strange purple mass that made up the walls were a complete blur to her. Yet when a small shadow caught her eye, she suddenly stopped and looked around with heavily narrowed eyes. Though she didn't sense anything, she kept her right hand on her zanpakuto's grip and her left hand up in a blocking manner.

'Strange...I was sure I saw something, but I can't sense, hear, see or even smell a thing.' the strawberry blond thought to herself as she continued to look around.

But after a moment, she seemed to relax slightly, to which her attention was immediately caught by a bright light suddenly appearing far behind her. This made her eyes narrow once more, but rather than take on a fighting stance, she instantly began running once more. Yet as she went, Rangiku glanced back and ground her teeth slightly when she saw the Cleaner coming directly toward her at an extreme speed.

'I knew it...but it shouldn't be possible. Is the Cleaner supposed to regenerate this quickly?' she questioned in her mind as she quickened her pace.

Despite going faster, Rangiku could still hear the Cleaner coming closer and closer by the second, to which she pushed hard off the ground and began flying forward. As she did this, the strawberry blond could tell that she was pulling away from the strange cleanser, making her smirk lightly. Then she suddenly shot out of the Dangai and into Soul Society, just over the barracks of the Tenth Division. Rangiku let out a heavy breath to this and spoke silently; "I guess I should report to the Head Captain that the 'Cleaner' is ba-" but she cut herself short as she saw a figure appear near of her via a shunpo.

"Who are you?" Rangiku quickly demanded when she instantly unsheathed her zanpakuto and brought herself into a fighting position.

"Me? Why I'm just a mere Seventh Seat from the Twelfth Division." the figure said as he stepped forward and revealed himself to be Inaba Kageroza, the same man who saw Toshiro and the others off to the World of the Living not twenty minutes ago.

Rangiku narrowed her eyes heavily on him, to which she smirked lightly and shifted her feet farther apart. "Is that so? Well good news then...cause now I'll be able to rid a nuisance to my Captain here and now." she said before vanishing from sight.

Though the yellow and green haired man didn't see the strawberry blond move, he didn't even bother to turn his head when Rangiku appeared behind him. But just as Rangiku's blade was about to pierce through Kageroza's back, her attack was stopped as a shield of ash covered the area. This caused the blue eyed woman to widen her bright colored orbs as she turned to the side and saw herself on a nearby roof.

"It can't be..." she began before quickly turning to Kageroza with heavily narrowed eyes; "...how did you get my reiatsu?!" she finished in a complete demand.

The yellow and green haired man merely smirked lightly as he turned around to face the real Rangiku; "Is it that hard to believe that you were outsmarted by someone?" he questioned smugly.

But just as Rangiku was about to retaliate, she immediately had to dodge away from a spinning kick toward her face from the other Rangiku. This made the strawberry blond to look at the reigai version of herself, then to Kageroza as she brought her zanpakuto forth. "Don't think that I can't beat myself...I've always wanted to fight someone just as powerful as myself. So this is the perfect opportunity." she claimed as her zanpakuto began to glow a bright pink.

Yet just as she brought her blade up, her vision began to cloud and her consciousness started to fade, to which she heard Kageroza's voice as she was caught in midair by someone. "Unfortunately I can't have you making too much of a scene. Plus I need you unharmed for my plans to go forward...so if you'll be so kind as to take her to the facility, I need to head to the World of the Living to retrieve something quite important."

Just as Rangiku was losing consciousness, she saw the one that had hit and caught her, to which she briefly ground her teeth in aggravation as she saw the face of Kuchiki Byakuya. "Damn it..." were her last words before she went fully limp in the raven haired reigai's arm.


	129. Chapter 129

**Chapter 129:**

Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the green-haired girl sleeping in Ichigo's bed; 'I expected to find Inaba when we arrived at the area of the senkaimon appearing...but 'this' is a bit of a surprise. I wonder who this girl is and what she's doing here.' he thought silently as he crossed his arms.

'I've never even seen her before, nor felt this type of reiatsu. It almost feels like...' Toshiro continued as he glanced over to Kon as said mod soul climbed up on top of the desk to look at the teen girl.

After a moment, the white-haired captain turned his attention toward the only other person in the room, whom was the owner of the bed. Ichigo himself was looking at the teen girl with a highly raised brow in question, to which he sighed heavily when Kon suddenly jumped from the desk to his shoulder. "Hey! Who is this chick?" the lion plushie spoke up, pointing at the girl with his arm.

Just before Ichigo could respond, Kon just continued on as he gasped loudly; "Don't tell me...you're replacing Nee-san?! How could you?! I could never betray Nee-san! She and I are perfect for one another! We're inseparable!"

After his claims, Ichigo let out a groan and just threw Kon gently behind him and into his closet door. "Shut up already, we don't know who she is either." the orange haired teen said, crossing his arms in the process.

Toshiro turned his attention from the teen to the girl before him, to which he narrowed his eyes once more, only this time it was in suspicion. 'I also can't sense any presence from her, so that must mean she really is a-.' but he was brought out of his thoughts when Ichigo spoke up.

"Any idea of who she is?" the orange-haired teen asked as he looked to Toshiro with another raised brow.

Though the icy captain didn't look back to him as he spoke, he shook his head lightly as a primary response. "Not completely. The only thing I know about 'who' she is...it that she isn't a member of the Gotei Thirteen."

Ichigo blinked his eyes for a moment as he brought a finger and thumb to his chin in thought; "Hmm, any idea of 'what' she is then?" he questioned with another glance at Toshiro.

Whom of which sighed and placed his icy hands in his pockets; "She's a gigai or more specifically a mod soul. Since creating a reigai takes someone else's reiatsu and transforms the body to fit the spiritual printing, it's the only explanation as to why I've never seen her before till now." Toshiro explained as he stepped closer to the bed and narrowed his eyes once more.

"But then where did she come from?" the orange haired teen asked as his eyes shifted back to the green haired teen in his bed.

"Well we felt the opening of a senkaimon before we found her in the parking lot, so she's obviously from Soul Society." the icy captain stated with a light shrug, to which Ichigo gave a nod.

'But even so...I should have still seen her in the Twelfth Division at some point. Inaba must have kept her hidden from me in a separate area. Which can only mean one thing...' Toshiro thought as his head tilted down slightly.

"Then I only have one more question." Ichigo began with a sigh before clearing this throat, this making the white haired captain raise a brow in question.

"WHY THE HELL WAS SHE NAKED?!" he demanded as he pointed at the unconscious teen girl as though it were her fault.

Toshiro groaned and gave a shrug; "I don't know Kurosaki...I don't think that information is exactly relevant right now." was all he said, him sounding as though it truly wasn't that big of a deal to him.

Once he had said this, Ichigo raised a brow and shook his head lightly; "You've been around Yoruichi-san too long." he muttered silently to himself.

Though the icy captain gave him a raised brow, he turned around and started heading to the door. But then he sweat dropped heavily when he saw Kon sitting on the floor with a dreamy expression on his plushie features. To which Toshiro merely shook his head and walked out with the thought of; 'I don't even want to know what he's imagining.'

Once Toshiro reached the steps, he heard Ichigo following after him, with Kon struggling in his hand. All the while, said toy lion was trying to escape the teen's with multiple things to say toward the unconscious girl in the bedroom.

"Naked or not, I won't let you steal Nee-san's spot in my heart! She's my all! She's my everything! She's Nee-sa-!" but Kon was cut short when Ichigo tossed him into a nearby wall.

"You have to be quiet when you're in the house, my sisters are still asleep and we don't need to explain to them why there is a talking toy in the house." the orange haired teen said as he and Toshiro walked down stairs and into the living room.

Kon quickly jumped to his feet, jumped down the steps and pointed over to Masaki as she sat with the others. "But their dead mother has come back from Soul Society! I don't think a talking lion plushie will really shock them!" he called out as he crossed his arms.

Ichigo let out a sigh to this as he rolled his eyes and walked over to the group in the living room; "True...but it's best not to overload them with things about Soul Society right now." he muttered out with a very 'older brother' type tone.

Though Kon blinked his eyes to this for a moment, he turned away and continued to cross his arms as if to not show his agreement. "A-Alright...I suppose you have a bit of a point there." the stuffed toy said silently.

Toshiro let out a breath as he rubbed his forehead before clearing his throat; "That girl is a mod soul within a specialized gigai, and stranger yet...I've never seen her design before, nor her spiritual imprinting within the gigai itself." he began as he looked around to everyone.

Ichigo gave a light nod in response, him already knowing most of what the white-haired captain had just said. Yoruichi, Kukaku, Kaien, Uryu, Rukia, Senna, Masaki, Isshin and Momo had each narrowed their eyes as they waited for Toshiro to continue on. Ganju however was picking at some dirt between his finger nails, though it was obvious he was listening, his actions didn't show it. Orihime blinked her eyes a few times in interest, all the while Chad's expression appeared to remain the same.

"Though I'm not sure of the purpose...I believe that Inaba Kageroza might need her for something in order for his plans to overthrow Soul Society to continue. So you'll have to keep her here for now until a time that we can eliminate him as a threat." Toshiro finished, him seeming to use his last words carefully as he glanced to Orihime briefly.

As many of the people gave a nod, Isshin seemed to take it upon himself to speak up with a wide grin on his features. "Oh my dear wife~! We're going to have yet another daughter~!" he called out, taking a dramatic pose in the process.

Masaki gave a soft smile to this and chuckled with a shrug; "Well...she does seem like a nice girl." she said before turning to Toshiro.

Whom looked over to Kisuke and Yoruichi with a raised brow, to which the two gave him a light nod in response to his silent question. "We'll take care of keeping her hidden." the blond said with a smirk.

Yoruichi smiled lightly, then glanced over to Kukaku as said woman spoke up in a questioning tone. "But what exactly are we going to do about this 'Inaba'? I mean...we know his plan, sure. But do we have one actually stop it?"

After her question everyone tilted their heads down in thought, yet it was Uryu that voiced his opinion first. "Well if they're reigai...then technically they should be easier to kill. Their bodies are fake, so they have limits of what they can do when damaged. If you fight against them head on, there shouldn't be any problem with defeating them one at a time."

Everyone gave a light nod to this, to which Orihime smiled widely to him and patted his back gently. "Good thinking Ishida-kun. So all we would have to do is separate them and take them by surprise!" the burnt orange haired girl claimed.

Toshiro nodded his head in response, but then let out a sigh and turned to the side with narrowed eyes. "It's possible. But it's likely the reigai have already figured that out, so they're going to be attacking in a way that will keep us from doing just that." he said silently as he tilted his head up for a moment.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Kaien asked with a raised brow as he briefly glanced to his brother, whom had an interested expression as he looked at the white-haired captain.

Toshiro turned back to everyone, then looked down at Kon as he stepped before him with an almost eager look on his plushie features.

"I'm actually not sure. We're basically fighting ourselves, so no matter what we think of, they're going to already process the same thought at the same time." the icy captain said, to which each of the people around him narrowed their eyes slightly.

"Does Inaba have reigai of everyone?" Ichigo asked, him having an unsaid question within his tone, but Toshiro understood it as he shook his head.

"No...as far as I can tell from the research I've gathered on the Gikon and Mod Souls, the only beings he should be able to create reigai out of are shinigami. Which means that you, your friends and even I are not compatible to become part of his army." the icy captain said as he turned his head back down to Kon as he had sat down like Toshiro were telling a story.

"But it doesn't mean he hasn't figured out ways to eliminate us. Since we're the greatest threat, most of his time would be spent devising ways to kill us off." he continued, narrowing his eyes slightly, causing the lion plushie to gulp in nervousness.

"So that's why you brought all of them here." Masaki said as she looked around to everyone that came with him from Soul Society.

Toshiro turned to the brown-haired woman with a raised brow before nodding his head; "Partially...I also need a back up team in case things go bad." he said, crossing his arms.

"Wait a second...we need the senkaimon to move back and forth between the worlds, how can we be your back up if Inaba is still manipulating the Dangai?" Rukia questioned with blinking eyes.

"Them." was all Toshiro said as he uncrossed his arms and gestured to his sides, which held nothing but air.

Yet a split second after he said this, Yin and Yang appeared on either side of him, both being on one knee and bowing their heads. "Hitsugaya-sama." they said in unison.

While a few of the people in the room blinked their eyes to the pair, their shock didn't last long as Kon ruined it almost instantly. "Twin~ Nee~sans~!" he called out as jumped toward the two arrancar.

But the second he got too close Yin back-handed him across the face and sent him in a wall, all without even having to look up. "Perverted creature." she muttered coldly.

This made almost everyone sweat drop, to which they quickly turned back to Toshiro as he spoke. "I will have Yin and Yang bring you to Soul Society, plus inform our other arrancar allies of the situation."

Senna blinked her eyes to this and raised a brow as she tilted her head slightly; "You're not going to just ask them to come in and help?" she asked in a rather confused tone.

Toshiro looked to her and nodded his head; "I can't order them to fight for us. They're our allies, not my subordinates." he stated silently.

But then he gave a small smirk as he looked down; "Though I have a feeling that Coyote and Lilynette will be the first ones to jump in to help, then Ulquiorra and Nel will join without a doubt. And once they go...Grimmjow will definitely go as well, plus Dordoni and Gantenbainne will also come along without question. When they do, Cirucci will more then likely join in, along with Harribel and her fraccion." he said with a heavy sigh.

After his words, Ichigo sweat dropped lightly and shook his head with a sigh; "I have to stop expecting so much...even though you guys are supposed to be part of big organizations." he muttered silently to himself.

Toshiro raised a brow to the teen, but then turned away and looked to Senna with a small smirk. "Though it'll be a chain of events leading to it...just telling them the situation will give us their full support." he claimed as he started heading for the door.

As he did, Yin and Yang immediately followed him as they stood up, but they quickly stopped when Toshiro turned to look at everyone.

"I'm going to inform the Head Captain that Inaba is making his move, so the rest of you...try to stay out of trouble until you're called." he said, glancing over to Senna at the end before heading out the door with the two female arrancar beside him.

The purple haired teen blinked her eyes for a moment before huffing and crossing her arms; "What's that supposed to mean? I don't get into trouble." she said with a pout, causing most of the people in the room to sweat drop or clear their throat.

All the while, Toshiro took in and let out a silent breath as he brought his hand up to open a garganta, but stopped when he felt the presence of two beings just to his left. Yet the second he turned to look at them, there was nothing there, this made the icy captain narrow his eyes heavily and shift his eyes around the area. Though Yin and Yang noticed this, neither of them spoke until Toshiro turned his head forward and opened the garganta.

"What was it Hitsugaya-sama?" Yang asked with a brief glance toward the left side before back to Toshiro.

"I'm not sure...but whatever they were, I've never seen anything like them." he said silently as he and the two arrancar walked through the garganta, which vanished soon after.

Once it was gone, the two beings suddenly appeared once more, them being the ones Soifon had seen not half an hour ago. But this time, the male figure was carrying a large scythe in his right hand, which had a red colored blade and bone white handle. As they looked down from a roof top next to the Kurosaki clinic, they both peered inside of one of the windows and narrowed their eyes.

"Nee-san...are you sure Rukia is in there?" the male spoke up in a silent tone as he turned to the female, whom nodded her head.

"Yeah...I can feel it." she whispered with a small, yet longing smile as she pointed to Rukia as she became visible in the window.

"See? I knew it...now we just need to take her away from those damn shinigami and we'll be able to take her back to Inuzuri." the female continued as a small tear dropped from her eye.

-Soul Society-

Toshiro came through the garganta within his own division, him being completely alone as he looked at his surroundings with a slightly narrowed eyes.

'It looks like nothing too large-scale has occurred just yet.' he thought to himself as he started walking.

Yet he didn't even finish his second step before he heard a voice coming from behind; "Took you long enough Captain."

As he heard this, Toshiro let out a breath as he slowly turned and narrowed his eyes once more when he saw a grinning Rangiku. But the longer he looked at the strawberry blond, then more he wanted to believe that she could be the real one.

"So...where is the real Rangiku?" he questioned with a slightly raised a brow.

The reigai of Rangiku just grinned to him and shrugged her shoulders; "Sorry Captain...can't tell you that." she said in a nearly playful tone as though the two of them were playing a game.

Toshiro raised a brow to this before crossing his arms and allowed an invisible smirk on his features; "So that means she's still alive...good to know." he said with a nod before turned around and starting to walk away.

Reigai Rangiku blinked her eyes and pouted as she quickly ran up beside him, to which they walked side by side. "How mean Captain~, you weren't just going to leave me here were you? I might not be the original but I'm still pretty much the same." she all but whined.

The icy captain glanced to her and sighed heavily with a shake of his head; "So Inaba ordered you to keep an eye on me huh?" he stated rather than asked as they continued on toward the First.

"Yep~! And of course he also told me to see if you had any weaknesses that might come in handy for the future. But I'm not going to bother cause with the original's memories and experiences, I already have them." Rangiku claimed with a wide smirk on her face.

Toshiro raised a brow to her once more with a slight tilt of his head; "Oh? Well I suppose that isn't much of a surprise, so I trust you're keeping that information to yourself?" he asked with only half interest as if knowing what the answer would be.

The fake Rangiku gave a simple nod in response as she shrugged her shoulders; "Like I'd ever actually serve a guy like Inaba willingly. He just has something that I'm interested in, so I'm just playing along...I'm still completely and totally loyal to you." she said with a wink, to which Toshiro raised a brow.

"He told you to say that, didn't he?" the white-haired captain said with a sigh.

After his words, the reigai Rangiku let out a laugh before giving a light nod and shrug; "Of course~! But he told me to say it as a lie, so I guess I didn't fulfill his orders." she said with another, but much more certain nod.

This made Toshiro raise a brow to her, then stop in his tracks and fully turn to her. "Is that really true?" he asked, narrowing his eyes on her for a moment.

Rangiku gave a nod in response as her playfulness turned to seriousness; "Every word Captain. Though I do have a reason for following Inaba...my loyalty has, is and always will be with you. And nothing can ever change that." she said with a small smile as she bowed completely to him.

Though Toshiro's eyes narrowed even more, he gave a light nod before turning back toward the First Division. "Alright then...let's get a move on." he said as he started walking again.

The reigai Rangiku smiled a bit wider to him as she jumped up and all but bounced her way over to her superior. "And maybe afterward we can head out to the bar and get some drinks~." she sang as she walked beside him.

Yet as the pair went, they were being watched by Soifon not far away, whom narrowed her eyes heavily on the fake Rangiku. "She's lying...she has to be." she muttered before slowly starting to follow after them.

But unbeknownst to even her, she too was being watched by reigai Soifon, whom quickly followed after Toshiro. "I won't let anyone get in my way anymore." she muttered to herself with a very determined tone.


	130. Chapter 130

**Chapter 130:**

"And that is all you have to report?" the Head Captain questioned silently, to which Toshiro gave a light nod.

"Hai." the icy captain stated, him glancing over to the large doors to the right of him as a few thuds could be heard on the other side.

"Very well...you're dismissed." Yamamoto said as he looked down to his desk silently.

Toshiro bowed slightly to him, then as he opened the doors and walk out of the Head Captain's office, he turned his head over to Rangiku. Yet the moment he did this, he raised a brow as said woman was entangled with two Soifons on the floor. Both of whom seeming to be 'attacking' each other as well as the strawberry blond while they pulled one another's hair. As he stared at this scene for a while, Toshiro sweat dropped heavily, then simply shut the doors and started walking.

"Ah! Wait for me Captain~!" Rangiku called out as she escaped the scuffle and ran over to Toshiro's side.

But immediately after she did, the two Soifons jumped to their feet and called out to him in perfect unison. "Captain Hitsugaya!"

Once he heard them, Toshiro groaned and turned around to look at the two with a slightly raised brow. Though while the real Soifon stopped and bowed a few feet away, the other came up closer and quickly took one of Toshiro's ice-covered hands. "Will you marry me?!" the reigai Soifon asked somewhat loudly.

This made everyone's eyes widen heavily and blink soon after, including Toshiro himself as he looked as though the reigai Soifon's grip was the only thing keeping him standing. "Um...what?" was all he could think of to say.

"I wish for you to marry me Captain Hitsugaya! I understand that you probably wish to marry Yoruichi-sama in the future, but I humbly request for me to join her in being your wife." she responded as though it had been rehearsed for years.

Just as Toshiro was about to say something after a long physical and mental pause, the real Soifon spoke up. "You cannot! More than one wife is forbidden and even if it were, Captain Hitsugaya would prefer to marry a real being! Not a reigai!"

"What was that?!" both reigai in the hallway demanded, to which all eyes turned to Rangiku as she seemed just as upset about Soifon's words as the fake Soifon.

"Y-You know...I don't want my Captain to feel sad about not being able to marry who he wants, reigai or not." the strawberry blond said in a somewhat nervous tone.

Toshiro rubbed his eyes silently for a moment and looked to the side; "And here I was expecting an actual fight." he muttered silently.

As he said this, each of the woman looked to one another, yet it was the reigai Soifon that spoke up first. "Well...my only reason for following Kageroza was so that after everything was over, I could follow you."

"But he was going to have me wait until he was able to take the original Soifon out of the picture. I simply couldn't wait that long considering the fact that I knew that you told her about Kageroza's plan and wouldn't easily fall into a trap. Plus...after modifying me to be more aggressive than the original, I decided not to postpone it any longer and wanted to finally be able to take the next step into furthering my relationship with you Captain Hitsugaya." she continued with a blush and small smile on her features.

Toshiro raised a brow to this, to which he let out a breath, yet was once again cut off when reigai Rangiku spoke up. "That's exactly what Kageroza promised me."

But as everyone turned to her with a raised brow, they immediately sweat dropped heavily when she said her next words. "That...and a years supply of sake that I would be able to hide in the office."

Yet even among the face-palm-like expressions they each gave her, Toshiro crossed his arms and began tapping his ice-covered foot on the floor. "Oh~? So you're still hiding sake in the office, are you?" he muttered out as a chill ran through each of the women's spines.

Reigai Rangiku smiled nervously to him and waved her hands out in front of herself; "N-N-Not at all, Captain." she stuttered out, her obviously trying to think of a way out.

Toshiro raised a brow to her as he waited for her to continue, to which when she did, he growled silently at her words. "It was the original."

"Matsumoto!" the icy captain yelled out, which was soon followed by the strawberry blond running away with her superior giving chase, to which the two Soifons followed quickly.

-Unknown area-

The real Rangiku opened her eyes with a silent groan as she rubbed her forehead; "Ugh...I sure hope I didn't fall asleep on my living room floor again." she muttered to herself, her voice echoing in the nearly pitch black area.

But as her eyes began to focus in the darkness, she quickly realized that she was inside of a prison cell. This made her raise a brow in question, to which she glanced to the bars on her right, stood up to her feet and made her way over to them. But once she reached them, she simply began examining the bars themselves and even put her ear near of them as if listening to the metal.

"Hmm...a powerful electrical current. Not enough to kill, but more than enough to knock me out." she whispered silently before looking up in thought.

'So Inaba wants me alive after all...I wonder why.' she thought as she looked around the rest of the cell, which was nothing but walls.

This caused the strawberry blond to huff and cross her arms; "Not even a window? How mean." she muttered to herself with a pout as she looked herself over.

As she noticed that only her zanpakuto was missing from her attire, she sighed heavily in relief as she just sat herself down on the cold floor. 'At least no one tried to undress me.' she thought with a shiver.

"I don't even wanna picture that." she said silently as she laid back and looked up at the heavily shadowed ceiling.

'Wonder what Captain is doing. He's probably with that reigai version of me right now...which means that she'll be getting closer to him than me.' Rangiku thought with a frowning pout.

'How unfair...it should be me to show just how loyal I am to him, not her.' she continued as she folded her hands under her head.

After a brief moment, the strawberry blond gained a small smirk, to which she crossed her ankles together. 'What am I thinking? The fact that there is no way even a fake version of me could betray Captain would be more than enough to show him how faithful I really am to him.' she thought as her smirk widened.

But after a brief moment of contemplating her own thoughts, she cleared her throat silently in slight embarrassment and change the subject within her own mind. 'Looks like I'll have to find a new place to hide my sake in case my reigai decides to 'suck-up' to him.'

Yet a split second later, her attention snapped toward the bars when she heard a door creaking open. Rangiku immediately shunpoed into a darker side of the cell, this hiding her from a simple glances view, to which she quickly saw Kageroza come into view.

"Ah...awake sooner then expected are we, Lieutenant Matsumoto?" the man questioned as he took on a small grin and pressed a specific tile on the floor, which glowed briefly beneath his foot.

Though Kageroza couldn't see Rangiku, his eyes quickly shifted over toward the most shadowed part of the cell with his expression remaining constant. To which Rangiku let out a sigh and stepped out of the darkness and placed her hands to her hips; "So? You should know by now that this 'play-pen' can't hold me for very long." she claimed.

"Oh~? Is that so?" Kageroza began as she stepped closer to the cell; "Well unfortunately for you, I've already studied your reiatsu long enough to figure out all of your techniques and even the limits of your shunko."

Despite the strawberry blond looking at him slightly shocked at his words, the darkness around her hid it too well to be seen. Yet Rangiku quickly composed herself and narrowed her eyes; "Don't underestimate me...I always aim to be better than what I was the previous day, so no matter what you've studied, I've grown past that point." she said as she stepped toward the bars.

Kageroza grinned wider to her, then tilted his head slightly as he spoke in a very smug and challenging tone. "Then how about you prove it? I'm going to meet up with your captain in ten minutes to inform him that I'll be using your life as collateral to make him obey my commands."

"If you can stop me before then...I shall admit defeat and turn myself in. But if you don't, then at the end of all this...you'll be the first one to die." he finished as his grin widened.

Rangiku raised a brow to him for a moment before sighing heavily with a simple shrug; "No thanks." she said simply as she turned around and walked to the other side of the cell.

"It's too much work for a lady to do, there's no way I'll put in so much effort if it's not my Captain's order." she continued as she leaned against the far wall.

Though Kageroza raised a brow to her in question, he smirked lightly in amusement as he shook his head. "I should have figured you would say such a thing...but despite saying that, you still have every intention of breaking out the first chance you get." he claimed, his smirk fading as he noticed that Rangiku wasn't even paying any attention to him.

Said strawberry blond let out a groan as she looked around the cell with a pout; "This is so boring...you could have at least given me a bed...plus some decorations would be nice...and a few extra outfits...or at least a shower with a washing machine." she said as she crossed her arms under her chest.

The yellow and green haired man narrowed his eyes on the woman and clenched his cane tightly in his left hand. "I see that speaking to you was indeed just a waste of time. Though you only have a brilliant mind thanks to your Captain's genius...it's obvious that it was enough for you not to give away anything important." he said silently.

Rangiku chuckled to him and shrugged lightly; "What can I say? Captain is a pro at making slackers like me into great fighters." she said, to which she rested her head against the wall.

Kageroza looked at her quietly for a moment before smirking and leaning forward slightly; "Indeed...but now he will become a 'pro' in furthering my goals to destroy Soul Society." he claimed, turning his back to the cell.

"Despite his 'injuries'...he is still one of the most powerful captains in the Gotei Thirteen, and I will be using that to its fullest extents." the yellow and green haired man said as his smirk widened.

Rangiku merely rolled her eyes to him, her just sighing lightly as she looked away from him completely. Yet because of this, she missed Kageroza pressing the same tile on the floor as before, which once again glowed briefly on contact. "And of course he'll have no other option but to help me because I hold someone very precious to him." he said as he turned to face Rangiku once more.

Said strawberry blond looked to him as well and raised a brow in question; "Is that so? Well unfortunately my Captain isn't the type to follow a deranged lunatic." she said with a smirk.

"Oh? Well I'm afraid he'll have no choice in the matter. You see...while I've droned on with all of this talking, small microscopic machines have filled this room and infiltrated our bodies." Kageroza claimed with a grin.

This made Rangiku's eyes widen, then quickly narrow as she came up closer to the bars and spoke in a near growl. "And what do these machines do?"

"Long story short...it'll share our pain. But thanks to the modifications I made on myself before coming here, your pain won't be transferred to me. So if I get hurt, you will as well...if you get hurt, only you will feel it." the grinning man spoke as he looked at the strawberry blond with amusement.

Said woman glared heavily at him as she had to hold herself back in trying to attack him right then and there; "My Captain won't let you get away with this. And once you're stopped...I'm going to make sure you pay for this." she stated through her heavily clenched jaw.

"And on that note...I must be going." Kageroza said, his amusement being very clear in his tone as he walked toward the doorway he came through.

"Though I do wonder just how long he'll last when it comes time for your reigai to kill him." were his leaving words as his voice was quickly overtaken by the door closing.

Despite her being silent for a brief moment from her lingering anger, Rangiku eventually let out a breath to calm herself down before smirking lightly. "You fool...there isn't a version of me alive that can betray him." she whispered, closing her eyes in the process.

"Who ever said she'd do it willingly?" a familiar voice suddenly questioned, causing the strawberry blond's eyes to snap open and look at the figure of Yoruichi in front of her.

"I-It can't be." she stuttered out in shock, to which the purple haired reigai grinned lightly as her eyes glowed blue and let out a faint spark of electricity.

-World of the Living-

"So...this game is called Pokemon Black: Version 2?" Masaki questioned with blinking eyes as she tilted her head to she side.

Yuzu nodded her head to her mother and smiled widely; "Yeah~! It's really fun Okaa-san~! Onii-chan and Karin play it all the time too~!" she claimed as she nuzzled next to Masaki on the couch.

"Well...Ichigo always was interested in these games when he was young." the brown haired woman said with a smile toward her son.

Whom of which was looking to the side with a somewhat embarrassed expression; "I haven't played those games in a long time." he muttered silently.

"Then why do you have a collection of the games you've gotten over the years in the top drawer of your desk? Including...White: Version 2." Karin questioned as she leaned over the back of the couch near of her mother.

Ichigo huffed to her and turned away fully; "Whatever." he growled out with crossed arms.

"Um...what is this 'Pokemon' anyway?" Rukia asked with a raised brow.

Just as Ichigo was about to respond, Senna came over to her with a small hand-held device in her hands, to which she was pressing buttons on the sides. "I don't know...but I think it's pretty fun! I'm playing one called; 'Pokemon Soul Silver'. And though it took me a while to delete the saved game on it...I'm able to start on my own 'adventure' as this old guy called it." she claimed with a grin, pointing to the screen on the device.

"Hey! That took me weeks to do!" the orange haired teen called out as he pointed accusingly at the purple haired girl.

Senna just grinned as she stuck her tongue out at him and winked at the same time; "Oh well...too late now." she claimed in a playful tone as she continued to play the game.

Yet as Ichigo tried to take it away, she simply stepped around Rukia as she used the short girl to block the brown eyed teen from getting to her. "Hey! Give it back!" Ichigo called out as he kept circling around Rukia to get at Senna.

Though the raven haired shinigami let out a sigh, she just stood there with her arms crossed as she became more and more noticeably aggravated. But the whole time, Isshin simply watched all this with a tray of tea in his hands, to which he sniffed silently and fluttered his eyes as though he would cry.

"It's like we're a family already." the raven haired father said with a proud smile as he walked over to the table in the center of the room and placed the tray down.

Kukaku raised a brow to him from her place on one of the sofas and shrugged; "If you say so...I still think it's only a matter of time before they all just beat the hell out of one another." she muttered, her saying it quietly enough so that the young sisters with their mother couldn't hear.

Orihime blinked her eyes to her and gave a soft smile in response as she shifted slightly in her chair across from Kukaku. "I'm sure it won't go that far. With Masaki-san here and both of your brothers following Urahara-san to his shop for their gigais, there shouldn't be anything to worry about." the burnt orange haired girl said.

The raven haired woman raised a brow to her for a moment before giving a light nod in response; "I suppose so. But even without them...or those other two friends that you came here with, they're already causing trouble between themselves." Kukaku said as she gestured toward Ichigo, Senna and Rukia.

"Ishida-kun wouldn't have been any trouble, nor Sado-kun. Though I do wonder what Yoruichi-san wanted to talk to them about at Urahara-san's shop." the burnt orange haired teen said as she eventually followed Kukaku's gaze.

Though Ichigo had gotten his game back, he had to hold it up in the air, hold Senna back with his other hand and even use Rukia as a wall to keep the orange eyed girl from taking it. But the raven-haired shinigami was silently growling to herself, to which she eventually grabbed them both by their collars and began yelling at them.

"Would you stop using me as some kind of shield! I'm no ones barrier!" was only one of the many choice words she had for them.

Masaki looked up from her daughters' game for a moment before smiling lightly at her son interacting with the two girls. "My boy has really grown up fast." she whispered to herself in a very proud tone.

But this moment was quickly ended as the two beings from outside suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. This grasped everyone's attention and made them all quickly ready their own unique weapons, yet they both focused their stares to only one person.

"Rukia..." both intruders whispered out before instantly vanishing as Isshin flipped the tray up into his hands and threw it at them.

Yet neither of the two went far, both appearing on either side of Rukia and immediately grabbing both of her arms. Just as it seemed they were about to disappear once more, two blue arrows came toward each of them at too great of speed. This caused the male to narrow his eyes slightly, break his hold on Rukia and block the attacks with his large scythe. Masaki merely narrowed her eyes slightly as she held out the bow in her hand sideways, yet her other hand was blocking her daughters partially from view.

As Rukia struggled to get away from the female of the intruding pair, said girl kept a firm grip on her arm, but with some noticeable difficulty. The female had originally only had one hand gripping the raven-haired shinigami's arm, but was now using both as she had an almost desperate expression as she looked at Rukia. "Rukia!" she called out in a tone to fit her facial features.

"Let me go!" the purple eyed shinigami yelled as she tried to get her zanpakuto out of its sheath with her left hand.

However, Senna was quick on her attack as she transformed to her shinigami form and slashed at the blond and red haired girl. All the while, Ichigo simply disregarded the fact that he left his Combat Pass in his room and attempted to punch her. Yet the female just grabbed Rukia's arm tighter and vanished along with the raven haired shinigami, causing most of the people's eyes to widen slightly. But just when Kukaku was about to strike the male with a knee along with Isshin's spinning kick, he vanished as quickly as his partner.

As everyone looked around, their eyes narrowed heavily and they eventually turned toward one another. "I can't feel Kuchiki-san's reiatsu." Orihime spoke up as she stepped away from Karin and Yuzu after guarding them along side Masaki.

When everyone else came to the same conclusion, Ichigo spoke up first with a determined voice and narrowed eyes. "We have to go after them!"

"But we have no idea where to even start. If we couldn't even feel their approach, what makes you think we're even going to be able to start and actual search?" Kukaku questioned as she placed her real hand on her hip, to which many of the people nodded in agreement.

Yet as they talked, Yuzu blinked her eyes a few times as she couldn't completely see the shinigami in the room, but she had a concerned expression on her features as she knew something was wrong. Karin merely patted her shoulder and gave a small smirk; "Don't worry...everything will be okay." she said silently.

Masaki looked to the two, then smiled lightly and gave a light nod in agreement to her raven haired daughter. "Yeah...we'll find..." she began but trailed off and blinked her eyes for a moment as it seemed like she had forgotten what she was going to say.

But she wasn't the only one...slowly but surely, everyone in the room began to forget whom it was they were concerned about. Their minds remembered that there was someone who had been taken and that it was important to find find them right away. But when they looked to their memories for an image of that person...only a shadow remained.


	131. Chapter 131

**Chapter 131:**

Kon: Yo~! It's Kon-sama! And I'm here to introduce a new segment for our awesome story! *Gestures to a large studio and even the large desk he's standing on, which has one chair behind it and several off to the side* It's a talk show! And I'm your host, Kon-sama!

Toshiro: *Clears his throat from off to the side as he is sitting in a large chair with a microphone in front of him* Tell me again why I'm here. I'm not interviewing anyone and nor am I being interviewed.

Kon: *Waves his arm to him and smirks* Every talk show host has to have a wise cracking assistant!

Toshiro: *Raises a brow to him* Again...why am 'I' here?

Kon: *Sweat drops and smiles sheepishly* Well no one else would take the part since they're busy with the next chapter. *Grins widely* And since you've already finished your part...you're the best choice~!

Toshiro: *Sighs heavily and shakes his head before looking to the side* Just get it over with already.

Kon: Yosh! *Turns to the camera and points off to the side* Well then allow me to start the show off with some interesting news! *Pauses for a moment before turning around and looking through a few cards on the desk*

Toshiro: *Raises a brow once more and crosses his arms* You actually forgot what you were supposed to say didn't you?

Kon: N-Not at all! *Continues looking with a sweat drop* I just happened to misplace the information while I was going through the introduction!

Toshiro: *Rubs his eyes and sits up in his chair* The news he was supposed to tell you is merely a series of lame jokes that pertain to the last chapter mentioning Pokemon.

Kon: Ah! I knew that! *Points to Toshiro as he swiftly turns to the camera and clears his throat with a smile* I'm never gonna 'Raichu' a love song. Eh? *smirks and looks around, to which a cricket noise is heard soon after. *Clears his throat once more and keeps smiling* Mind if I 'Axew' a question? *Looks around with a wider smile, yet frowns when not even a cricket is heard*

Toshiro: *Groans silently and rubs his eyes* This is painful even to watch.

Kon: *Growls and points out to the crowd* Then how about this! I cannot 'Bayleaf' it's not butter! *After this a person's cough can be hear, but nothing else, to which he looks down in defeat* I guess these 'Pokepuns' aren't funny anymore.

Toshiro: *Glances to him and shrugs* They probably can be...but you need to have one that most people have never heard before. Like; There's no 'Shaymin' losing. *As he says this a few chuckles are heard in the crowd*

Kon: *Blinks to this, then grins and brings up a fist* Okay then! I will come up with a brand new one! *Grins even wider before speaking up* To my dear Rangiku-chan! *Looks very determined before gaining a rather perverted smile and starts to hug himself* Oh how much I'd like a 'Pikachu' and your Valley of the Gods.

Toshiro: *After his words, Kon is quickly frozen in a block of ice, to which he clears his throat and gestures to the side* Anyway...our first guest is Tuliharja, also know as Tuli-chan and the proofreader to Change One Side, Change The Story.

Tuliharja: *Smiles widely as she sitting down in the chair closest to Kon's desk, legs crossed* Hello everybody! *Waves hand before looking at Toshiro* Shiro-chan.

Toshiro: *Looks annoyed her* It's Captain Hitsugaya.

Tuliharja: *Ignores this as she looks to Kon* And of course Kon-sama~. *Winks her eye*

Kon: *The ice around him shatters, to which his shivers and sniffles from the cold* W-W-W-Welcome T-T-T-Tuli-chan. Nice having you on the show.

Tuliharja: *Chuckles to this in amusement* Thank you Kon-sama. I'm happy to be here.

Kon: *Clears his throat as he goes over and sits in his chair, yet it's boosted high enough for him to place his arms on the desk* Now Tuli-chan...we all know why you decided to help the author with his story...but I'm also curious as to what your own opinion on the story itself.

Tuliharja: *Blinks her eyes to Kon, before looking up to the roof for a moment and finally at the camera* Well...I actually like it lot of. I think the main reason is the fact how coolly Toshiro is portrayed in the story and how Lil'Prince alias Ice Prince Hitsugaya creates all the twists in the story. Of course, I also like the very idea Toshiro is from same era as Urahara and Yoruichi. It has made him more mysterious and knowing but also much more powerful. *She tells, smiling to Toshiro's way*

Toshiro: *Raises a brow toward her and gives a small smirk*

Kon: *Smiles widely* Yosh! The next question I have is; other than COS, CTS, do you have any other projects you're doing as of now?

Tuliharja: You mean as an author? *Lifts her brow to Kon before nodding slightly* Yes, I do. I'm making a drabble collection about Kenpachi and her little girl. *Chuckles lightly* And of course I've several other project...which are kind of sitting at my computer...dusting...*Sweat drops now heavily*

Toshiro: *Sighs and rubs his temples* Why does that remind me of a certain lieutenant of mine?

Tuliharja: *Couches now lightly* Of course I'm also doing together Lil'Prince a crossover fic about Bleach and Naruto. We're writing it together and so far, it has been really nice! I've always wanted co-write with someone. *Smiles now happily*

Kon: *Smirks lightly* Oh~! I'm definitely looking forward to that! *Brings a paw up to his chest and smiles proudly* Especially if I'm in it.

Toshiro: *Rubs his eyes with a groan* I hope not.

Kon: *Swiftly turns to him and raises his arm up* Oi! I heard that!

Toshiro: *Sighs silently as he ignores him and looks over to Tuli-chan* I also have a quick question before we bring out the author himself. Do you think I'm ever going to have a quiet and peaceful day that I can finally relax.

Tuliharja: Umm...no? *Sweat drops heavily* Well, maybe when you're like old. I mean old-old. Like...*Shivers now*...Head Captain old. *Quickly looks away*

Kon: *Clears his throat before Toshiro is able to respond* And now...for the last guest! The author...aka...Ice Prince!

*I come walking out and waving lightly to the crowd as they all cheer, to which I whisper silently to myself* Don't say anything stupid like last time. Don't say anything stupid like last time.

Toshiro: *Raises a brow as I seem to pause before finally sitting down next to Tuli-chan*

*I look over to Tuli-chan and smirk widely* Yo...first time we've actually talked on an actual chapter huh?

Tuliharja: True, even though in my Shinigami Golden, Cup! -segments and other extras, I've congratulated you few times...but otherwise yeah. *Blinks her eyes now* I have to plan for an extra show after this...who I'm going to call in there?! *Starts run around Kon's table, panicking*

Toshiro: *Stands up and hands her a list for available people* There. *Goes back and sits down once more*

Tuliharja: Oh...thank you Shiro-chan. *Smiles sheepishly and sits back down as well*

Kon: *Clears his throat* Now Ice Prince...I'm sure everyone would like to know! *Crosses his arms and raises a suspicious brow* What happened to the real update for this week?

*I sweat drop and clear my throat* Well...I was busy with quite a number of things and I just didn't have the time...*I look away sheepishly*...plus I sort of forgot on a few occasions.

Toshiro: *Face palms and sighs with a shake of his head* I knew it.

Kon: *Sighs with a shrug* Oh well. *Turns to the crowd with an excited expression* Alright then...how about the next question! *Faces me once more and gains a bored look on his features* No one has been asking you any questions, so there is nothing to ask.

*I blink and sweat drop* E-Eh? *I look around and blink a few more times* S-So...that's it?

Kon: *Shrugs* Well it's not like we have a bunch of things to talk about. We just had a radio show four chapters ago so there isn't anything new to mention.

Toshiro: *Raises a brow to him, then just shrugs as he silently agrees*

B-But...*Looks down defeated, then looks to the camera with a sheepish smile*...well I guess that's it then. But if you guys have any questions that you would like to be in the next segment like this one go ahead and leave them in the reviews. *I clear my throat with a shrug* Within reason of course...nothing completely random or something that would give away a spoiler in the story. It'll probably be easier to actually have questions by other people then ones I make up myself.

Toshiro: I have one. *Crosses his arms and raises a brow at me* Why are you trying to make up for all of the terrible stuff you had me do by having almost every woman in this story bug the he-

*I quickly cut him off and smile nervously* Anyway...thank you all for all of your reviews and feedback, see you all next week with the next...and real chapter!

Kon: This is Kon-sama! And I'll catch you all next time! *Grins and gives a thumbs up*

Tuliharja: And last, but not least...Tuli-chan! Thank you all for reading Lil'Prince's awesome story! *Waves her hand, smiling widely* If you want see extra segments, just check out my reviews in this story! *Stands now up, going up to Toshiro and starts drag him away* Let's go Shiro-chan~.

Toshiro: OI! It's CAPTAIN Hitsugaya! And stop dragging me! I'm not free this evening, did you hear me Tuli-chan? Tuli-chan! *Shouts to her as they disappear away*


	132. Chapter 132

**Chapter 132:**

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on Kageroza for a moment as they stood alone at a cross road between the Ninth and Tenth Divisions. Though the icy captain had his ice-covered hands clenched, they loosened after he eventually gave a light nod. "Fine...I'll do as you say." he said silently.

"However...don't think it'll be for long." Toshiro continued as he narrowed his eyes heavily on Kageroza.

Said man gave a wide grin as he turned away and began walking down one of the streets; "We'll see about that. But for now...go and finish off with sealing the rest of the Captains and Lieutenants. Matsumoto shall inform you of whom they are."

After he finished his words, Kageroza immediately vanished, leaving Toshiro standing there alone with his continuous heavy glare. But after a few moments, his expression softened slightly and eventually gained an almost amused smirk. "How pathetic." he muttered to himself as the reigai Rangiku appeared next to him and sighed lightly.

"Even though he's incredibly smart in creating the reigai and stuff...his strategies aren't so impressive." the strawberry blond muttered with a raised brow.

Toshiro simply gave a nod to her as he shook his head and began walking toward his division; "He has potential, but virtually none of his plans have a backup in case one of them fails." he started with a silent breath.

"He has too much confidence in himself to believe that anything he comes up with can't be flawed." Rangiku finished for him with an agreeing nod.

"Oh well...it'll be just be that much worse for him when he fails." the white-haired captain said with a light shrug as the two walked into the office.

"Indeed it shall." Rangiku said with a light grin, but then she looked up in thought and glanced over to Toshiro as she closed the door.

"It's still too bad the Soifons couldn't join us. The reigai seemed pretty anxious to marry you." she continued with a wider and playful grin.

The icy captain looked to her with a raised brow in response, then rolled his eyes and let out a groan. "I don't think I should jump into that sort of thing." was all he said before clearing his throat.

Rangiku giggled lightly to this and nudged him with her elbow, to which she spoke once more in a near whisper. "But you know...there are many others that would like to tell you the same thing as she did."

As Toshiro looked to her with a raised brow, he was interrupted in questioning her as a knock was heard upon the door. "Come in." the white haired captain said as he and Rangiku turned around.

Once the door opened, they saw Kisuke standing there with a wide grin, to which Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly. "Even you huh?" was all he asked as he crossed his arms.

Reigai Kisuke blinked his eyes for a moment before chuckling with a shrug; "What can I say? The original is a bit oblivious to obvious things at times." the blond said with another grin.

Toshiro sighed heavily with a light nod before raising a brow to the copy of his long time friend; "So...what did Kageroza send you here for?" he asked.

"Well, I would like to say that it's simply to help you with capturing the rest of the Captains...but we both know how pathetic that would sound. So I suppose I'll just tell you that he sent me here to keep an eye on you and make sure that you don't have anything planned to defeat him." Kisuke said with a shrugging sigh as he brought out his fan and began fanning himself.

The white-haired captain gave a small, yet amused smirk to this and let out a silent chuckle. "Hmph...I suppose it would be smart of him to do so. But now he's shown that he's afraid of me and what I might do." he stated before turning away and walking to his desk.

"Well...since he never said 'when' I need to capture the remaining captains, I think I should complete the remaining paperwork since there will be quite the large stack after all of this is over." Toshiro continued with a sigh.

Rangiku chuckled lightly to this and glanced over to reigai Kisuke; "You shouldn't let anyone see you around here...it might rouse suspicion considering that the original is a wanted fugitive." she said with a quick glance through the door.

Kisuke gave a small smile and shrug as he looked over to Toshiro; "Make sure not to take too long...or else Kageroza just might get suspicious and do something drastic." he said before vanishing in a shunpo.

The reigai Rangiku let out a heavy sigh as she closed the door and turned to her captain with a pout; "Do we really have to do paperwork?" she whined.

Toshiro looked to her with a raised brow as he continued to fill out the form in front of him; "Are you seriously asking that? You might be a reigai...but you still have to do the same amount of work." he said in a 'no arguing' tone.

As he said this, the strawberry blond huffed loudly, placed her hands on her hips and pouted even more. Though Toshiro turned away from this, he was still able to hear her muttering to herself of how unfair her Captain was being. Said hybrid just let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes, which allowed his quick glance over to a certain part of the nearest wall to go unnoticed.

-Toshiro's underground laboratory-

An ice clone of the white-haired captain placed an ice shard on the top of a large table, to which the furniture itself glowed brightly. As it did, a green light began to shine from beneath the ice and eventually showed a list of things that identified it. Though all of this was on the table as if it were a large computer screen, Toshiro placed an ice-covered hand over it and quickly brought it up.

This action suddenly made the display become 3-Dimensional over the table itself, to which the ice clone looked to each reading and narrowed his eyes. "Hmm...it looks like I was able to get a skin cell from that piece of ice after all." he muttered silently with an invisible smirk.

'I expected for him to realize my abilities and be on guard for the possibility of getting a D.N.A sample while he rambled on talking. But I suppose this will work out in my favor.' Toshiro thought as the skin follicle was shone in the display.

Once the piece of flesh was shown, it was quickly spun around as Toshiro waved his icy hand, to which the skin transformed into a stream of cells. As this happened, small insect-like devices could be seen latched onto each of the cells with claw-like limbs. This made the ice clone to narrow his eyes even further before pressing a small area on the table, which had brought a keyboard display in front of him.

Toshiro immediately began typing with great speed on the virtual keyboard, yet he kept his eyes fully focused on the projection of the cells. 'It looks like he's been experimenting with nano-technology as well.' the icy captain thought to himself as multiple molecule codings appeared around each of the cells.

"But unfortunately...he's twenty years too late." Toshiro continued as all of the new displays were placed onto one of the cells they were put next to.

Though nothing happened to a few of them, one of the cells had shriveled up and died, while the device attached had survive. But then after a few moments delay, another cell had dislodged the device attached to it before dying soon afterward. This made the ice clone cross his arms, but bring one of his hands up to rest his chin upon his thumb and finger.

"Hmm, I'll have to improvise with finding a mixture that will separate the machines from the cells, but also keep the cells themselves alive." he muttered silently as he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

After a few moments of silence, Toshiro turned his head to the side and brought his ice-covered hand up in that direction. As he did this, a small light appeared on the screen of a large computer, then came hurling toward his hand. When it arrived, Toshiro looked down at the ball of light with a raised brow, it having long lists of data streaming through it.

'This is the same element I used to make the healing agent for those pills...I wonder if it would have the same effect.' he thought before tossing the ball into the display in front of him.

Once the computer registered the new data, the holograms showed a complex array of molecules connecting to one another next to the remaining cells. But the moment the two combined into one, nothing appeared to happen at all, to which Toshiro narrowed his eyes heavily.

"I see...so he managed to disguise his machines as apart of the cells themselves. Not bad." the clone spoke silently as he returned to his previous stand of his chin resting on his thumb and finger.

'Which means that I'll have to generate an electromagnetic pulse that will be able to deactivate every single machine...without completely frying the blood cells themselves.' he thought, looking up for a few moments.

But he eventually let out a sigh and sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the table; "I should be able to do this before 'I' end up being told to return that girl we found in the World of the Living." he spoke silently as he leaned forward on the table and rested an arm on the surface.

After a brief moment, Toshiro raised a brow in question and slowly looked over toward the exit of the lab. "I wonder how everyone I had stay there are doing." he whispered to himself.

Though he was silent after this, his expression became more and more questioning and confused. "'Everyone'..." Toshiro muttered as if it were a question.

-Kurosaki Clinic-

Ichigo shook his head for a moment as his mind worked in circles for quite some time, along with almost everyone else's in the room. But after a while of no one speaking, Kon suddenly jumped up onto Ichigo's shoulder and began flailing his arms into the teen's face.

"What are you doing just standing around! Nee-san is in trouble! If you're not going to go to save her, then I will!" the lion plushie called out, pointing an accusing arm at the teen.

Though the orange-haired high-schooler blinked his eyes to Kon for a moment, he looked down in thought before suddenly snapping his head up. "R-Ru...kia..." he whispered out in a somewhat shocked voice.

While at the same time, nearly everyone else in the room quickly looked up in realization and snapped their attention to Ichigo when he spoke. This making it seem as though they had all recalled the raven haired shinigami's name at the exact same time. But Senna simply blinked and took on a rather shocked expression; "Of course...Rukia." she muttered before looking around.

"How could we suddenly forget her when she was just taken right in front of us?" the purple haired girl questioned in confusion.

"I don't know." Kukaku began as she glanced over to Isshin, Masaki and their daughters with a hard gaze.

"But they definitely have strange and dangerous powers if they could make us completely forget a person that we just saw in front of us." she continued.

Most of the occupants in the house gave a light nod in response to her words, but when Isshin spoke up in a very serious tone, the room became silent once more. "But why did we suddenly remember at the same time?"

Though nearly everyone had a thoughtful expression on their features, it seemed obvious from the start that none of them could come up with an answer. But rather than being silent, Ichigo quickly ran up the stairs, then came back down moments later in his shinigami body.

"It doesn't matter...we have to find her. We'll probably get the answers along the way." the orange-haired teen claimed as he looked around as if to see who would come with him.

Senna gave a quick nod as she stepped forward with a grin on her face; "There is no way someone is going to steal one of my best friends and get away with it." she declared as her grin widened.

Orihime mirrored the orange-eyed teen's movements as she took on a small, but very determined smile. "I'll come too. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't help to save her even after forgetting her completely." the burnt orange-haired girl said.

Kukaku let out a breath as she shrugged her shoulders and glanced over to Masaki; "You stay here with him, we'll handle this. Someone needs to make sure they won't come back just in case." she stated, her gesturing over to Isshin when saying 'him' and glancing over to Karin and Yuzu at the end of her words.

The brown haired woman gave a light nod in response along with her husband, but as she looked to her daughters, she noticed they were both looking at Kon. Said plushie blinking under their stare, as Ichigo's words of staying out of sight from them were finally returning to him. Yet he never got to say anything as Yuzu looked to her mother with blinking eyes; "Is that lion plushie from Soul Society too?" she asked.

Masaki gave a smile as she nodded her head in response; "Indeed he is. He's known as a mod-soul and from what Ichigo said...his name must be; Kon." she said as she motioned to Ichigo and the others to go, Yuzu still not able to see everything that was transpiring.

As the orange-haired teen and his friends left, Kon ran after them quickly, him screaming out for them not to leave him behind. This made Karin narrowed her eyes slightly and turn her gaze over to Isshin, her brow raised heavily in question. Said raven haired man looked back at her and blinked as her stare was too much for his 'fatherly being' to handle.

"I hope you'll explain what just happened here." she muttered with an almost commanding tone, to which her father just gave a nod in response.

But after saying this with a sheepish smile, Isshin glanced over to the side with a rather worried expression on his features. 'But it is strange...who were those two? Why did they take Rukia? What's their connection to her? And how is it we forgot who she was and suddenly remembered all at the same time?' he asked silently in his mind before narrowing his eyes slightly.

-Rukongai-

Rukia groaned silently as her eyes slowly opened, to which she briefly blinked at the bright sunlight coming through the window nearby. But after a moment, her eyes focused and she shifted her gaze around her surroundings. Though it appeared she was inside an attic of a very old house, everything seemed vaguely familiar to her as the nostalgic smell of the Inuzuri district filled her lungs.

But as she rubbed her eyes and sat herself up, she quickly looked to the side as a teen girl with short blond and red hair suddenly hugged her tightly. "Rukia!" the girl called out in a desperate voice that made said shinigami stare in confusion.

"Wh-Who are you?" Rukia asked as her eyes blinked a few times, the raven haired girl barely noticing the male teen that came into the room out of the corner of her eye.

"R-Rukia..." the teen girl continued to choke out as tears flowed from her eyes, causing the purple eyed noble to pause when she was about to push her away.

"Sorry Rukia..." the male spoke with a quiet and apologetic tone; "...but it's been a long time and we missed you a lot."

Rukia blinked a few more times before looking into the green eyes of the girl who finally looked up at her after breaking the hug. "B-But...who are you two?" she asked, glancing from one teen to the other.

After her question, the two came into the sunlight of the nearby window and gave small smiles, to which the female spoke up with a hopeful tone. "Do you recognize us? We've been waiting for you for a long time."

Rukia blinked her eyes to them for a while before looking down in thought, then placed a hand to her forehead as she spoke. "I'm not sure...there seems to be a lot of shadows in my memory." she started, looking to the pair with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry...but I don't recognize either of you." she continued before tilting her head down once more.

The other two occupants of the room looked to one another, yet as they shifted their eyes to the floor, Rukia spoke up with a small smile on her features. "I'm sure that with a little time with the two of you will spark my memory."

The two looked to her and eventually gave a light nod and smile in response; "I'll get you another blanket!" the female called out as she quickly ran down the steps on the far end of the room.

"And I'll get dinner ready for all of us." the male spoke with his silent voice, to which he followed after the teen girl.

Though Rukia gave a small smile in response to this, she looked down thoughtfully and narrowed her eyes slightly. 'It's strange...I feel like I know them from somewhere, but I also feel as though I'm forgetting something else...something very important.' she thought to herself, her turning toward the outside of the window, to which she simply stared out at the town as her eyes unconsciously narrowed even further.


	133. Chapter 133

Wow...only three reviews last chapter. =/ But then it is coming toward the summer, so I suppose it's only natural that people spend less time reading...or indoors for that matter. XD Anyway...I hope you all enjoy this chapter. ^^

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**Chapter 133:**

-Twelfth Division-

Kageroza blinked his eyes in shock as he stared at almost every captain and lieutenant within the Gotei Thirteen each unconscious and bound by kido. Though the only people who weren't present were the Head Captain, Rangiku and Toshiro himself, the yellow and green haired man continued to look at this in shock. Each of them were placed inside of a large barrier within an underground prison, yet there were no bars around the group of elite shinigami.

As Kisuke pressed a button on a small console off to the side, a red colored barrier appeared around the already present barrier and sealed out all sound and light. Once Kageroza gave a nod of satisfactory, he turned toward Toshiro with heavily narrowed eyes. "I know that you've done something that will throw my plans out of order, but know that once it arises...I will thwart it and make sure you have a clear understanding of where you stand." he claimed before walking away.

Toshiro simply raised a brow to him, then rolled his eyes with a silent sigh; 'And that's why it'll be so easy to beat you.' he thought to himself.

Reigai Kisuke walked over to the white haired captain and adjusted his hat; "My my...you seemed like you were having a little too much fun defeating all of your comrades." he said, giving a glance toward the prisoners within the cell.

Though Toshiro didn't shift his gaze to this, he spoke up with a light shrug in response; "Well, I have always entertained the thought of seeing how easy it would be to defeat all of the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei Thirteen."

"I just had to put a sleeping agent inside of Sasakibe's tea, Kyoraku's sake and Ukitake's medicine. Then create an odorless vapor for the rest to inhale while they were going about their daily activities. Though it took mixing the vapor with her flowers to get Unohana to fall into the trap, it was still fairly easy to take them all down." he continued silently as he seemed unfazed by his own words.

The blond raised a brow to him for a moment before chuckling silently; "And people say I'm shifty." he muttered silently.

Toshiro finally turned toward him and gave a small smirk; "Hmph, you can quit the act you know." he began as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"If Kageroza really wanted your betrayal to be a surprise...then he should have toned down the immense hatred he modified you with." the icy captain continued.

After his words, Kisuke raised a brow to him before giving a small, yet rather dark smirk. "It's true...he created me with an overwhelming need to kill you. But of course I'm the least of your worries." he claimed as his smirk widened.

The white-haired captain simply turned away with a shrug; "Boy...being evil makes you far easier to read and even more gullible then usual." he began as he took on a somewhat amused sneer.

Though Kisuke raised a brow in question, he immediately narrowed his eyes heavily as if realizing his mistake. Toshiro glanced over to him with his continuous expression; "Noticed it did you?" he questioned silently.

"You pretty much just told me that there are other reigai just like you and that none of them can truly be trusted. Thanks for the heads up." the icy captain said before turning to the exit and started walking away.

"It's no wonder Kageroza's 'rebellion' will be incredibly short-lived. If all of his creations are as smart as he is...then it'll be easy for the originals to win." he stated with an almost amused tone in his voice.

Kisuke narrowed his eyes heavily on Toshiro, to which his hands curled into fists as he considered unsheathing his cane zanpakuto. But he held himself back and remained stationary, despite the white-haired captain having his gaze shifted to the side as if waiting for an attack.

'I see...so even his tolerance for being baited has been decreased due to the increase of his anger. He's made Kisuke into a walking death machine that can only be pointed in one direction. This might work in my favor.' Toshiro thought silently before pausing in the doorway.

"Oh, and just to let you know now..." Toshiro began as he glanced over his shoulder to the blond with a dark glare.

"...I won't hesitate to kill any and all of you reigai the first opportunity that arrises." he finished before continuing on his way.

Kisuke narrowed his eyes on the white-haired captain before gaining a small smirk; "What a truly frightening man." he muttered silently.

As Toshiro made his way out of the Twelfth, he took a glance over to the reigai of his lieutenant, whom was waiting rather impatiently by the gate. But the closer he came to her, the further his eyes narrowed on the strawberry blond. 'It's likely she doesn't have the increased hatred, but she's no less dangerous than Kisuke. Her role is probably to get me to drop my guard so that Kageroza can kill me easier.' Toshiro thought as Rangiku turned to him and gave a small pout as if signaling him that she was going to complain about something.

Toshiro just let out a sigh as his eyes softened and just kept walking, even as the reigai Rangiku started whining about him taking too long. 'Though I am wondering how he'll make her do something she would never do when it's obvious she is a complete copy of the original.' he contemplated in his mind with a short glance toward Rangiku.

Despite being brief, the reigai noticing his quick stare, to which she tilted her head and raised a brow. "Did you and Kisuke get into a fight or something? You look sort of mad." she questioned.

The icy captain turned to her for a moment before giving a light nod in response; "You could say something like that. I discovered that none of the reigai are what they seem and I have reason to believe that you might be one of them that are eventually going to try and kill me."

After his words, Rangiku blinked her eyes a few times, then looked away silently in what appeared to be a hidden sadness. "Well...if that time ever comes, I hope you don't hesitate in striking me down." she said quietly.

Toshiro stopped walking and turned to her with slightly widened eyes; "I expected you to say something like that, but I didn't think you'd want to just die like you're not even worth anything." he muttered out.

Reigai Rangiku turned to him once more and gave a small smile; "It would be better to have you just kill me now so we could avoid that all together, but I want to help you as much as I possibly can before kicking the bucket." she stated with a light shrug.

The white-haired captain blinked to her words, but then they widened slightly once more to her next words. "I want to do something with my life as a reigai and die helping you, then to die as something worthless, or worse...someone that hurt you."

Though a long silence stretched between the two for a long while, Toshiro's mind raced faster than it ever had before. 'That look in her eyes...it's the same as the one Yoruichi gives me. I know what it means, but...does Rangiku really-' but he was brought out of these thoughts as he felt a garganta opening near of the Tenth Division just beyond the wall to the left of them.

As this occurred, both Toshiro and Rangiku turned to look in the direction the portal opened, to which they briefly looked to one another before shunpoing toward the Tenth. Yet upon arriving, there was nothing and no one there, but the icy captain immediately looked to the right side and toward his own office. He then walked toward the window and let out a silent breath as he leaned against the wall just to the side of the opening.

"What happened?" he asked silently to seemingly no one, Rangiku blinking at him for a moment before glancing around and going over to the other side of the window.

"There was a strange pair of beings that kidnapped Rukia...but though Kurosaki Ichigo and his group have begun their pursuit, we have reason to believe that they have fled to Soul Society." Yin's voice spoke up from within Toshiro's office.

"What evidence do you have?" the white-haired captain asked as he glanced toward the arrancar through the opening.

"Yang went to Hueco Mundo and has received no reports of anyone coming in or out from the Espada. And since it would be foolish for the two beings to take her away and stay within the World of the Living, it's only logical to go to Soul Society." Yin said in a low whisper.

Toshiro smirked lightly in response to this for a moment; 'Looks like they really did learn quite a lot from Kusaka.' he thought silently.

"But why is it so important to come to me with this information so quickly?" he questioned, him glancing over toward a few squad members walking by with a quick wave to him and Rangiku.

Though the reigai waved back slightly, Toshiro merely gave a light nod as he listened closely to Yin's answer. "They appear to have a very dangerous power. Though I'm not sure of its extent, but it appears that they can erase all trace of someone's existence from everyone and anyone's memory."

The icy captain narrowed his eyes slightly to this, then he turned toward the setting sun with a hard gaze. "Thank you for informing me of this, make sure to pass it on to Kisuke and Yoruichi...they'll need to know as well. And make sure that Kurosaki knows to head here, but be sure to bring him and his group here through a garganta...the senkaimon is no longer safe." he said silently.

"Yes sir." the arrancar said before the feeling of a garganta opening was felt once again, to which it vanished a split second later.

Rangiku looked to her superior and raised a brow; "Do you know who it is that is behind this?" she asked.

Toshiro shook his head gently, yet he never looked at her as he answered with a low and focused voice. "Not completely...but I do think I know what might be causing it."

-Prison Cell-

Rangiku let out a silent breath, her sitting against the wall across from the cell bars, yet she quickly narrowed her eyes heavily on the opposite wall. 'Damn it...I had no idea a reigai's emotions could be altered.' she thought to herself.

The strawberry blond let out a huff, then quickly looked to a small area on the floor just on the line of being outside the cell. Though she stared at it for a while, a small smirk developed on her face, to which she eventually looked up to the ceiling.

'Sending a surge of spirit energy into that brick should break the weak foundation around it apart and give a gap under the barrier. If I can sense where Haineko is, then I should be able to break myself free with no problem.' Rangiku thought before sighing lightly.

'Better not rely on that, if Haineko is beyond one hundred feet, I won't be able to release my Shikai.' she continued with a groaning pout.

"I guess it's better than needing to be holding it...but still." she said silently, resting her head in her hands as her elbows were propped up on her knees.

'I bet Captain would simply tell me to sit and wait patiently with my reiatsu constantly flowing out in order to break the barrier given enough time.' the strawberry blond thought before another pout developed on her features.

"But it's too much work." she all but whined, to which she laid herself back and huffed.

"Oh well." Rangiku continued before closing her eyes and allowing her spirit energy to flow out of her body and entirely toward one area on the barrier.

Yet she stopped when she heard the sound of the door opening, to which she opened her eyes and lazily glanced over to Kageroza. Whom of which had a wide and very pleased smile on his face, making the strawberry blond cringe at the sight.

"Geez...do you have to look like some kind of horror movie killer every time you smile? Hmph...no wonder you're in the Twelfth Division." Rangiku muttered out as she turned her attention to the blank ceiling.

"Clever...but unfortunately for you, it no longer matters what Division I once belonged to...now that all of Seireitei is mine." the yellow and green haired man spoke as his smile widened slightly.

"I now have all but the Head Captain himself and your very helpful Captain sealed away. All that is left is to get rid of the two and there is nothing to stand in my way." he continued as he came closer to the cell.

Rangiku turned to him and raised a brow and cleared her throat; "Yeah...so...um...what's the point of telling me all this?" she asked with a very uninterested expression on her face.

Kageroza let out a silent chuckle as he simply shrugged his shoulders; "I figured that I would kill some time as my spies infiltrate your Captain's laboratory." he claimed proudly before pulling out a small disk-like object.

The Tenth Division Lieutenant raised a brow to him for a moment before starting to grin in amusement; "Yeah...have fun with that." she said through a strained voice, as though she were on the edge of laughter.

The yellow and green haired shinigami looked to her with narrowed eyes briefly before looking to the disk in his hand. This device showing a hologram of complete darkness, to which Kageroza narrowed his eyes even more and quickly looked to Rangiku for an answer.

"Do you really think that my Captain lets just anyone or anything enter his lab? Even I don't know how to get there." the strawberry blond stated with a shrug.

"He probably has security beyond belief to prevent idiots like you from trying exactly what you just did." she continued with a heavy sigh.

"So like I said...'Have fun with that.'" Rangiku finished as she placed her hands behind her head and looked up to the ceiling.

Kageroza glared heavily on her before his smile returned; "This is no hindrance to my plans...I was merely interested in the pills he created that are able to regenerate ones body and reiatsu. If I cannot get it, then I will merely focus on the most important matter...sending your Captain against the Head Captain himself."

Rangiku turned to him with narrowed eyes from a moment; "Don't underestimate him." was all she said, to which the other occupant in the area raised a brow.

"Are you insinuating that your captain is stronger than the Head Captain?" Kageroza asked as he leaned closer to the bars.

"Hmph...I was referring to the Head Captain when I said that. I know that my Captain is insanely strong and possibly rivals even the Head Captain in power. But...there is a reason why Yamamoto has been the Head Captain for over a thousand years. Something of which even my Captain doesn't want to witness first hand." Rangiku said as her gaze hardened.

"No being in any world is stupid enough to pick a fight with the strongest shinigami to ever live. And my Captain isn't about to break that streak...so I'd rethink your strategy if I were you. Otherwise...there won't be a Soul Society to destroy anymore." she finished, turning her head to the ceiling, yet she kept her eyes heavily narrowed.

Kageroza simply looked at her amused before turning away and heading toward the door; "Hmph...we'll see about that. Once I achieve my goals...neither of them will be able to stop me." he claimed, it seeming like he were saying it more toward himself then to her.

Rangiku just raised a brow to him as he left and closed the door behind him, to which she let out a sigh. 'So he wants Captain and the Head Captain to fight and eliminate one another. But of course he should know that Captain won't go into a life-or-death battle under the circumstances he's under right now.' she thought as her eyes closed.

'He must have something else planned that will force him into it...but what?' the strawberry blond continued in her mind.

After a few moments, Rangiku simply shrugged lightly and let out a heavy sigh. "Oh well." she muttered before a silent cracking sound was heard.

The lieutenant gave a small smirk as she cracked an eye open, her looking to the top hinge of the cell's bars. As she did, she immediately saw a small crack in the air, to which her smirk became wider and the barrier shimmered a deep yellow color before becoming transparent once more. "Too easy." she whispered to herself.

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Alright...I know that everyone is waiting for a good fight to entertain you after all of this drama stuff. But have no fear, there are multiple fights approaching...some of which are starting almost immediately. XD Till next time everyone~! Ja Ne!


	134. Chapter 134

**Chapter 134:**

Toshiro looked around the area of the northern side of Inuzuri, to which he narrowed his eyes slightly. 'I know I felt Rukia's spirit energy over here...but it suddenly vanished a few minutes ago.' he thought to himself silently.

Though many of the residents of the district were giving the white-haired captain repulsed glances, he ignored all of them and continued to look to each of the poorly made houses. Yet as he searched, his eyes briefly shifted to his right side and narrowed even further before turning toward a man who came up to him. The icy captain raised a brow to this man, whom had dirt all over him and rag-like clothes, but he immediately stepped to the side as the man had tried to spit in his face.

"Go back to your high thrones and waste away you bastard!" the disheveled man yelled out as he walked away, him not caring that his spit missed his target.

Toshiro watched the man silently as he left, to which he sighed lightly and looked toward the roof of the house on his right side. "So...are you sure any of you really want to take the place of the originals?" he asked as he laid his eyes upon the reigai of Yoruichi.

The purple-haired reigai grinned lightly and simply chuckled; "Please...we won't have to worry about such trivial things when we rule Soul Society." she claimed with an almost arrogant tone.

As Toshiro raised his brow to her, he eventually let out a sigh and shook his head; "Figures you'd be even more modified then Kisuke. It's like he replaced every emotion Yoruichi feels about me and turned it to anger and rage for you." he said silently.

Yoruichi let out an amused huff before she appeared beside him, to which she had her right hand slide from one of his shoulders to the other. "Maybe so...but even if I hate you with all my being, do you really think that mean you'll be able to hurt me? Someone who is the same as the person you're willing to give your life for?" she questioned, her voice sounding almost innocent.

Toshiro closed his eyes and smirked lightly with a shake of his head; "Without a doubt." was all he said in response.

Immediately following his words, Yoruichi simply began laughing, to which she stepped around him and leaned her back against his. "Geez...talk about being colder than ice." she began with a shake of her head.

"So...what are you doing out here?" the purple haired woman continued as she glanced to him over her shoulder and raised a brow.

The icy captain simply sighed lightly and turned his head to the side; "I'm looking for someone...and something." he answered silently, his eyes narrowing once more as he noticed a small amount of movement within the upper level of the nearest house.

"Oh~? So who...and what would those be?" the reigai Yoruichi questioned as she turned around and searched for whatever it was that the white-haired captain was staring at.

But before he would have spoken, Toshiro instantly vanished in a shunpo, to which he appeared in the window of the house he was looking at. Once he did, he quickly saw the two beings that had taken Rukia, including the raven haired girl herself. Yet as he looked each of them over, the icy captain noticed that Rukia was laying unconscious in the yellow and red haired female's arms.

"Damn you...it's all your fault." the female muttered with glaring eyes toward Toshiro, whom looked at the male of the pair as he brought his scythe up in a defensive position.

"It's because she recognized you one our way back that her head started to hurt." the female continued as a strange black aura started to surround her.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to this, yet he quickly had to jump out of the window and back to the ground below as the male slashed at him with his weapon. Once he landed, the reigai of Yoruichi watched with shocked eyes as the male pursued the icy captain and continued to swing his scythe at him. Though Toshiro was easily dodging each attack, he had to keep moving either backward or to the side.

'He's quite good at keeping his openings to a minimum and his opponent just within reach of his blade.' the white-haired captain thought to himself as he flipped himself up to the roof of the nearest house.

As he did this, he shot a glance over toward the window that Rukia and the female were seen through. But the former was not visible as the latter had brought herself into the window completely and glared heavily toward him. Toshiro simply let out a quick sigh before he crouched under another slash from the male and even blocked his follow up kick to his chest.

The moment he blocked the attack, the icy captain grabbed the male's ankle, then as he brought himself back up, he spun around and threw the male to the side. Yet as he went, the lavender-haired teen instantly vanished in a strange flash of what appeared to be black fire. But once he did, Toshiro narrowed his eyes and glanced around his immediate area, yet he didn't see or sense anything.

'He completely disappeared...that's definitely far from a shunpo or sonido...it's like he can literally teleport.' the white-haired captain thought as his eyes narrowed further.

Though the female within the window was still glaring at him and the reigai of Yoruichi was watching him carefully, Toshiro simply closed his eyes. But a split second later, he crouched once more, to which the male of Rukia's kidnappers had appeared behind him with a quick slash at where his head was. The moment his attack missed, the lavender eyed teen was instantly kicked in the stomach and sent flying into and through a taller house one hundred feet away.

Toshiro brought his extended leg back and quickly spun around to catch the fist of the female as she appeared to his right. Once he had her fist in his grasp, the icy captain narrowed his eyes on the yellow and red haired girl. "Who are you exactly? And why did you take Rukia?" he questioned with an icy tone, yet a small strain was briefly seen in his throat as though he stopped himself from coughing.

Though the teen girl continued to glare at him, her jaw clenched tightly as the black aura began to surround her once again. "It's all your fault..." she began as the aura turned to a black fire with a purple outline.

"If it wasn't for you shinigami...she wouldn't have been hurt and we could have stayed with her." she continued, causing Toshiro's and even the purple haired reigai's eyes to narrow slightly.

"It's all your fault!" the girl screamed out as she vanished.

As she reappeared behind the white-haired captain, she immediately swung an open hand toward him, yet she had her nails pointing toward Toshiro as though to scratch him. Despite easily dodging her attacks, she continued to scream angrily and swing both her arms from side to side in an attempt to injure her target. But the more Toshiro moved away from her, the faster her arms slashed through the air, to which he simply narrowed his eyes slightly in concentration.

'It's strange...I couldn't tell till now, but her reiatsu feels like a strange mix between a normal soul and a hollow.' the icy captain thought to himself over a loud yell from the teen girl as she threw a sloppy kick toward him.

Toshiro just stepped to the side of this, but as he did another cringe in his throat was seen, this one being much more than the previous. Though the teen girl didn't notice this, she did however see the few drops of blood slip through the corner of Toshiro's mouth a moment later. This caused her to intensify her assault in both speed and strength, all the while she let out screams and almost growls of anger. But due to all of her attacks being simple attempts at scratching him with wild swings of her hands and the occasional clumsy kick, dodging was still easy.

'Both she and her partner share the same type of reiatsu...so that means they're either part of the same being, or they've been exposed to the same type of power.' the white-haired captain thought as he saw small tears of anger, frustration and sadness fill in the teen girl's eyes.

After a few more dodges, Toshiro briefly allowed his eyes to drift to the side toward the teen male that was on an opposite roof. Said being seeming to be waiting for an opportunity to strike, to which the icy captain had noticed that reigai Yoruichi was doing the same as she gained a small grin.

'Her anger for me must be running really high right now since it's her original that taught me how to fight like this in the first place.' Toshiro began in his mind as he narrowed his eyes slightly as he stepped away from another spinning kick from the teen girl.

'She's probably waiting to see if she can gain an excuse to join in the fight. It'll be fair game for her if I 'accidentally' bring her into this.' the icy captain thought as he side stepped out of the way of a kick from the teen girl.

As he did this, the male came forward with his scythe, to which Toshiro narrowed his eyes as brought up his hand to catch it, yet he kept his gaze on the girl as she came at him once more. But when the steel of the scythe's blade would have hit the ice of Toshiro's hand, it never occurred. This made the white-haired captain blink a single time before the scythe went right through his head, causing his eyes to widen.

But rather than his head rolling off his shoulders, the icy captain simply blinked a few more times and he looked around the area in confusion. "What just happened?" he asked silently before the two teens instantly vanished.

Toshiro continued to glance around, but then blinked in what seemed to be surprise as he looked to his ice-covered hands. "What is this?" he demanded to no one.

As she watched this, the reigai Yoruichi blinked to this in shock, but then her eyes narrowed as a small smirk spread on her face. "This might end up better than I thought." she muttered before vanishing in a shunpo.

The white-haired captain turned toward where the reigai of his forgotten friend had just been, to which he placed an icy hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. 'Why can't I remember anything? How did I even forget?' he questioned silently.

After a brief moment, he opened his eyes, only to narrow them slight and remove his hand slowly. "Who am I?" he whispered out before he suddenly began to cough, yet he quickly vanished in a shunpo as a small amount of blood hit the roof.

-Tenth Division-

A garganta opened up in the empty court-yard, to which Ichigo and his group stepped out of it and glanced around. Though Yin and Yang were at the front of the group, they had immediately split up and walked a few feet to either side with scanning eyes. All the while, Ichigo had glanced to the two of them with a raised brow before blinking in question.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he noticed a somewhat worried expression come up on both arrancar's faces.

"Captain Hitsugaya..." Senna began as neither of the twin females seemed ready to answer him as they continued to look around.

"...his reiatsu is gone." she continued as she looked from the orange haired teen to Kukaku as said woman had her eyes narrowed and began looking around.

"Did something happen to him?" Orihime asked with much concern on her features, to which she turned from one person to another as if hoping one of them might figure it out.

Ichigo raised a brow to this, then glanced to Kon on his shoulder, whom had a thoughtful look on his plushie face. Yet the orange haired teen glanced around to everyone briefly before crossing his arms and letting out a silent huff. "Well...he might have just gone somewhere." he commented with a shrug.

"Not likely." Toshiro's voice spoke up from behind them as the garganta closed, causing all of them to blink in surprise and turn to the icy captain's clone.

"What do you mean?" Kukaku asked, her brow raising and her body turning toward him in the process.

Immediately following her words, everyone in the group had come up toward the clone with questioning expressions. Though Ichigo, Orihime and Senna had believed him to be the original, Kukaku, Yin and Yang could tell the difference almost instantly.

"After I finished the serum that will help Rangiku, I sensed my original's spirit energy rise slightly as though he were in a fight. I could sense that he was fighting two opponents, but it was impossible to tell if they were hollow, shinigami or something else simply going based off their reiatsu. But even though it seemed obvious that he would win, I felt a massive fluctuation in his spirit energy and then suddenly he just vanish." the clone explained, making everyone's eyes to widen slightly.

Though the few that hadn't realized this Toshiro to be a clone had now grasped this fact, the new information he gave made them completely disregard their questions about him. Yet their minds still processed many other questions, but all of them were toward the original Toshiro's and his welfare.

"He must have found the two that took Rukia." Ichigo whispered silently before looking around the area.

"Where was the fight?" Kukaku questioned, the orange haired teen giving a small smirk as if he was about to ask the same thing.

The Toshiro clone looked to each of them and turned completely around and pointed out to the distance; "In the Inuzuri district...the place that Rukia had grew up in." he stated with what seemed to be a warning tone.

"Do you think they did whatever it was to Kuchiki-san that made us forget about her, to Toshiro-Nii?" Orihime asked with a worried and almost scared tone.

Senna placed a hand to her shoulder and gave a small smile as she shook her head; "Not likely...we never forgot him, so there is no way they got him with their...'forget me beam'." she claimed as her smile widened slightly.

Despite nearly everyone raising a brow to the purple haired teen's name for the two beings' strange power, they simply accepted this as they each began to move toward Rukongai. However, the clone of Toshiro stayed behind, him narrowing his eyes as he looked to the side as if noticing something.

'That was Yoruichi's reigai...where was she going in such a hurry? She was coming from the same direction 'I' was.' the clone thought silently as he watched Ichigo and his group eventually disappear.

Though he noticed Kukaku and Orihime glancing back to him briefly, it was obvious that the former was explaining how Toshiro's clones worked. The icy captain let out a breath before he turned toward the Twelfth Division; "I need to find Rangiku and get this to her before she acts too rashly when she escapes." he muttered to himself with a sigh.

But before he took even a few steps, his eyes shot open in shock and he instantly froze in place in both body and mind. 'This presence...it can't be. Kageroza wouldn't go that far.' he thought to himself silently as a large flash of anger was seen in his eyes before he turned his head around and saw an all too familiar face.

"Aizen."


	135. Chapter 135

**Chapter 135: **

As the ice clone of Hitsugaya Toshiro stared at the smirking reigai that was Aizen Sosuke, both seemed to have a deafening silence surround them. But though the former had no intention of breaking this noiseless stare, the latter planned the complete opposite. The moment Aizen blinked and looked away, Toshiro grabbed both the katana on his back and began unsheathing them.

"I see...so my original is dead then." the brown haired reigai muttered with an almost annoyed tone.

The ice clone paused in his actions and narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Aizen carefully; "So what of it?" he asked, anger and hate being quite clear in his voice.

Aizen looked to him briefly before shrugging lightly and sighing; "It's just a little unexpected. Though Kageroza took my original's reiatsu a few months before he planned to leave Soul Society...I still read all of the real Hitsugaya's reports about everything that transpired between then and now." he began as he crossed his arms.

"But if what I read was true about him killing my original with two Hogyokus...then Kageroza must have done something to him that would allow for me to walk about without worry of his power." he continued, to which the ice clones eyes narrowed even more as he held his weapons tightly in either hand.

"Lets not fight...I'd prefer not to actually help Kageroza. If the fool thinks that he can manipulate even a copy of me, he is sorely mistaken." Aizen claimed as he narrowed his own eyes as they shifted toward the Twelfth.

Despite his words, the clone of Toshiro never budged an inch from his fighting stance, yet he did speak up as his ice-covered hand clenched even tighter. "So how exactly do you intend to foil his plans?"

The brown haired man turned to him and chuckled lightly with a nod of his head; "You don't trust me, yet you still are willing to let me do as I please...so long as it helps in your own plans of course. You really are a copy of the original." he said, closing his eyes briefly.

Toshiro never answered as he simply glared heavily at Aizen, whom just looked away and crossed his arms. Though the icy captain's clone considered stabbing his most hated enemy on the spot, he still never moved as the reigai let out a sight and eventually spoke.

"Kageroza wants to use me and Urahara Kisuke's reigai to make a Hogyoku for him to use to destroy Soul Society. But of course, we both know that the raw materials to create the type of Hogyoku that you and Urahara had made are within the Soul King's Palace itself." Aizen began with a knowing tone, making Toshiro glare heavily at him.

"So it appears that we'll have to go the same route both you and I had taken." he continued with an almost mocking tone in his voice.

Though the ice clone clenched his jaw in anger, his eyes briefly widened slightly in realization as if noticing something in Aizen's words. All the while, said reigai simply continued on in an actual praising manner; "I'm actually impressed that you had created a Hogyoku just like mine...and one that was able to be used in such a specific manner is all the more remarkable."

Toshiro raised a brow to him for a few moments, yet he simply sheathed his weapons and turned away from Aizen. "After this is over...I will be the one to kill you again." was all he said before vanishing.

Aizen chuckled for a moment before turning toward the direction Ichigo and his group had gone; "Oh...I have no doubt that you'll try." he muttered silently.

-Inuzuri-

The blond and red haired teen girl sat next to her lavender eyed partner and the still unconscious Rukia, the former of whom had a worried expression. Though the girl had her eyes narrowed, they were filled with concern as they focused on Rukia.

"How could he have remembered her? We cut off their memories of her...so it should have been impossible." the green eyed girl said silently.

The male teen looked to her, then down with a shake of his head; "I don't know Onee-chan." was all he could say.

Though the older sibling of the two looked at her brother, she eventually closed her eyes and clenched her rag-like clothes into her fists. "We should just erase the shinigami completely...this way they can't hurt her anymore." she all but growl out as she opened her eyes to look at Rukia.

"She was in so much pain when she saw him. If they're all gone...then nothing can harm her anymore." she continued as her lavender haired brother looked down briefly before nodding lightly.

"Then we should use that device the shinigami had spoke of in the Twelfth Division." the male spoke quietly as he turned his head to the side slightly.

"When we took him to read his memories about where Rukia was...I noticed a machine that he had been apart of making. It stores an enormous amount of spirit particles in a condensed and pure form." he continued on as he looked down for a moment in thought.

"If I recall correctly...it's usually used to create objects for construction since everything in Soul Society is made of spirit particles. But I do remember someone saying that if anything goes wrong with the machine...it could have the potential of destroying all of Seireitei." the teen finished as he looked to his sister.

Whom of which had given him a light nod before covering Rukia with a blanket and resting her head on a pillow. "Then we'll ruin that machine and unleash its power on the shinigami." the girl stated silently with narrowed eyes.

As the two siblings looked to one another, they gave a light nod before they both vanished in a flash of black energy. Unbeknownst to them that Ichigo and his group had just arrived near of the house they were leaving. To which everyone immediately sensed Rukia's spirit energy at such a close distance and quickly headed inside and up the stairs to where the raven haired shinigami was sleeping.

"Rukia!" Ichigo called out as he kneeled beside said girl, to which Senna and Orihime did the same.

All the while, Kukaku stayed by the stairway and had her eyes narrowed heavily on the open window across the room. 'I can sense both hollows' and normal souls' presence in this room...what in the world is going on here?' she questioned in her mind.

But while Ichigo and the others continued to call out the purple eyed girl's name to awaken her, the Head of the Shiba clan had closed her eyes and tilted her head down. 'I also sense traces of Toshiro's spirit energy...and though it's faint...I think I also sense the recent opening of a garganta nearby. Does that mean he left for Hueco Mundo?' Kukaku questioned to herself.

As she contemplated this, her eyes opened and narrowed slightly as she looked to the side; "But why?" she whispered out silently before everyone felt and heard a loud explosion coming from the Seireitei.

-Prison cell-

Rangiku tapped her foot impatiently on the floor's surface as she watched more and more cracks appear in the transparent barrier. Yet no matter how many cracks appeared, nothing ever broke away or shattered, to which the strawberry blond groaned silently.

"Geez...this thing should have broken by now. Does it have like fifty layers to it or something?" she muttered to herself as she continued to pour out her reiatsu in the cracks themselves.

Though the barrier continued to split apart, it only shattered down as a gigantic explosion occurred somewhere high above the cell. Upon hearing and feeling this blast, the strawberry blond's eyes widened heavily, to which she quickly jumped to the cell bars and knocked them down with a swift kick.

"What the hell was that?" she questioned aloud before running for the exit to the side, but once she went through the door, she blinked a few times as she realized that she was within the lowest level laboratory in the Twelfth Division.

But before she took another step, her eyes widened as the sight of a wave of grey liquid came gushing down from the ceiling on the other side of the room. "What the hell?!" Rangiku called out with widened eyes as she watched the fluid start flowing toward her.

Though out of the corner of her eye, the strawberry blond noticed some of the reigai Kageroza had created to serve as guards for Rangiku. Said group being made up of Rukia, Izuru, Renji, Chojiro, Marechiyo and even Byakuya. Yet as the wave came forward, the strawberry blond simply went right back through the door and closed it behind her.

When she did, she mentally thanked the yellow and green haired man who kidnapped her for the door being sound proof. As when the strange wave hit the occupants of the laboratory, they all screamed loudly as they could do little to nothing to save themselves. But Rangiku wasn't able to think about this as when the grey liquid hit the door, it nearly gave way under the pressure. To which the strawberry blond pushed her body against the door and even planted her foot into the floor in order to gain enough of a foot hold.

Yet when the pressure stopped and Rangiku stepped back for a moment, she was unable to open the door. This made her blink her eyes before narrowing them heavily; "What the...?" she muttered out as she kept pulling on the door.

'This is a pull open door...even if the other room was filled to the brim, I should still be able to open it.' she thought to herself before finally stepping back and clenching a fist.

Rangiku quickly punched the door with great force, but though the metal bent heavily, it didn't move in position. The strawberry blond rubbed her hand for a moment as it turned red from the pain, yet she closed her eyes and clenched her jaw in thought.

'That liquid was grey and was coming from the upper floors, so what exactly was it? A new experiment Mayuri was working on? A project gone wrong by Kageroza? Whatever the case...' she began mentally as she opened her eyes and narrowed them on the door.

"...I'm no less trapped than I was before." Rangiku muttered silently as she crossed her arms.

"Only this time, I really can't get out." she continued with a heavy sigh before tilting her head up.

"I might actually have to be saved by Captain...like some...damsel in distress." the strawberry blond said, to which she gave a small smirk afterward.

"Well...I guess it's not all bad then." she finished as her smirk turned to a light grin.

-Menos Forest-

Toshiro stood the edge of a tall cliff with scanning eyes, despite only one of them actually having vision. But as he continued this, he clenched his ice-covered hands on his arms and ground his teeth together in frustration.

"I only have sight in one eye...but even though I almost feel at home here, that other place looks more familiar." he muttered silently to himself.

After he spoke, he was engulfed in the silence of the forest once more, to which his eyes narrowed heavily and turned slightly to the side. 'I don't have any memories, yet my body seems to remember my surroundings.' Toshiro thought as he closed his eyes.

'But how can two completely different worlds seem like 'home'?' he thought as he clenched his jaw for a moment, but then hardened his eyes after opening them.

'_Home_? Do I actually have one?' the icy captain questioned mentally, tilting his head up to a hole in the roof of the forest, which revealed the constant night sky.

A brief moment passed after his thought, to which he uncrossed his arms, looked down at his stomach and narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion. 'I suddenly felt sick when I thought about it. Does that mean...' he started in his mind as he turned his eyes to a strange tree before him.

"...I don't actually have a home?" he finished aloud, but immediately following this, his head snapped to the side as he felt half a dozen spiritual pressures coming toward him.

'Who and what are they? Ally or enemy?' Toshiro thought as he clenched his icy hands into fists.

'Whatever the case...I'm leaving this world. It obviously won't give me any answers if the landscape didn't spark anything.' he continued before opening and stepping through a garganta.

Though Coyote arrived first, all he managed to see was the closing of the dark portal Toshiro had made. To which he turned toward Tia as she arrived next; "He was here...but Lilynette was definitely right about there being something wrong with the way his reiatsu felt." he said with a somewhat serious tone and expression.

The blond arrancar gave him a nod in response, then glanced over toward Sung-sun, Mila, Apacci and Lilynette as they came toward them. Tia immediately turned back to Coyote and narrowed her eyes; "I think she might also be right about the 'lost' feeling he was giving off." she began, crossing her arms under her chest in the process.

"Otherwise, why would he come all the way out here to just stand in one spot for fifteen minutes and simply leave? Something must have happened to him...and we should probably find out what." Tia continued, to which Coyote gave her a nod.

"That's right!" Lilynette called out as she grinned lightly from behind the two former Espada.

"Are you sure we should go back to Soul Society Harribel-sama?" Mila questioned with a bit of worry in her tone.

"That's right...we were only guests the last time because of Hitsugaya. So if something is wrong with him...then we can't be guaranteed that no one will attack us." Apacci claimed with a nod of agreement to her tan skinned comrade.

The blond arrancar looked to the two for a moment before turning away; "That may be so...but we owe him much for showing us Aizen's true face and giving us the chance to choose our own path." she said silently as she stared at the spot Toshiro had been for a few moments.

Though Mila and Apacci blinked their eyes to her, neither of them spoke a word as they simply tilted their heads down slightly. Yet this didn't stop Sung-sun as she moved her long sleeve away from her mouth; "Agreed. But if we are to locate and assist Hitsugaya...we should leave right away." she said silently.

Tia looked to her and gave a small smirk from behind her mask, yet it was impossible to see due to this. But after Mila and Apacci eventually nodded in agreement, Lilynette's voice was heard off to the side. "About time! Now hurry up!" the green haired girl called out as she and Coyote were standing next to an open garganta.

As soon as she said this, each of the arrancar quickly ran through the dark portal, to which it closed soon after. But once it did, it revealed Ulquiorra to have been on the opposite side with his usual expressionless face. Yet his eyes hardened slightly for a brief moment; 'Hitsugaya's reiatsu did indeed feel lost...but it was more than that. It actually seemed as though he had no idea where he was.' he thought to himself silently.

'I also sense a small trace of another reiatsu with his.' Ulquiorra continued as he walked toward the spot where Toshiro had stood.

He then kneeled down and placed a hand to the surface of the stone cliff, to which his eyes narrowed. "This reiatsu...it almost feels like those two beings I saw long ago." he whispered silently.


	136. Chapter 136

A quick thank you to Tuli-chan for helping me out as always, I appreciate it greatly every time. ^^ I'd also like to welcome AzTec999 to my story and I hope you'll enjoy it all the way to this point and beyond. ;)

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**Chapter 136:**

-Rukongai, Junrinan District-

Toshiro appeared from the garganta and raised a brow as he saw nothing but forest; 'Odd...this place isn't the same place I had left from.' he thought to himself.

But as he continued to look around, he hear an explosion occur far off to his right, yet he didn't even bother to turn in that direction. The icy captain simply closed his eyes and took in a short breath; 'Feels like a 2.5 percussion wave...about two miles away...and seventy feet in the air.' he calculated in his mind.

As the white-haired captain opened his eyes once more, they narrowed heavily and his hand clenched together. "Why the hell can I figure that out...but not who I am?" he questioned out loud with an annoyed tone.

Yet his thoughts about this had quickly stopped as he suddenly felt a familiar reiatsu, which had caused his eyes to widen as if in shock. But they immediately narrowed heavily in anger as he turned his head toward the source of the spiritual pressure.

'I'm not sure who or what that is...but I suddenly felt a huge surge of rage boil inside of me.' Toshiro thought as his jaw clenched tightly.

"Oh~? I never thought to see you all the way out here." a sudden voice spoke up from off to the side of the icy captain.

The moment he heard this, Toshiro turned his head quickly toward the person that spoke and narrowed his eyes once more. Though he did not know who this man was, he had brief flashes of his foster father smacking him repeatedly. All this made the white-haired captain glare toward Kansoyue as said man just wore a smug grin on his face.

But this expression disappeared as Toshiro suddenly appeared before him and grabbed his throat with his icy claws. "Who the hell are you?" he questioned with a dark and hollowfied voice.

Kansoyue's eyes widened for a moment as he looked at the icy captain in nervousness; "W-What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice sounding on the verge of being scared.

Toshiro didn't bother to repeat his question as he simply stepped onto the reishi within the air a few steps, to which he eventually lifted his foster father off the ground. As he did this, Kansoyue began to choke, to which he immediately placed his hands around the white-haired captain's arm and wrist to take the pressure from his neck.

"What's gotten into you Toshiro?" the brown haired man choked out, causing said hybrid's eyes to widen slightly.

"Toshiro? That's my name?" he questioned in a normal voice, but with a more forceful tone than before.

"Of course...your name is Hitsugaya Toshiro. What in the hell is wrong with you?" Kansoyue stated and asked as he was still struggling to get free of the icy captain's unmoving grip.

As Toshiro narrowed his eyes a bit further on the man, he briefly closed his eyes, to which a few more images flashed through his mind. These ones being of him sitting in his old room and cowering in a corner as Kansoyue kicked and screamed at him.

"You...you hit me...everyday...for fifteen years." the icy captain muttered silently as he snapped his glaring gaze back to the brown haired man in his grasp.

"Tch! You should have been grateful...I saved you from being beaten by the villagers. You went through that for ten years...I'd probably say you were let off easy with my abuse." was Kansoyue's response, his tone regaining a bit of his usual smug attitude.

Though Toshiro briefly tightened his ice-covered hand on his foster father's neck, he eventually just dropped him and touched his feet to the forest floor. "Whatever the case might be...once I get my memories back, I will come back...and I will make you pay for what you did to me." was all he said before vanishing in a shunpo.

Kansoyue coughed a few times as he rubbed his neck and took in a few deep breaths; "Hmph...if it wasn't for the fact that he had me by the neck, I would have messed with his memories and made him into what I originally adopted him for..." he muttered silently.

"...a money investment." the brown haired man continued as he started walking toward his old house, yet he raise a brow when he glanced over his shoulder.

"Although...when did he get that scar and blind eye?" he questioned to himself.

But as Toshiro moved on through the forest and up toward the gate leading into Seireitei, his eyes narrowed heavily as he glanced back in the direction he just came. 'Why do I feel as though someone else should have been there?' he questioned to himself before turning away and back toward the large gate.

As he narrowed his eyes on it, he quickly shunpoed on top of it and became somewhat wide eyed when he saw a huge amount of grey colored liquid surging all across the Seireitei. Yet despite this, the icy captain was still able to notice the fluid taking the shape of strange snake-like creatures as it moved on.

"What in the hell is this?" he questioned aloud before snapping his attention to reigai Rangiku as she appeared near of him.

"Captain!" she called out, making said person to pause briefly as flashes of the original Rangiku flew through his mind as he heard her continuously call him by his title.

But regardless of this, Toshiro immediately turned away from her and shunpoed off in another direction. This made the reigai blink her eyes a few times, yet she instantly gave chase as she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"What's wrong with him?" she muttered to herself silently.

-Outside the Twelfth Division-

The ice clone of Toshiro rushed forward as a huge wave of grey colored liquid came hurling down from the tower and down to the ground below. But just before the white haired captain reached the large doors that lead inside the main facility, they burst open as a huge amount of the liquid came through. This made Toshiro's eyes widen briefly before he narrowed them and waved his hands out in front of him.

As soon as he did this, an orb of ice surrounded him, to which it was engulfed and taken away by the stream of fluid. But before it moved too far, the ice suddenly expanded and shattered, this revealing the ice clone quickly pushing off the air and flying back toward the gate. Which was still overflowing with a never-ending river of the grey liquid that was also falling from the top of the tower.

"What the hell is this? Liquid reishi?" the icy captain questioned aloud as his eyes narrowed heavily.

As he flew forward, he briefly glanced to the side as he noticed the spirit energy of the original Toshiro arrive in Soul Society. 'He's back...but where has he been? I never had plans to leave, what happened between, my creation and his fight against those two beings that made him change strategy? Whatever the case...I have a mission to do.'

Immediately following his thoughts, Toshiro brought both his arms out in front of him, to which his body was surrounded by his original's spirit energy as he flew straight into the liquid reishi. The moment he did, his momentum slowed down greatly, yet he still continued forward as his reiatsu froze the fluid and allowed him to go through the make-shift tunnel. But even though the reishi was blocking his view of everything that wasn't within his freezing aura, he still moved forward and eventually up.

As he did this, Toshiro quickly hit an air pocket ten feet between the surface of the still flowing reishi and the high ceiling of the main hallway. Once he escaped the fluid, the clone instantly flipped himself around and simply stood on the ceiling as he looked around. The first thing he saw was a large hole in the ceiling just a few yards away, which was where the continuous flow of liquid reishi was originating from. But as he kept up his search, his eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed what seemed to be limbs sticking out of the fluid as is flowed on.

'Most of the reigai must have gotten caught in this. That machine must have been damaged somehow. But...how in the hell could Kageroza have been so absentminded as to let someone mess with it?' the white-haired captain questioned in his mind.

But he pushed all this out of his mind as he looked around once more as his eyes narrowed further; 'From the direction I'm facing...Rangiku would be in the left side of the facility. I saw the holding cells in Mayuri's lowest laboratory, and if Kageroza wanted to keep Rangiku contained...that's where he would put her.' Toshiro thought silently.

After this, he quickly turned his body to the left, to which he regained his reiatsu-made shield and dove right back into the flowing reishi. As he did, Toshiro immediately noticed that the fluid seemed to be becoming more solid, and tougher to move through. The once grey liquid with strange blue sparks of electricity, was now turning a darker shade of the color and even becoming cement-like. But despite this, the icy captain continued forward, it only taking a few minutes as the entire division seemed to be fully mapped out within the clone's mind.

Though by the time Toshiro had reached the correct area, the liquid was already long since hardened and completely solid as the floor it covered. But the moment Toshiro burst out of the hardening liquid, he saw the reigai of Rukia kneeling over Byakuya's reigai a few yards away.

"I'm so sorry Nii-sama...I would have let myself drown if it would have saved you." the rave haired girl muttered out silently.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to her for a moment as he watched reigai Byakuya vanish in a large puff of smoke, leaving only his clothes behind. Most of which were trapped beneath the now completely hardened reishi, this creating a hole of where he used to be. But while most of the clothing fell into this hole, Rukia grabbed the haori and brought it up to her face as she seemed to shiver.

'I recall forgetting Rukia for a brief moment, but I still never discovered why. Though I figured it might have something to do with those two I saw in the World of the Living before I left...I don't know if they ever attacked. But if they did...how could they have made me forget her completely, and even more troubling...how did I remember a few moments later?' the icy captain asked himself as he just looked at the reigai of Rukia as she let out a scream of pain and began crying.

'If our memories are linked, then it might be possible that I remembered her because of this reigai.' he continued, him walking forward and directly behind the still crying girl.

'Which means that if I destroy her before the original Rukia regains her memories...I'll completely forget her all over again.' Toshiro finished with a silent breath before he just walked around the raven haired girl as she choked on her breaths from her continuous crying.

'But aside from her...I think I can feel Rangiku's presence just beyond this wall.' the white-haired captain thought as he placed an ice-covered hand to the surface of the wall before him.

Yet as he did this, he heard the sound of the reigai Rukia standing up and drawing her blade. "You..." she began with a harsh voice and angry tone.

"...this is all your fault! If it wasn't for you...Nii-san wouldn't have died!" Rukia screamed out as she charged forward with a white aura of spirit energy surrounding her.

As Toshiro turned toward her, he noticed that Rukia's zanpakuto had released within the two seconds it took for her to draw it and swing it within inches of his face. But when it reached this distance, the icy captain had caught the blade easily, then punched her hard in the stomach with his free hand. This blow knocking the reigai briefly off her feet before collapsing to the reishi made floor, to which she began gasping for air.

"I'm sorry for your loss...I'm sure you felt the same way about 'that' Byakuya as the original Rukia feels about her brother. But I'm afraid I can't allow myself to be defeated just yet...I still have things to do even after rescuing my Lieutenant." Toshiro stated with a cold voice, but with sympathetic eyes.

After his words, the white-haired captain turned back to the wall and kicked it with great force. This made it immediately crumble apart, but the hardened reishi stayed in place as if the wall was still there. Yet as soon as the structure was gone, a flash of black and an orangish color was all that was seen before Rangiku appear before the clone of her captain and began hugging him.

"Aw~! Captain~! You do care~!" the strawberry blond called out in glee as she giggled to herself.

Though Toshiro was groaning to this, it wasn't heard as his face was buried fully within Rangiku's chest. But after a few moments, said woman finally released the ice-made clone and looked him over. To which a pout developed on her features and crossed her arms; "Aw~! You're a clone! How unfair~!" she all but whined, making Toshiro just roll his eyes and sweat drop before turning to Rukia's reigai.

Whom of which was starting to stand back up with the help of her zanpakuto; "No...it's not just your fault...it's hers too!" the reigai screamed out as she got to her feet.

As the icy captain narrowed his eyes slightly, Rangiku simply raised a brow in light confusion. Yet when Rukia quickly swung her katana toward her, she easily moved out of the way just enough for the tip of the blade to miss.

"If it weren't for the two of you...Nii-sama would still be alive! It's all because Kageroza told us to guard her that he died!" the raven haired girl screamed out as tears flowed out of her eyes almost nonstop.

But when the raven haired girl came running to them with her zanpakuto thrusting toward Rangiku's chest, said strawberry blond simply caught the blade with her bare hand. Though reigai Rukia was rather shocked by this, she still tried to press forward so her blade would slide through her opponent's grip. Yet it was in vain as Rangiku's hand never seemed to move, her just looking down at the short girl with a rather sympathetic expression.

Reigai Rukia clenched her teeth heavily, but as she brought her left arm out to fire a kido spell, her eyes rolled back and her body fell limply to the reishi made floor. As she dropped, it revealed the ice clone of Toshiro standing behind her with closed eyes, him allowing his hand to lower back to his side as he let out a sigh.

"Let's go." was all the white haired captain said as he just turned away and headed toward the tunnel he created in getting there.

Though Rangiku briefly looked at the unconscious reigai, she quickly followed after her captain's clone. "So..." she began in a silent voice as they both arrived at the opening of the tunnel.

"...what have I missed?" she finished with a light grin.

Toshiro turned to her with a raised brow before he sighed heavily and just dove into the hole as if it were filled with water. 'This is going to be a long trip out if the path stayed frozen.' was all he thought with a silent groan as Rangiku followed after him with a few whines of her own.


	137. Chapter 137

**Chapter 137:**

As Toshiro glanced back toward the reigai of his lieutenant, his eyes narrowed heavily and his shunpoing pace began to slow. Though the icy captain hadn't been going in a specific direction, he found himself directly before the Tenth Division gates as he finally came to a stop. Once he did, the reigai came running up beside him and took in a few deep breaths in slight exhaustion.

"Geez Captain...you didn't have to go so fast." the strawberry blond sighed out with a pout.

The white-haired captain looked to her with a slightly raised brow, his expression being one of question and slight distrust. 'I don't feel like she is an enemy of mine...but that can be easily faked. But I suppose there is an easy way to find out.' Toshiro thought as his eyes narrowed a bit more on the woman on his right side.

"Why are you following me?" was all he asked, causing the reigai to blink and tilt her head in confusion.

"Well...I wanted to see if everything was okay? I heard from Kisuke's reigai that after delivering all of the other captains to Kageroza...you just suddenly vanished." Rangiku responded as she glanced over toward the approaching stream of liquid reishi.

"Though I think that's the least of our problems right now. So what's the plan for this incident? It will probably put a huge pause in Kageroza's plans, so it should work to our advantage in the short term, right?" the strawberry blond continued.

Toshiro watched her carefully as she spoke, him seeming to be reading her as if to see if she were telling the truth or lying. 'Her demeanor is completely calm around me. Her heart rate doesn't seem to have picked up whatsoever from the moment she starts speaking. But does that mean she isn't simply a talented liar?' he asked himself silently as he turned toward the river-like wave of reishi.

"For now...lets just see what the total damage is before making the next move." was all he said before shunpoing up to the top of the Ten's gate.

Though Rangiku quickly followed after him, her eyes slightly narrowed before her brow raised; "Is everything okay Captain? You seem a bit more distant than usual. Plus you're looking at me like we've never met before or something." she said with a small, but amused smile.

"But of course you'd never forget me, right Captain?" she continued as she winked to him, causing said person to raise a brow to her.

'Somehow...this seems extremely familiar. Like I've grown used to this type of thing. Am I the type to be around someone like this?' the icy captain questioned in his mind with a light breath as he looked to the reishi rushing below him.

"So...did you find Rukia?" the reigai asked with blinking eyes as she looked to Toshiro once more.

Whom of which briefly looked to her without even turning his head before looking down with a light shake of his head. "I-" was all he got out before a flash of purple, orange and black was seen before another woman had attacked Rangiku.

As the white-haired captain turned around to see the one that had begun this engagement, his eyes widened when he saw them. Though he couldn't see their face, the pony-tailed purple hair, tan skin and skin tight outfit caused flashes of Yoruichi to flow through his mind. But as said woman turned around, her eyes were narrowed as she spoke out in an almost urgent tone.

"Toshiro! Help me! This woman is going to try and kill you! She's a reigai created to act like your real Lieutenant so she can take you out when you drop your guard!" Yoruichi stated, turning back to Rangiku.

All the while, said strawberry blond blinked in shock before narrowing her eyes as she readied to fight. "He already knows I'm a reigai...and that I have sworn my loyalty to him!" Rangiku countered, to which she briefly looked over to Toshiro.

"I'm not sure what she's planning Captain...but let me take care of this. There's no need for you to get involve in fighting a reigai of Yoruichi." Rangiku continued as she narrowed her eyes heavily on the purple haired woman.

On the outside, Toshiro appeared only slightly confused, him having unnoticeably wide eyes and a clenched jaw. But on the inside, his mind was racing quickly with almost nothing but images of Yoruichi and was nearly panicking at what was going to happen before him.

'What kind of situation is this? What the hell was my life before I lost my memories?!' Toshiro all but screamed in his mind.

But he couldn't think any further as he just stared in shock and almost helplessness to the two reigai charging at one another. Once they met in the center, they both threw and caught a punch with opposite hands, causing their arms to criss-cross over one another. Yet neither allowed their narrowed eyes to turn away from each other as Yoruichi quickly sent a knee toward Rangiku's ribs.

The strawberry blond immediately blocked it with her own knee and headbutted the tan woman in the face. But even though the blow caused Yoruichi's head to snap back, she immediately returned the attack with her own headbutt. However, unlike Rangiku's attack, the purple haired woman's had completely knocked Rangiku back a few feet before she stopped.

"Tch...even as a fake, you're no match for me." Yoruichi claimed just before she shunpoed just behind Rangiku and sent a roundhouse kick toward her head.

Yet just before her foot made contact, Rangiku ducked under the kick and spun herself around to make an attack of her own. But she never got the chance as Yoruichi used the momentum of her kick to spin a back kick with her other foot. The strawberry blond ground her teeth as her eyes narrowed even further from before and blocked the kick with both her arms.

Once the attack hit, the force had knocked Rangiku backward five yards before she stopped and shunpoed along with Yoruichi. Both of them reappearing a few dozen feet away with locking kicks as they glared heavily at one another.

"I'm not going to let you hurt him." Rangiku all but growled out as they vanished once more.

As the two continued to shunpo around the area and lock attacks with one another, Toshiro just narrowed his eyes on them and let out a sharp breath through his clenched teeth. "Damn it...what do I do?" he asked silently to himself.

But his head quickly snapped to the side and up toward the sky as the two fighter appeared in the air and began throwing punches and kicks toward each other. Yet due to her greater speed, Yoruichi had landed a few punches, while Rangiku was unable to land a hit on her target. This seeming to aggravated said woman as she let out a few growls of frustration with each attack.

The reigai of Yoruichi however had begun to smirk lightly at this, her starting to get the upper hand even more as her opponent's form started to become sloppy. This allowed the purple haired woman to quickly take advantage of her fellow reigai's opening at her stomach as she immediately kneed her hard. But as the attack hit, Rangiku only briefly bent over in pain, to which she quickly grabbed Yoruichi's leg and slashed her across the chest with her free hand.

Yoruichi's eyes widened heavily to this, her wound instantly starting to bleed heavily from being so deep that her bone had even been cracked. "Hmph...I knew you'd pull something like that." a voice spoke from behind Rangiku as the purple haired woman's body before her just turned to pieces of orange cloth.

But even as the strawberry blond reigai's eyes widened, she couldn't move fast enough to dodge away from Yoruichi's hand going through her back and out her chest. Yet as a great amount of blood gushed from her wound, she too vanished, only leaving her kosode behind. This made the purple haired woman sigh heavily and turn toward Rangiku a few yards to the side, her having a uniform similar to the one her own original used to wear.

"This might take a bit longer then I thought." Yoruichi muttered silently as she just narrowed her eyes on her fellow reigai.

"Why? Got something better to do?" Rangiku questioned with heavy sarcasm in her tone.

Yet as Toshiro continued to watch all this, his eye lids had begun to twitch slightly as even though his body wanted to move to help, his mind couldn't understand why or even whom he should assist. The icy captain let out a shaky breath before he closed his eyes, but they quickly snapped open as they took on a realization.

'I know them...they're Matsumoto Rangiku and Shihoin Yoruichi. But...who do I help? If what Yoruichi says is true...then I have to kill Rangiku. But if Rangiku is right...then I should help her defeat Yoruichi.' the white-haired captain thought to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.

'I still can't remember anything recent...so I don't know who to help, I just know that this 'Kageroza' is my enemy.' he continued as his eyes shifted over toward the two fighters' new location off to the far right within the training grounds.

Yoruichi's eyes briefly widened as when she dodges away from a downward kick from Rangiku, her strike shattered and uplifted the ground fifteen feet deep and fifty feet in every direction. But her gaze quickly turned to a glare as she shunpoed away from the falling slabs of earth that came right toward her. Yet even as she got out of they from this, the purple haired woman quickly spun away from a fast palm heading for her back as Rangiku appeared behind her.

Once she had gotten out of the way, Yoruichi then turned her narrowed eyes to her left and lifted her leg up to dodge the strawberry blond's sweeping left kick. But as she did, she used the action of lifting her left to send a kick straight to the center of Rangiku's almost shocked looking face. Though said woman managed to move her head to the side, Yoruichi's foot still managed to hit her cheek and burn it slightly from the friction.

This making reigai Rangiku to wince her eyes slightly to the pain, but they quickly narrowed once more as she brought herself forward. As Yoruichi was making a follow up attack with another kick, her eyes briefly widened when she saw a fully formed Shakkaho spell in Rangiku's right hand coming toward her.

"I don't think so." was the purple haired reigai's fleeing comment as she instantly shunpoed away.

But as she did this, she missed the small smirk her fellow reigai took on as she kept the kido in her had and just pointed it to a spot behind her. Which was where the purple haired woman had appeared, this causing her eyes to widen even more than before as the spell was shot right into her stomach.

"Well...I do." Rangiku muttered with a slightly wider smirk.

As the Shakkaho spell had hit its mark, reigai Yoruichi just flinched slightly from the pain as she took in a breath and smirked lightly. "Not bad." she began as she brushed the charred clothing away and revealed her only lightly burned skin.

"I suppose I underestimated you a bit Rangiku. Even as a newly improved reigai created by Kageroza...I never imagined that you'd be at this level." she continued as her smirk widened slightly and she took on a fighting position.

"But unfortunately for you...you still don't stand a chance against me." Yoruichi claimed as she brought out her right arm and clenched her hand into a fist.

"Oh? Is that so?" Reigai Rangiku countered with a smirk of her own as she mirrored Yoruichi's actions.

"We'll just see about that." she said as the ground around the two began to shake slightly.

"Shunko!" they both called out in unison as the quaking of the earth increased one hundred fold and even began to crack under the pressure of both their techniques being released.

Though neither of the two could see it, Toshiro had begun to make his way closer toward them with rather cautious movements. 'It's strange. This Yoruichi claimed that the Rangiku I'm with is a reigai, while this Rangiku said the same about that Yoruichi...but what is a reigai? And if neither of them are actually the real two people who I know...then where exactly are they?' he questioned in his mind as he reached a few dozen yards away from the fight.

But his eyes had widened heavily as Yoruichi and Rangiku charged at one another with a quick battle cry before they slammed their fists together. The resulting explosion had been completely blinding and quite large in size, it making Toshiro cover his eyes with an icy hand as large amounts of debris flew everywhere. The blast itself stretched one hundred feet out to either side of them and even reached so high into the air that it nearly touched the clouds. Yet even as the blast had engulfed his body, the white-haired captain still remained in place and only received small burns that healed before he even realized he was hurt.

Once the light had begun to die down, Toshiro moved his hand away and began scanning the area as he didn't see Yoruichi or Rangiku anymore. Though he had shot a surprised glance over toward the sixty-five foot wide and fifteen foot deep crater that was left in the wake of the pairs' attack, he turned away when he spotted Rangiku. Said strawberry blond was facing away from her captain and blocking his view of Yoruichi in front of her, to which he shunpoed far off to the side of them so he could see both clearly.

The two still had their Shunko activated, but upon closer inspection, it was obvious that Rangiku's technique was smaller and less tamed in comparison to Yoruichi's. Yet the two just shunpoed toward one another, to which they began trading fast punches and kicks over and over again as to catch the other off guard and deliver a decisive blow. But after a few moments of them blocking or dodging each others attacks, they quickly shunpoed almost fifty feet in the air and repeated the process, only their strikes had become noticeably stronger and faster then before.

Then they suddenly jumped away from each other and seemed to focus more of their spirit energy into their Shunko, which seemed to become even larger and more wild for both of them. Once they appeared to be satisfied with the amount of reiatsu they gathered, they both charged forward with a loud battle cry and threw their right fists toward each other's heads.

Toshiro just narrowed his eyes to this and clenched his fists tightly; "That's it...I'm going to stop this fight." was all the white-haired captain muttered as he shunpoed between the two fighters with his hands out.


	138. Chapter 138

**Chapter 138:**

-Twelfth Division-

The ice clone of Toshiro and the real Rangiku quickly came out of the still flowing reishi river that was being produced from the main tower of the Division. "Geez...I'm gone for a few hours and all of Seireitei is in ruins." the strawberry blond muttered with a light sigh as she looked around.

"But I guess so long as we got that mission done, everything should get fixed...eventually." she continued with a raised brow as she kept looking around, making Toshiro to roll his eyes and sigh.

Yet as they moved forward, both of their eyes widened for a moment as they could sense Rangiku's reigai and Yoruichi's reigai fighting within the Tenth Division far off to their left. "Looks like I'll have to wait to take my vacation." the strawberry blond said, her jumping from the reishi covered ground to the top of an untouched roof to get a better view.

As the ice clone followed her, they quickly narrowed their eyes upon seeing a bright flash of light occur in the direction of the fight. Then a brief shaking of the ground signaled them of how powerful the colliding of powers had been.

"Yikes...looks like they were both using their Shunko." Rangiku muttered silently as she looked over to Toshiro, whom just nodded his head lightly.

"But it's strange...it feels like Captain is right next to the fight, but he's not doing anything." she said with a lightly raised brow as she took a questioning glance toward the icy captain's clone once more.

"There must be some sort of circumstance that is either preventing him from fighting, or perhaps he is simply waiting for something." Toshiro said with a confident tone.

'But even so...why would he even allow such a fight to occur? What has happened since my creation?' the clone thought to himself as his eyes briefly showed his own confusion toward what was going on.

Yet neither he or Rangiku were able to think or speak further on the matter as they quickly shunpoed off to either side. A split second later, the roof they had been on was suddenly destroyed, it seeming like an enormous weight had been dropped on it. But though both Toshiro and the strawberry blond knew who it was that attacked them, they only saw their form when they stepped out of wreckage of the building.

"I knew I'd find you out here." the large anamorphic wolf spoke out as his glowing blue eyes focused completely on Toshiro's clone.

"Kageroza suspected that you would save your Lieutenant after this sudden situation." he continued as he jumped up to the roof that Toshiro had gone to upon dodging his first attack.

But as Komamura landed, Rangiku quickly appeared behind the large reigai and narrowed her eyes heavily. "Hmph...so he didn't expect any of this either." she muttered as she gained a small smirk.

The reigai captain glanced back to her briefly before turning back to Toshiro's ice clone; "Tch...it doesn't matter if he didn't know about it. He has already made hundreds of ways to turn all of this into an advantage for his plans." he claimed as he grabbed his zanpakuto and unsheathed it.

"I see...so he's at a complete 'stand-still'." Toshiro started with a small smirk, to which reigai Komamura's eyes narrowed heavily.

"It's not hard to figure out that he needs all this out of the way before he can do anything else." he continued as he gestured to all of the reishi covered buildings around them.

Though the large anamorphic wolf narrowed his eyes, he eventually took on a small smirk on his features as he spoke in a confident tone. "Well I have something else to reveal to you."

Toshiro raised a brow to him for a moment, him not showing any sign of shifting his eyes as he noticed Rangiku grabbing her zanpakuto and coming closer to Komamura. Whom just continued to speak toward the ice clone in front of him; "I had just received word less than twenty minutes ago that your original had lost his memories during his fight against two strange beings. Who of which...according to Shihoin Yoruichi's report...took Kuchiki Rukia hostage."

As he said this, Toshiro's eyes briefly widened as he took on a fully defensive pose, this making reigai Komamura grin widely. "Realized it have you?" he questioned as he briefly took a glance to the side as if to keep an eye on Rangiku's movements.

"Since we all remembered Kuchiki Rukia due to Kageroza's reigai of her...then you're the only reason why anyone remembers Hitsugaya Toshiro." the tall captain continued as he brought his katana out in front of him.

"That's why it doesn't matter if you know that information or not. 'Cause once I destroy you here and now, everyone will forget who you are and you will wander this world...lost forever." Komamura claimed with an almost dark grin as he was quickly engulfed in a red aura.

"And I'll crush you with all my power so there will be no chance of escape! Bankai!" he called out as a gigantic samurai warrior suddenly appeared behind him, to which the building was crushed under the giant's foot.

This caused Toshiro to quickly jump away, him making sure to dodge out of the way of all the large debris. All the while, Rangiku just brought her own zanpakuto forward and narrowed her eyes heavily as it briefly glowed red. "Unare, Haineko." she muttered as a huge ash cloud began to surround Komamura's body before the samurai giant could even turn around.

But as she did this, her gaze quickly shifted from the trapped reigai captain to the enormous hand sweeping down to hit her. Yet Rangiku didn't bother to shunpo out of the away as she simply back flipped over the attack, her hand briefly touching the gloved hand of the giant along the way. "I hope this works." she muttered to herself as she landed on the wreckage of the roof.

Toshiro looked to her silently as he gave a small smirk, to which he then looked to Komamura, who just jumped right through the cloud of ash and toward him. Though the ice clone narrowed his eyes to this, he quickly had to dodge far off to the side as the samurai's blade smashed down in the spot he hand just been. But his eyes briefly widened as he sensed someone appear behind him, this causing him to spin to the side to dodge away from the slashing blade that was Tosen's reigai.

'Even him?' Toshiro thought to himself and his eyes narrowed heavily as he glanced behind him as Komamura grinned widely.

"Hmph...as I said...I will crush you here and now." the large reigai claimed as he rose his own and the samurai's blade in the air.

"You have no chance of victory...Hitsugaya." Tosen muttered silently as he charged forward, but shunpoed at the last second to get out of the way of Komamura's attack.

Which never came as Rangiku appeared to the side of the anamorphic wolf and kicked his arm to the side; "Don't underestimate us." was all she said before she spun around and landed a firm kick into the reigai's chest.

After her strike, Komamura was knocked back a few feet, but even as he quickly regained his footing, Rangiku instantly appeared behind him. Yet as she came it for another kick, the large captain placed his zanpakuto on his back, him pointing the blade toward his opponent. This cause Rangiku to shift her attack slightly to the side, her foot now aimed an inch away from the edge of the blade.

But as she struck, Komamura simply spun himself around, him using the force of the strawberry blond's kick to do so. Though when he came around to face Rangiku, he immediately swung a powerful fist toward her head. Yet even as she brought her hands out to block, her eyes widened heavily as she noticed the samurai giant was mimicking his moves, but slightly to the side.

'If he hits me anymore than five feet, that thing is going to break almost every bone in my body.' Rangiku thought quickly as her eyes narrowed.

As she glanced around her for the split second it took for Komamura's fist to come within an inch of her guarding arms, she let out a breath. 'No way around it.' was the last thing she thought before flexing her arms.

"Shunko!" Rangiku called out just as the anamorphic wolf hit her, yet as he did, her body never moved at all.

But despite this, the ground under the strawberry blond cracked heavily as the strength of Komamura's punch was too much for the earth in that area to take. Though upon seeing her activated her Shunko, the large captain's eyes widened briefly, to which they quickly narrowed as she knocked his arm back with her own. Yet he didn't have the chance to even blink as Rangiku appeared before him in a flash and punched him hard in the chest.

This hit blasted Komamura backward and directly into a reishi covered building nearby, to which the giant simply fell to its knees. Rangiku glanced to this and gave a small smirk; "Just a little longer." she muttered as she then turned her attention toward the ice clone of her captain.

Whom of which was dodging many thrusts and slashes from Tosen's reigai, but even though Toshiro appeared to be moving easily, he seemed to be gradually slowing down. 'This isn't good...I used too much reiatsu to save Rangiku, if I use too much...I'll break apart.' the white-haired captain thought with narrowed eyes.

Yet even as this went through his mind, Toshiro continued to dodge the seemingly never-ending barrage of strikes reigai Tosen sent toward him. All the while, said blind man had a completely blank expression on his features as he didn't appear to be tiring any time soon. This made the ice clone to grind his teeth briefly as he was nearly hit by a sudden kick toward his face after Tosen missed with a slash and used the momentum to spin around.

'His movements...they're still the same as they used to be, but...there is something a bit 'off' about him.' Toshiro thought as he jumped and back-flipped away from his opponent.

'It's almost as if he's just a shell of his former self...or maybe it's...' he continued as his eyes narrowed even further, them showing a bit of nervousness.

-Tenth Division-

Reigai Yoruichi and reigai Rangiku charged toward one another for a Shunko powered punch, both yelling out a battle cry in the process. But then Toshiro suddenly appeared between them, making the strawberry blond become wide-eyed and try to stop herself as her Shunko vanished. However, Yoruichi just kept going as if pretending that she didn't even notice the white-haired captain's presence, something of which he noticed immediately.

When their fists made contact with Toshiro's open ice-covered hands, they were instantly stopped, regardless of the difference in their momentum. Yet the purple-haired reigai's Shunko had created a large blast of bright white kido to nearly engulf the icy captain. This made Yoruichi's eyes narrow slightly as if showing that she was almost hoping Toshiro would be dead or heavily injured by her attack. All the while, Rangiku became wide-eyed as she watched this in light shock as her captain was taking the full blast of her fellow reigai's Shunko.

"Captain!" Rangiku called out in desperation as said hybrid kept a hold of her hand, even as the blinding light of Yoruichi's Shunko surrounded him.

Though after the blast had ended, there was a deafening silence around the three as the large dust cloud that had been kicked up began to settle. Once it did, it showed Toshiro to be completely unharmed, but much of his clothing was burned away, him only having his hakama pants and half his haori. Yet even though his body didn't appear to be injured, it was obvious to both Yoruichi and Rangiku that his regeneration powers had been the reason for that.

"So..." the icy captain began as he narrowed his eyes on the purple-haired reigai; "...you really were the one lying." he finished silently with a cold tone as the purple-haired reigai's Shunko vanished.

Yoruichi's eyes widened briefly after this, to which she then tilted her head down and seemed to lose all the tension in her body. But regardless of this, Toshiro kept both his blind and seeing eyes on her as he released Rangiku's hand and kept on guard with the tan skinned reigai before him.

"Is that so?" Yoruichi began as she suddenly gained a wide grin that made the white-haired captain narrow his eyes even further.

But before he could even react, a blade suddenly pierced through his chest, which caused his eyes to widen in shock as he turned his head toward Rangiku. Whom of which had an equally shocked expression on her features; "C-Cap...tain..." she whispered out as her hands trembled.

As this happened, Toshiro closed his eyes briefly as he lightly coughed, to which much blood came out of his mouth. But he still turned his head away from the strawberry blond, who was trying to get her hands to move, with no success. "No..." she muttered out as tears welled up in her eyes.

"No...NO!" Rangiku screamed out as her whole body began trembling as though it were completely frozen in place and she was trying to move with all her strength.

"Captain! I can't move! I didn't move on my own! I swear it!" she called out desperately as her body still refused to listen to her.

"Get away Captain! You have to get away! You can still heal yourself! Please get away!" the crying reigai yelled as she closed her eyes at the sight of Toshiro's blood pouring out of his body from her own blade.

All the while, Yoruichi simply smirked to all this, her just chuckling at the sight before her as she seemed not to even care that Toshiro still had a grip on her hand. "Kageroza knew that just about no one could beat you. So he devised the plan to make you and this failure of a reigai fight against all the rest of us. Though the original plan had included Soifon's reigai, since you lost your memory...all that was needed was for you to trust one of us." she claimed confidently, her tone overflowing with arrogance.

After her words, the icy captain let out a silent groan of pain before his ice-covered hand clenched down on Yoruichi's hand even more. This caused the purple-haired reigai's smirk to disappear and for her eyes to narrow slightly; "What? Did I strike a nerve?" she questioned as she began to struggle in his grip as she couldn't get away.

"Oh...you did far more than that." Toshiro muttered out in a hollowfied voice as he glared heavily at her.

"I have no idea what I would have done with my memories, but right now...I'll have no regret of killing you both here and now." was all he said before his body was surrounded in a white aura, which took on a black outline as the ground around them began to freeze.

As this happened, Yoruichi's eyes widened to their fullest extent, to which she ground her teeth and reactivated her Shunko. Once she did, her struggle to free herself only increased, yet she was still unable to slip out of Toshiro's iron-like grip. All the while, Rangiku just closed her eyes as tears continued to fall from them, her simply muttering to herself silently.

"I'm sorry Captain." was all she said over and over again as her body trembled.

Toshiro just gave a dark smirk as he took in a silent breath and clenched his free hand tightly; "Shunko." was all he whispered out before everything within sixty feet was engulfed in light.

Though as this occurred, people all across Seireitei immediately turned in shock as they saw a huge tower of white light shooting into the sky. This included the newly arrived arrancar as they exited the garganta just outside the Tenth Division. Yet as the ever growing darkening clouds were parted by this huge amount of power, the clouds themselves sparked heavily with electricity.

But when the electricity reached over the Twelfth Division, a lightning bolt suddenly shot down and hit the metal top at the main tower. Once it did, the flow of liquid reishi increased ten fold in the blink of an eye, then blasted high into the air. Yet it had never come back down as the reishi itself literally began to take shape into a bizarre creature.

This creature was grey in color, had a simple mound-shaped body, long arms that stretched into the now heavily clouded sky and many tentacle-like limbs. However, it was the large red eyes on the sides that brought the being to life as it let out a strange bellow that echoed across just about all of Soul Society.


	139. Chapter 139

**Chapter 139:**

All of the arrancar stepped out of the garganta and into the Tenth Division, but as they did, all of their eyes widened heavily at what they saw. On top of an enormous pillar of white light blasting high into the air just a few yards away, there was a developing gigantic grey monster near of the Twelfth. This creature dwarfing the samurai warrior that had been summoned by Komamura as it reached into the dark clouds overhead.

Though most of the arrancar had their attention turned toward the monster, Tia's eyes were mostly focused on the white energy near of them. But as it continued to flash brightly, the light eventually began to die down and the pillar vanished and allowed the clouds to cover the hole it made. Once it did, the former espada quickly sonidoed toward the source of the light, to which the others had done the same when they realized where she was going.

Upon arriving, all of the arrancar quickly stopped in shock when they saw Toshiro standing between two heavily burned bodies that looked similar to Yoruichi and Rangiku. The former of which had opened one of her eyes and narrowed it on the icy captain with pure hatred; "Damn...you...Hitsu..gaya." was the last thing she said before her body had literally turned to dust.

As this occurred, Toshiro turned his attention toward the burned body of reigai Rangiku, whom just smiled lightly, yet a tear escaped her eyes, despite half her face being heavily burned. "Thank you...Captain...I'd rather die than hurt you; I just hope you can forgive me...and my weakness." the strawberry blond spoke in a coarse voice.

Even though the arrancar could hear and see this, none of them moved as they just watched Toshiro kneel down to her. Said icy captain narrowed his eyes on the dying reigai and spoke too silently for anyone but her to hear. A moment after he spoke, Rangiku's eyes briefly widened before her tear-filled eyes closed and a smile covered her face before she too turned to dust as Yoruichi's reigai had done.

Once she was gone, Coyote immediately made his way to Toshiro and looked from the charred clothing left behind by the women to the white-haired captain. "What in the world were those two? I'm pretty sure that isn't how shinigami look when they die." he muttered out as he briefly looked over to the large beast in the Twelfth as its huge eyes shifted toward them.

"Apparently they're called; 'reigai'. Created by a man known as Kageroza and sent out to kill me. Though I can't figure out why." Toshiro said silently as he just looked down at the ground.

Coyote looked to him with a raised brow at first, but as the others started coming toward him, Lilynette ran up in front of Toshiro with an obviously irritated expression. The green haired girl then pointed an accusing finger at him and spoke to him in a tone that fit perfectly with her actions.

"What in the world have you been doing?! First we all come see you in the hospital to make sure you're okay, then once we decide to head back to Hueco Mundo, you suddenly show up seeming all lost and shifty! And now you're talking like you barely know any of us!" she called out, her panting a few times at the end to catch her breath.

"Plus..." Apacci started as she joined Lilynette before him; "...it's already dangerous for us to be here, being what we are. So you must apologize to Harribel-sama for making her come all this way! And thank her for doing this simply for your sake alone!"

Toshiro looked to her with a raised brow for a few moments as he looked around to everyone else, but then he tilted his head down and sighed heavily. Though he had many hazy memories of each of the people around him flowing through his mind, Toshiro remained silent of a little while. But as he briefly closed his eyes, he finally spoke up with an almost tired tone as he didn't seem fond of what he was saying.

"I lost all my memories." he began, making all of the arrancar around him blink in surprise.

"I'm not sure how...but it appears that due to my interaction with these reigai, some of my memories have returned. So it should only be a matter of time before I get them back fully." he continued, his tone sounding as though he were cautious of being even near them.

Though Coyote had raised a brow to him for a moment, he just smirked lightly and shrugged his shoulders. "Well I guess we'll wait for that...bringing on memories too quickly would probably be more of a draw-back then anything else." he said silently.

The icy captain raised his brow back to the brown haired arrancar before he just nodded his head; "I suppose so." he muttered out.

All the while, Lilynette sighed and huffed as she crossed her arms in annoyance; "I still think I deserve to yell at him at least a little." she whispered to herself.

But even as Tia and her fraccion had watched and listened to all this, only the former espada herself seemed to understand Toshiro's situation. To which she had walked to the other side of the white-haired captain and looked down to him with slightly raised brow.

"Well...until you do remember everything, I'd say that you have a bigger problem on your hands." the blond said as she gestured to the large creature in the Twelfth.

As Toshiro looked from Tia to the creature, he raised a brow once more and narrowed his eyes when he spoke up. "Hmph...what's the point?"

After his question, many of the arrancar blinked to him in a bit of shock as his tone sounded very cold. To which their surprise increased as the icy captain continued; "All I've figured out is that Kageroza is my enemy, the reigai are apparently out to kill me...and I have yet to find any of their originals."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes a bit more as he looked at the large monster with what appeared to be almost disgust. "I don't care if that thing destroys this whole place...I'm only interested in finding the original Yoruichi and Rangiku." he stated with a tone that seemed like nothing could change his mind.

But as Coyote was about to speak, he was cut off as they all quickly turned their heads to the huge flash of fire near the enormous creature. This flash was an arch of flames that had completely sliced one of the monster's arms off, which had bellowed out in pain. Upon seeing this Toshiro's eyes narrowed a bit more as he noticed the Head Captain standing on the air almost directly in front of the beast he injured.

'Head Captain...Yamamoto...' the white-haired captain thought silently as a few flash memories of the old man went through his mind.

'He's...my commanding officer. Which must mean...he's also being targeted by Kageroza. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' he continued as he looked to the arrancar around him.

All of whom were watching as Yamamoto had slashed another arch of fire that cut through part of its upper body. This had made Toshiro give a small smirk in response; 'Impressive...if he turns out to be a reigai and I have to fight him, it might actually be quite interesting.' he contemplated in his mind before looking to the people next to him once more.

'Though all of them gave me some rather shadowy memories of who they are, I'm still not sure of their names or even how I know them. But I suppose I'll trust them for the time being...so long as they help me find the originals of Yoruichi and Rangiku.' Toshiro continued quickly as the arrancar turned to him as if to see what he would do.

"With him fighting against that monster, there will be no point of me doing so. My only objective right now is to find Rangiku and Yoruichi, you can help me if you wish. If not...then you may do whatever else you please." the white-haired captain said as he turned away and started heading toward Rukongai.

'The best place to start would be the beginning...and since I was there when I lost my memories, perhaps being there once again might spark something. And the more I remember...the closer I'll be to finding those two.' Toshiro thought to himself silently, him not noticing Ichigo and his group passing on his right side as they had left Rukongai with Rukia.

Said raven haired girl was laying unconscious in the arms of the orange haired teen, whom continued to look down at her in worry. "Don't worry Rukia...we're almost there." was the only thing Ichigo managed out before he and his entire group froze in place as they saw the monster out in the distance.

"What the hell is that?" Senna whispered out in shock as her eyes were extremely wide.

"I have no idea...but it's not going to be around much longer." Kukaku claimed as she immediately rushed forward.

Though the others were slow to follow, the arrancar had remained stationary as Toshiro had vanished from their sights as he continued toward Rukongai. But as they each looked to one another, Coyote decided to speak up; "Well...we might as well fight this creature if the old guy is the only one left to do it." he muttered with an almost bored tone.

Lilynette frowned deeply before huffing and giving a shrug; "I suppose...but I still would like to see if we can help Toshiro get his memories back." she said, crossing her arms in the process.

"But...he'll only slow us down!" Mila claimed, turning to Tia.

"That's right...we came all the way out here for the sake of someone who doesn't even remember us. What's the point of risking our lives if the person we're fighting for is pretty much lost?" Apacci spoke with a brief nod toward Mila's comment.

"Hmph...how unsightly." Sung-Sun spoke out with her sleeve covering her mouth, causing both of her comrades to turn to her quickly with a 'What was that?!'.

"It matters not of what you think of the situation, if Harribel-sama wishes to fight against that monster with all her strength, then we shall as well. Or if she decides to help that white haired captain...then we will assist in retrieving his memories. Our duty is to follow Harribel-sama...not to squabble about how pathetic the two of you are." she continued, her turning away after her last few words.

"I'll kill you!" Mila and Apacci called out in unison as they raised their fists toward the green haired woman.

"Enough." Tia said silently as she took a few steps toward the direction Toshiro was going as she watched him for a brief moment.

"Though my alliance with him has been very short...and we truly have no reason to continue following him, I do respect him in many ways and I will not let loyalties be clouded by something so minor." she began as her eyes narrowed and she turned toward Coyote and Lilynette.

"You two have known him for much longer. Tell me...will he get his memories back?" she finished, her facing the two completely.

Though the brown haired man paused for a moment, his small smirk, nod and even the tone of his voice spoke the truth. "He's more stubborn than any person I've ever met...there is no way he won't get his memories back."

Tia gave smirk from beneath her mask and nodded lightly as she looked up to the monster; "Looks like we're going to send this creature into the abyss." she muttered as all of the arrancar immediately charged forward.

As they came closer to their target, Coyote and Tia had noticed another fight just off to the side of the giant monster. To which the two quickly identified the fighters as Rangiku, Toshiro, Komamura and Tosen, yet the latter of which had an odd presence about him. But they had also realized that the 'Toshiro' that was fighting must have been an ice clone of the original's making.

"If he created it before his memory loss...then we might be able to get a few answers about what's going on." Coyote whispered to the blond arrancar.

Whom of which nodded her head as she had thought the same thing, to which she took another glance toward Rangiku. "And if that is the real Rangiku, then it's possible the original will get him memories back sooner if we bring her to him." she muttered out silently.

This time it was Coyote's turn to nod in agreement, to which they just quickened their pace as they came right up to the monster the Head Captain was fighting. Once they were close enough, the blond haired arrancar's fraccion immediately released their resurreccions and began fighting against the creature's tentacle-like limbs. All the while, the remaining three had brought their blades forward and fought the monster directly as its arms and wounds were already healed despite the Head Captain's attacks.

But though they weren't seen, Kukaku and the others were on the complete other side of the monster making their own attack. The raven haired woman wanting to find and exploit the beast's blind spots with her enormously powerful kido. Though as Orihime and Kon stayed out of the way with the unconscious Rukia; Kukaku, Ichigo and Senna made their assault. All the while the burnt orange haired teen surrounded herself and the two with her in her Santen Kesshun to block out anything the monster sent at them.

However, the most damage the creature sustained was in the front as the Head Captain had made a huge gash across the giant's body with his flames. As the beast wailed out in pain, the old man finally turned toward the newly arrived arrancar off to the side. Though it was brief and almost invisible, there was a faint sign of a smirk on his face before he suddenly vanished in a shunpo as he once again sliced his opponent's arms clear off. As he did this, Tia watched with slightly narrowed eyes, to which she quickly gathered spirit energy on her blade and shot it out and toward one of the beast's eyes.

This caused the monster to let out another loud screech of pain as huge tentacle-like limbs burst out from its upper body and started chasing after them. Yet these were quickly sliced away as Coyote and Lilynette flew by with their blades out, the latter of which having a wide grin on her face. She then turned to Coyote and chuckled lightly as she took a quick glance over to Tia and even the Head Captain; "We should do this more often." she claimed with a light giggle as each of the other briefly raised a brow to her before charging at the creature once more.


	140. Chapter 140

**Chapter 140:**

Rangiku gave a small smirk as she saw many of the arrancar allies her captain had made suddenly arrive near of the large monster. But though the creature itself was only a few dozen yards away, it wasn't seeming to be paying any attention to her, or any of the others near of her. Yet the strawberry blond's eyes quickly shifted toward Komamura as said reigai had the giant samurai he controlled to stomp its left foot down at her with great force. All the while it stabbed it's blade down to block part of her escape, leaving her only way out to be either side of the samurai's foot.

'I see...he's using his Bankai to force me into a specific direction so he can ambush me as I dodge. I never thought Captain Komamura had such a strategy...it's quite good.' Rangiku thought quickly before she immediately shunpoed to the left of the giant's foot.

As she did this, the large reigai captain almost instantly appeared before her with a battle cry-like howl as he swung his zanpakuto down at her. But the strawberry blond quickly reactivated her shunko and blocked the incoming attack with her bare hand. The anamorphic wolf just smirked to this as he pressed down on her with even more strength, to which Rangiku struggled slightly to keep herself still.

"Impressive, Lieutenant Matsumoto. You're doing far better than I thought you would. I suppose being his underling for about a hundred years hasn't been simply for show." Komamura stated, him glancing over toward the ice clone of Toshiro at the end.

Said clone was quickly stepping backward from Tosen's seemingly nonstop slashing attacks; "You won't escape." was all the tan man said as he continued forward.

Toshiro just narrowed his eyes heavily as he watched the person before him carefully; 'I see...so that's how it is.' he thought silently before he vanished in a shunpo.

The moment the icy captain reappeared, he was behind Tosen, whom now had a large gash across his chest. But as the tan skinned man stood there as if frozen, he eventually turned around and faced Toshiro once more. Whom of which just smirked lightly as he glanced toward Komamura as Rangiku knocked him back quickly before dodging away from the giant samurai's slashing blade.

'I knew it was odd of why his reiatsu felt off. Kageroza must have taken Tosen's reiatsu after he had already been subject to Aizen's experiment of hollowfication. That means...what I'm fighting is just a simple show to keep Komamura in line and probably can't even use Shikai. Which would mean that this fight is meant as a distraction more than anything else.' Toshiro thought to himself as Tosen wobbled slightly on his feet before charging toward the white-haired clone once more.

But just before he reached him, the samurai under Komamura's control suddenly sliced him in half. This making Toshiro smirk lightly as he turned toward a grinning Rangiku and a shocked Komamura. The latter of which was literally laying on the ground and staring at his Bankai in complete disbelief. All the while, the former just winked to the ice clone and spoke up with a proud tone in her voice. "Looks like I finally got it."

Toshiro's smirk widened slightly as he nodded and began walking toward the reigai of Komamura; "Sorry...I never did mention that my Lieutenant can multiply her Shikai's ashes over a period of time. Which means that by now..." he began, tilting his head up toward the samurai as it loomed over all of them.

"...your Bankai is completely filled with her ash and can either be completely destroyed or manipulated." he continued as he glanced to Rangiku, whom kept her smirk as she held out her hand.

This action caused the giant samurai to stand up fully, though it seemed somewhat shaky in doing so, it was obvious that it couldn't stop its movements. But as he watched this the anamorphic wolf's gaze went from shocked, to almost fearful to complete and total rage. This only increasing as Rangiku had said her next words; "Unfortunately for you...you brought your Bankai out too soon and gave me plenty of time to continuously multiply my ashes."

"Then again..." the strawberry blond muttered as she glanced up thoughtfully; "...if you hadn't, I probably would have overpowered you with my Shunko and the fight wouldn't have lasted as long."

After her words she just shrugged lightly as she looked to the ice clone of her captain; "What do you think? His physical strength is a bit higher than mine, but I think I still would have had the upper hand on him since I'm faster and can hit him quicker than he can turn his head." she said silently with a light shrug.

But as she spoke, Komamura growled silently as she stood himself up, to which he took a step forward, this making the samurai do the same. Though the movement for the giant Bankai was shaky once again, it was clear that it had more control than before. As the reigai captain brought his zanpakuto up, his eyes glared furiously at Rangiku, to which he started slashing at her quickly. His actions being mimicked by the samurai, despite it being too high to make a difference in the strawberry blond's dodges.

"I won't allow it! I won't be defeated by someone such as you! I will kill you both here and now out of justice for Tosen!" Komamura yelled as he continued to slash and thrust at his opponent.

Whom of which was weaving expertly out of the way from each of the attacks, all the while she had a small smirk on her face. But though the ice clone of Toshiro was still standing off to the side, he had his own smirk on his features as he watched.

'In a one-on-one fight, Rangiku can definitely win. Their strategies are too different and I've trained her to be able to handle just about all of the other captain's ways of battle. Though Komamura as himself would probably be more cautious and make a more even fight...it's clear that these reigai get worked up far easier than the originals. Which means that this can become a much greater asset to fighting against the-' but Toshiro's thoughts were cut short as a voice spoke up behind him.

"Dodge to your left." was all that was heard before a stinger-like blade shot through a spinning Toshiro's right shoulder.

This caused the ice clone's eyes to widen as he saw the reigai of Soifon with a pained expression on her face as she pulled her hand back for another strike. Yet as she did, she quickly called out to Toshiro in a nearly panicked tone; "I'm aiming for your other shoulder!"

Immediately following her warning, Toshiro shifted to the side and caught her hand, to which he then sidestepped away as Soifon's leg came out to kick him. But upon hearing all this, Rangiku quickly turned toward the scene with shock, yet she quickly had to duck under another swinging attack by Komamura. Whom of which proceeded to kick the strawberry blond in her guarding arms as she saw the attack coming, but wasn't able to dodge away from it.

As this blow hit, Rangiku slid back a few feet, but she still took a split second to watch the ice clone toss Soifon to the side by her hand. But she instantly became wide-eyed as Komamura appeared in front of her with a downward slash; "You're finished bitch!" the anamorphic wolf called out with a grin, his blade coming down on his opponent with great force.

Toshiro quickly looked over to this with narrowed eyes, him taking a step to the side as Soifon came charging back toward him. Yet as Komamura smirked down at the clearing dust cloud he created from his strike, his eyes widened when he saw there was no one there. But his shock increased even more as he heard the strawberry blond's voice behind him; "You know...I hate it when people call me that."

"I truly...absolutely...completely...despise it." she continued, her opponent becoming even more wide-eyed as he turned and saw the icy and dark glare that was in her eyes.

"Yoyu San Hai." was all she said before the anamorphic wolf began screaming in pain, causing Soifon to pause in her attack from shock, despite her body obviously wanting to keep going.

As the large reigai continued to yell out in pain, he fell right to his knees and clenched his hands into fists. His fur, skin and even clothes were starting to literally melt, to which the same was happening to his Bankai. All the while, Rangiku just narrowed her eyes a bit further and kicked Komamura down to his chest as she crossed her arms.

"It must be hard to have to share the same pain and injuries your Bankai receives. With my ashes pretty much turning into acid inside of it...you must be in anguish right now." the strawberry blond stated in a cold tone that seemed similar to Toshiro's.

Something of which the ice clone narrowed his eyes slightly to as he quickly dodged away from Soifon's attack as her body seemed to finally win over her mind once more. But as he moved away from the raven haired reigai and her constant attacks, Toshiro's eyes continued to shift toward his lieutenant. Whom was just looking down at Komamura with a cold expression, said reigai still howling out in pain.

'Looks like I had a much bigger effect on her than I thought...she's turned nearly as cold as me.' the ice clone thought before he was snapped from his thoughts when Soifon called out to him.

"Captain Hitsugaya! On your right!" the petite reigai had warned as she appeared in a shunpo with her stinger aimed directly toward the black mark that had appeared on his previous wound.

Though the white haired captain had dodged away from this attack, he was quickly kicked by a spinning strike from his opponent. This blow knocking him backward a few feet as he quickly remained his footing, but his eyes widened slightly as Soifon instantly appeared directly before him. Her stinger was aimed right for his chest, but it never reached it as Rangiku suddenly shunpoed beside the reigai and grabbed her hand.

"That's not such a good idea...I'm in a bad mood already." the strawberry blond began as she immediately threw Soifon to the side with great strength.

"You don't want to piss me off even more." she finished before looking up at the samurai giant as it completely fell backward into the ground.

As the raven haired reigai stood back up, her eyes showed much sadness, as opposed to Rangiku's cold expression. "I'm not doing this because I want to! I'm holding back my speed and strength as much as I can...so hurry up and kill me!" Soifon called out as she started moving forward.

Rangiku blinked to her for a moment before taking on a sympathetic look toward the reigai, then she just gave a light nod. All the while, Toshiro just closed his eyes as if he didn't want to see what was going to happen next. Yet they were quickly broken out of this moment as Komamura let out a loud scream, him standing up to his feet.

"You bitch! I'm going to kill every last one of you!" the anamorphic wolf yelled out as his Bankai had brought itself to its feet, despite much of its armor and skin being melted away.

Though Komamura's appearance seemed quite grotesque as some of his skull could be seen on his muzzle, neither Toshiro or Rangiku even flinched as he charged past Soifon. The petite reigai being knocked down in the process, her simply watching as Rangiku reactivated her shunko and pierced her hand through her fellow reigai's chest.

As this happened, Komamura let out one last insult toward the strawberry blond before his body was reduced to dust. Afterward, his Bankai had disappeared and only left the raven haired reigai alone against the two, to which she stood herself back up and took a shaky step forward.

"Kill me now. I can't control my body much longer." she muttered out silently through grinding teeth.

A brief moment after her words, Toshiro closed his eyes once more as both he and Rangiku instantly appeared before her and they pierced their hands through her chest. All the while, they used their free hands to grab Soifon's, her body unconsciously moving to attack them, to which she had just gave a small smirk. Then as Rangiku's shunko vanished, the two pulled their hands away and allowed Soifon's body to fall limply toward the ground.

As it did, Toshiro had caught her in his arms, to which the reigai looked up to him with small tears in her eyes and blood coming out of her still smirking lips. Though Soifon couldn't speak due to the holes in her chest, the last bit of light in her eyes spoke all that the ice clone needed to say the last few words to her. Yet, immediately after the shocked expression Soifon showed, she gave a similar smile as the reigai of Rangiku had not long ago, her body then being reduced to dust.

Despite Rangiku not hearing his words, she could tell just from his body language as he stood back up to his feet of what they could have been. Yet she decided not to say anything about it as she just turned her head up toward the huge beast not far from them.

"Oh yeah...'that's' really happening, isn't it?" the strawberry blond muttered silently with a light sweat drop, this being the first time she had gotten to actually look at the monster's appearance.

Toshiro turned to her with a raised brow before he too looked to the creature as well, yet his gaze turned toward Rukongai out in the distance. "Rangiku...make sure to activated it at the right time. I'm going to meet my original and see if I can get his memories back to normal." the ice clone said as he didn't even look to his lieutenant as she answered.

"If you say so...though I still don't know if setting the captains and lieutenants free is going to help much." Rangiku began, her also not looking at her captain's clone as she spoke.

"Though the reishi is probably just about completely hardened around the cell by now, so we won't run the risk of them being actually trapped down there. It's likely it would still take them a while to get out of the lab in time to help very much." she continued as she clenched her hands into fists as her gaze stayed fully focused on the monster.

"I know...but it's obvious that 'I' had plotted with each of them to lure Kageroza into a false sense of security so that I could release them along with you. Then we would completely overrun the division and foil his plans, but though he didn't foresee 'this'..." Toshiro began, him gesturing to all of the reishi around them as much of it was either hardened around the buildings or part of the giant creature.

"...we must still follow the plan for the time being. 'I' placed those ice shards on each of them for the reason of letting them out at the proper time, so I'm not going to just leave them down there." he continued as he brought his hand out as if to hand Rangiku something.

Said lieutenant let out a breath and accepted the object in her hand, to which she placed it in her cleavage and gave a small grin. "I just hope you make it back in one piece." was all she said as she let out a quick chuckle and vanished in a shunpo.

The ice clone glanced back at where she had just been before toward Rukongai once more; "At least it's better than the last time when she mentioned my height." he whispered to himself before he too disappeared.

* * *

Just so everyone knows...'Yoyu San Hai' translates into: 'Melting Acid Ash'. So yeah, I'm sure you can tell why that happened. ;) Till next time everyone~! Ja Ne.


	141. Chapter 141

**Chapter 141:**

-Rukongai-

Toshiro stood in the middle of a long dirt road, this one running parallel to the street he had been walking down not thirty minutes ago. But as he looked around, his eyes shifted toward his left, where of which he had fled through the garganta he still couldn't figure out of how he made. Yet as he stared, his eyes closed briefly and he let out a silent breath of light nostalgia; "Right back where I started from." he muttered to himself.

Though the white haired captain tilted his head up to the roof of a house nearby, his attention was on the invisible imprint of reiatsu within the air above the roof. As Toshiro stared at this structure for a few moments, his eyes closed once more before turning his head to the left yet again; 'I can sense the presence that I left behind in this area from the last time I was here. But there are two others mixed in with it...both of them seem to have what feels like anger and frustration encased inside of their presence.' Toshiro thought silently as he turned his head further to the left as if following the source of what he was feeling.

'Which I can assume means that they fought against me at one point. Though...they both feel similar to one another, like they're both the same being but with two different bodies.' Toshiro continued as his eyes remained closed.

But then as he felt an almost too familiar presence appear not five feet in front of him, his eyes slowly opened and narrowed immediately. What he saw caused him to briefly pause physically and mentally as he was facing what appeared to be himself. Though the icy captain had eventually turned his body to face this copy, his ice-covered hands clenched tightly as to be ready to fight.

"So it's true...they really did erase your memory." the ice clone of Toshiro spoke silently as he stepped forward.

"What would you know of it?" the original questioned with a cold and completely untrusting tone.

"Nothing...as of yet anyway." 'Toshiro' said as he stopped just a yard away from his 'creator', whom didn't seem to budge whatsoever from his stance.

This seemed to simply make the clone give an invisible smirk of amusement; "I never thought that losing my memories would reduce me so much." he spoke with a light shake of his head.

"What do you mean by that?" the real Toshiro spoke as he glared at his copy icily, him seeming to have already judged their distance and quickest way to kill his clone within seconds.

"You're slow...Toshiro. Your senses are dulled, your skills have been lowered, your deductive reasoning has all but vanished and your spirit energy is hardly as controlled as it usually is." the fake spoke with an almost disappointed expression on his features.

These words caused Toshiro's eyes to briefly widen before they went back to their normal glare; "And how would you know any of that?" he questioned.

"Because...you created me before you lost your memories." 'Toshiro' stated, causing the original to blink his eyes briefly in mild shock.

"I'm an ice clone that you designated to help you at the correct time. But complications arose when your memories had been erased. So...I'm simply here to help you get your memories back and return you back to what you're supposed to do." the copy said as he briefly glanced to the side.

The original didn't follow his gaze, but he did allow his gaze to soften very slightly as he gained a small amount of interest in his eyes. "And what is it that I'm 'supposed' to do?" he asked silently.

The ice clone gave a somewhat visible smirk to him, to which he looked down briefly and gave a light shrug. "You'll figure that out for yourself afterward." was all he said before reaching his ice-covered hand out toward Toshiro's forehead.

But a brief moment after his icy fingers made contact with the real Toshiro's skin, both their eyes widened as the two siblings had suddenly appeared behind the clone. While the brother had swung his blade directly into the copy of Toshiro, the sister had come up to the original and swung an anger-filled fist. Yet while the blade of the male seemed to slice right through the ice clone, 'Toshiro' suddenly vanished and reappeared behind the violet haired teen.

As he did this, the male was almost instantly knocked unconscious after the ice copy smacked the back of his neck with a single strike. All the while, Toshiro himself was dodging one wild attack after another from the female, whom shouted at her opponent the entire time.

"Where is she?! I know you did something with Rukia! Tell me where she is or I'll ki-!" was as far as she had got before she too was knocked unconscious by the clone.

"See what I mean? You've gotten slow...there should have been no need for me to have even moved, you could have knocked them both out long before even I could have blinked." 'Toshiro' stated as he looked down to the siblings.

As Toshiro did the same, his eyes narrowed slightly on the two, him focused almost completely on their faces. To which the icy captain's mind brought back a few shadowy memories of when he fought against them not long ago; 'Something is off...when I'm looking at these two I feel sad. But it's not because of something that 'happened'...it's like something will happen.' Toshiro thought before turning to his clone.

Whom of which came up to him once more and placed his ice-covered hand back to his forehead. As he did this, slowly but surely, Toshiro's memories began to return in full clarity, like he never lost them in the first place. Yet before the ones of his and Yoruichi's first meeting was unveiled, the process suddenly stopped and both Toshiros snapped their eyes open.

They both immediately looked down at the ice clone's chest as there was a large blade sticking out of it. Yet as Toshiro was about to turn to the attacker, he immediately had to back flip away from a pair of blades that came from either side. But the moment he did this, the copy of the white-haired captain ground his teeth as he just continued to stare down at the blade.

"Damn it..." was all 'Toshiro' could say before shattered apart, his eyes closing just beforehand as if accepting his fate.

This had revealed to the original icy captain that it was Kageroza that had attacked his clone, to which his eyes narrowed as simply seeing the man's face brought back many memories of him. All the while, Toshiro had looked briefly to his own attackers, them being reigai Kisuke and reigai Aizen. Though the former caused him to pause for a moment, his eyes instantly narrowed on the latter in a heavy glare.

Despite the memory of the brown haired man not being returned to him, the white-haired captain felt an overwhelming surge of rage and anger boil up inside of him. But as the three men looked back at Toshiro, they each gave their own various smirks as their memories of him still remained.

Though Toshiro's attention was mostly focused on Aizen, his eyes had shifted to the other two before him as they had taken on even wider, yet confident smirks. To which Kageroza decided to speak up as the air around them began to become increasingly cold from Toshiro's rising anger from his glances toward Aizen. "You seem a bit confused about how we're still remembering who you are. Considering the fact that I just destroyed your clone...the only way it was possible for anyone to remember you."

The icy captain turned toward the man and raised a brow, his eyes showing uninterest as he just seemed to ready himself for a fight. Despite the green and yellow haired man seeing this, he carried on anyway, even while Toshiro's gaze was mainly concentrated on Aizen.

"After I analyzed Kuchiki Rukia's case with everyone forgetting her for a split second, I developed an implant to go directly into the brain as to completely nullify the effects of memory loss. Plus I even developed a way to use their powers for my own benefit...so thank you for knocking them out for me." Kageroza spoke as he glanced toward the siblings laying unconscious to the side, yet no one but Kisuke actually paying attention to him.

The remaining two were glaring at each other with such intensity that the area around them almost seemed to shiver. Yet the yellow and green haired man just took on a lunatic-like smile as he continued to drone on; "Quite brilliant if I do say so myself...it's unfortunate that you barely understand me right now, what with your memories erased and all."

But after realizing that not even Kisuke was paying attention now, Kageroza narrowed his eyes for a moment as he opened his robes slightly to reveal to have a Hogyoku in his chest. Though the gem was only partially embedded in the man's skin, it seemed to be sinking further and further inside of him.

"It won't be long now." was all Kageroza muttered as he turned his head just in time to see Toshiro vanish from sight and appear before Aizen with his hand colliding with the brown haired man's blade.

"What's with those sluggish movements? I could have sworn you were faster than this." Aizen stated with a confident and almost mocking grin.

But as Toshiro glared at his opponent, he quickly spun himself around and landed a kick to Aizen's guarding arm. But even after blocking this attack, the ground beneath the brown haired shinigami had cracked heavily, yet he just smirked in what now appeared to be amusement.

"Though it's far less than what you usually have...it looks like you haven't fully forgotten how to use that monstrous strength of yours." Aizen spoke out as his eyes stayed on Toshiro.

Yet the icy captain just narrowed his own eyes as he immediately spun off to the side, Kisuke's thrusting attacking missing him by inches. Once Toshiro had gotten out of the way, he stood in a defensive stance as he shifted his gaze between the two before him.

"Don't go forgetting about me. I have to take revenge for the death of Yoruichi after all." the blond man spoke, his voice sounding very dark as he said the purple haired reigai's name.

Though Toshiro's glare hardened on Kisuke, he had quickly dodged away from a swinging attack from Aizen as said shinigami appeared next to him. All the while, Kageroza merely watched all this with a continuous smirk on his features, him feeling a surging power flowing through his body from the Hogyoku.

Though Toshiro had briefly glanced toward the green and yellow haired man, he quickly had to shift his gaze back to Kisuke as he shunpoed toward him with his blade aimed at his head. But even after ducking away from this attack, Toshiro's eyes narrowed as he noticed Aizen blasting a small kido spell toward his feet. This caused the icy captain to lightly leap into the air to dodge, yet he immediately had to push his hand off the spirit particles in the air to spin around a thrusting attack from Aizen.

Once Toshiro had turned enough to face the sky, his eyes widened as he saw Kisuke flipping his blade in his hand to a reverse grip. The blond then proceeded to stab down at the white-haired captain, whom caught the blade between his hands. But regardless of this, Toshiro was sent right into the ground from the force of Kisuke's attack, him just barely keeping the tip of the blade from escaping his grip.

As he laid on the ground with Kisuke pushing his blade down to try and beat Toshiro's strength, the icy captain clenched his teeth slightly and narrowed his eyes once more. But then they instantly became wide as Aizen's zanpakuto came slicing through the air just above his face. This caused Toshiro to quickly jerk his head to the side, to which he pulled Kisuke's blade to the side so he could roll away from both of his opponents.

Toshiro immediately jumped to his feet after getting away, but while Aizen remained in his place, Kisuke shupoed to the white-haired captain's side. "Nake...Benihime." was all the blond said before Toshiro was engulfed in red energy.

This blast had gashed part of the icy captain's arm that he brought up to protect his face, plus had even burned his midsection heavily. Once the attack had cleared away, Toshiro took in a shallow breath as his arm began to bleed heavily from his wound. But he had no time to rest as Aizen shunpoed a few yards behind him and pointed two of his fingers into the air.

"Hado no. 90...Kurohitsugi." was all the brown haired shinigami said before Toshiro was engulfed in a large black box, which seemed to be outlined in purple.

Yet a brief moment after the structure had formed, it suddenly shattered apart and revealed Toshiro with a fully healed body and his shunko activated. This caused Kisuke's eyes to narrow, Aizen to give a small smirk and Kageroza to raise a brow as if in interest.

"Ah yes...I nearly forgot about how powerful that Shunko of yours is." Aizen muttered silently as he brought his zanpakuto forward.

"But fortunately..." the brown-haired shinigami continued, to which a large and deep gash appeared on Toshiro's chest.

This caused the icy captain's eyes to widen in shock as he turned around to see a grinning Aizen, whom had raised his blade up to his face. Him seeming to be examining the blood on his zanpakuto as he continued his words; "...without your memories of our past fights, you don't have any way to predict my movements."

Toshiro glared at the man for a moment, but he quickly back flipped over a slashing attack from Kisuke from behind. Upon watching this, Aizen gave a small smirk as he jerked his blade to the side to get the blood of his weapon.

"I'm not sure if it would be better to kill him while he's weak...or to go through the very interesting processes of recharging his memory." he muttered to himself silently.

But immediately after speaking, he had to block a strong punch from Toshiro as said captain had used the momentum of another one of his dodges to attack him. This just making Aizen's smirk widen, yet after the punch hit his blade, the force had knocked him backward and sent him flying backward. All the while, Kisuke had come forward to slice the white-haired captain on his back, to which said hybrid quickly spun around in a quick dodge.

As Kageroza watched this, he just continued to keep his smirk on his face, him calmly walking over toward the siblings and grabbing them both by their rag-like clothes. But just as he was lifting them up into his arms, his eyes widened as he turned his head to a figure standing on a nearby house. "What in the..." was all he whispered to himself before the being simply vanished.

All the while, Toshiro's speed began to increase as he and Kisuke were throwing every bit of their hakuda skills at one another, them seeming to be on par with one another. This made Aizen grin widely as he just stood a few yards away with inspecting eyes; "Interesting...it seems that the more and longer he fights, the better he becomes." he whispered to himself.

"Though his mind doesn't remember...his body does. And his body is telling him exactly how to respond for each attack as they happen. This truly might be worth keeping him alive just long enough for me to see the extent this whole 'experiment' will go." he continued silently as he readied himself to move forward.

But Toshiro seemed to almost sense the brown-haired shinigami's intentions and turn his and Kisuke's fight to the side, this causing Aizen to have to go around his 'comrade'. Yet as if in slow motion, the icy captain watched Aizen shunpo toward him, his blade coming around the blond's arm, whom was coming in with his bare-hand for a stabbing motion. Though Toshiro readied himself to block these attacks and even counter, he heard a sudden voice within his mind that made his eyes widen.

_"Master...though I am glad that you can finally hear me, something is wrong here...I feel a strange presence nearby."_ Hyorinmaru spoke out with a bone chilling voice that echoed within Toshiro's inner world.

_"And there is a voice...it's calling me."_ was the last thing that the white-haired captain heard before his mind snapped back to reality.

Even though he could still see and react to the attacks coming toward him from both Kisuke and Aizen, he wasn't able to move his body whatsoever. The same moment Hyorinmaru finished his words, Toshiro had felt a sudden draining feeling that made him feel extremely weak for the split second it took for both attacks to to stab deeply into his chest.


	142. Chapter 142

**Chapter 142:**

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo called out as he swung his Bankai released katana, to which a huge arch of black and red spirit energy blasted out of the tip and slice through the huge monster before him.

The attack had completely cut much of his opponent's mound-like head away, causing it to bend backward slightly from the force and pain. All the while Kukaku began a long incantation for a kido, to which she pointed both her hands out toward the creature and the many tentacle limbs coming toward her.

"Senju no hate, todokazaru yami no mite, utsurazaru ten no ite! Hikari wo otozu michi, hidane wo aoru kaze! Tsudoi temado na, waga yubi wo miyo! Kodan, hasshin, kujo, tenkei, shippo, dairin, hairo no hoto! Yumihiku kanata, koko toshite kiyu!" as she said all this many pink colored, missile-shaped balls of reiatsu appeared around her.

"Hado No. 91: Senju Koten Taiho!" she finished, to which all of the projectiles shot right through the creature's appendages and then hit its main body.

Upon impact, the kido had blasted straight through the monster, it now having a large hole right through it. To which the beast wailed out in pain after the combination of attacks hit, yet the onslaught was still far from over. Midway through the creature's scream, Tia had appeared near of one of its eyes, her being in her resurreccion form as she brought her weapon up over her head.

"Cascada." she muttered silently as a gigantic torrent of water blasted into the creature's eye, which had eventually given out and allowed the water to go right through its 'head'.

But even as the reishi made beast was starting to heal thanks to all the liquid spirit particles around it, Coyote appeared near the top of its head. Him also being in his resurreccion form as he pointed both his guns down at the creature; "Cero Metralleta." he whispered out as his body glowed a brilliant blue.

Immediately following his words, thousands of ceros blasted into the beast's body from above. This created a large gap within its head that the Head Captain appeared inside of, to which the moment he did everyone around had shunpoed or sonidoed away.

"Taimatsu." was all the old man said before the whole creature was engulfed in an enormous inferno.

Despite the Head Captain being inside the flames, he had walked out of them completely unscathed, to which he looked toward those he fought with. Coyote let out a sigh and scratched the side of his head with one of his guns, him seeming to hoping that everything was over. Tia was standing alongside her fraccion as they all just watched the flames before them as if waiting for the beast to possibly reemerge.

Ichigo was looking to Senna and Orihime, both of which were next to Rukia and Kon, the former of which was just starting to wake up. Upon seeing her eyes opening, the orange haired teen went over to his friend and kneeled down; "Rukia...are you okay?" he questioned quickly.

All the while, Kukaku had her real and fake arms crossed under her chest, to which she narrowed her eyes slightly on the fire before turning to the side. "There's no doubt...that's definitely Toshiro's reiatsu." she muttered silently.

Just as everyone was starting to turn away, them convinced that the monster was now defeated, part of said beast rose up from the flames and attempted to attack them. But just before it could do so, Rangiku appeared with her Shunko activated and blasted the remainder of the creature to ashes. Upon doing this, the strawberry blond made her way over to the others and smirked lightly; "Looks like we have 'this' under control." she stated with a small smirk.

"And what is it that needs our attention to get under control Lieutenant Matsumoto?" the Head Captain asked, him understanding Rangiku's underlined meaning to her comment.

"Well-" the blue eyed woman began, but was immediately interrupted as all of them suddenly felt a slight twinge in their heads.

Though Rukia's was much more brief due to her memories already being all but erased, she blinked her eyes in light shock as she felt like something important was taken from her. Yet after this moment passed, everyone blinked their eyes for a few seconds as they looked around to one another.

Rangiku rubbed her eyes and shook her head; 'What was that? I felt like I just forgot about Captain for a brief second there.' she thought to herself as her eyes narrowed slightly.

Kukaku had her own eyes closed as she took in a few deep breaths; 'What's going on? Toshiro's image in my mine disappeared for a moment. I actually had to think about why I'm even out here before I could remember him. What in the hell is going on?' she questioned herself in her mind as she snapped her eyes open with an irritated expression.

All the while, Tia was looking around with heavily narrowed, yet confused eyes as she couldn't seem to figure out why she, an arrancar, was in Soul Society. This expression and thought was shared by each of her fraccion, but only the former espada was starting to remember Toshiro's face. The purpose for her being in her present location starting to emerge in her memories along with the very shadowy image, yet no name came to her mind. This seeming to make her even more on edge as she didn't trust a strange person's picture in her mind since she's not supposed to be in Soul Society in the first place.

Despite the former Tres Espada's somewhat panicked demeanor, Coyote had a somewhat relaxed and simply confused expression as he briefly closed his eyes. He then tilted his head up and used one of his guns to scratch the side of his head, to which he was taken out of his thoughts as Lilynette spoke up from the gun near his head. "What's wrong Starrk?" she asked.

"I'm not sure...I feel like I just forgot someone close to us." the brown haired arrancar responded silently.

"Who?" the young girl questioned in a tone that sounded as though she were raising a brow in confusion.

"I'm not sure...but he's definitely the reason why we're here." Coyote said as he looked around him, mostly to his fellow arrancar.

"He? You mean...um...what was his name again?" Lilynette asked in a near whisper, to which the brown haired arrancar just shrugged his shoulders.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." the Head Captain spoke out as he turned his head toward Rukongai out in the distance, yet his eyes never seemed to open.

"Toshiro? The name...doesn't sound familiar, but it does feel like I know who you're talking about." Ichigo muttered out with a raised brow, him looking down at the ground briefly.

"Hitsugaya...Toshiro..." Rukia said, her being more focused on the fact that she just lost something more of herself than her being surrounded by people she doesn't recognize at all.

"Of course...Captain Hitsugaya. How can any of you forget?" Rangiku asked with a curious expression on her features.

"Well...I didn't really forget..." Senna began as she looked to the side, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"...I just sort of misplaced his image in my mind for a moment." the purple haired girl finished with a clearing of her throat.

"Toshiro...Nii..." Orihime whispered to herself as she looked up in thought, her starting to see small pictures of the white haired captain in her mind.

"Indeed...Hitsugaya Toshiro." a voice echoed from off to the side, to which everyone turned to look at Kageroza.

The yellow and green haired man having the unconscious siblings in either of his arms, to which Rukia jumped to her feet in shock. Yet before she could call out to them, the appearance of reigai Kisuke and reigai Aizen stopped her instantly. Though it was the former of the two reigai that caused everyone's eyes to widen, each one immediately bringing out their various weapons and readying to fight.

"Now now...don't be in such a hurry to attack. I'm actually here with a proposition." Kageroza stated with a smirk.

"Sorry...we don't make deals with psychopaths." was all Rangiku said before she, Tia, Kukaku and even Ichigo charged forward at the three.

"WAIT!" Rukia called out as she saw the two reigai bringing their blades up to either of the sibling's necks.

Though the raven haired girl's cry only caused Ichigo to pause in his attack, her next words made the other three to stop almost instantly. "They're the only family I have!"

Once they had all stopped, Kageroza smirked widely and tossed the female teen on the ground before his feet. "Here's the deal..." he began, his cane appearing in his now free hand.

"...I will give you this girl now as assurance that you let us go and allow a small 'package' of mine to enter into Soul Society without any difficulties. I will give you the other one after I have received the 'package', afterward...it's free game." he continued, his smirk just continuing to widen.

"Do you accept these conditions?" Kageroza stated as he stepped toward the girl and pressed the end of his cane on the female sibling's head.

"If not...perhaps I can just kill one of them. I only need one after all, and considering it's easier to carry a single person...well...you see where I'm going with this." the yellow and green haired man finished as he simply went silent.

After doing and saying all this, nearly everyone turned their gaze to the Head Captain, whom had opened his eyes slightly upon Kageroza's arrival. But while most of the stares toward him were expecting ones, Rukia's was more of desperation as her eyes seemed ready to fill up with tears.

"I'm sorry...Kuchiki Rukia, but I will not stake the lives of everyone in Soul Society for the two he holds in his hands now." the old man began as he took a step forward.

"Kill them now!" he ordered out, to which Rangiku, Tia and even Coyote came full force at the three.

This made Kageroza sigh lightly with a shake of his head, to which he gripped his cane tightly and readied the amount of strength he would need to crack the female sibling's skull. Rukia quickly started running toward the girl as fast as possible, tears starting to run down her cheeks as her body was driven through fear of losing someone important.

"Homura!" the raven haired girl screamed out in desperation as she, nor any of the other shinigami could move fast enough to reach her friend before Kageroza would kill her.

Yet immediately after her cry, the yellow and green haired man's hand was suddenly kicked to the side, him unable to even hurt the female teen before she vanished. As this happened, each of the reigai's and Kageroza's eyes widened when they saw Yoruichi appear before the latter. Yet before any of them could consider attacking the purple haired woman, they all shunpoed out of the way when a huge arch of red spirit energy came toward them from the right side. Upon landing a few dozen yards away, each of the three narrowed their eyes when they saw the real Kisuke come walking up beside Yoruichi as she tended to the unconscious girl.

"Tch...I should have known I'd get meddlesome eventually." the reigai of the blond shop owner muttered silently in what seemed to be detest.

"My my...what an attitude. You must have altered his personality to suit your liking...how unfortunate." Kisuke said silently as he looked at Kageroza from under the shadow of his hat.

"I'm a far better fighter and genius when I'm calm. You just put too much killing intent in him to make him even the slightest bit useful." he continued, him adjusting his hat slightly on his head.

Upon hearing these words, the reigai shunpoed just to the side of his original and blasted a large arch of red spirit energy toward him. But the attack itself was stopped as Yoruichi appeared between the two and used her Shunko to deflect it. This made the blond reigai to narrow his eyes and quickly flip away from the real Kisuke as he sent his own arch of red reiatsu.

"Plus it doesn't hurt to have friends at your side that have your back." Kisuke spoke as he shunpoed toward his copy and slashed at him.

Though the reigai blocked this strike, his eyes narrowed even more as he had to dodge a powerful kick from behind by Yoruichi. But even as he did, his expression turned to one of shock as he felt a hand on his back after moving away from the pair. Yet before he could react, he was immediately engulfed in a huge blue wave of electricity and fire.

This made many people blink in response, but after the smoke of the kido spell cleared, it revealed a grinning Kukaku. Whom of which turned to the real Kisuke and chuckled out her next words; "I told you I could kick your ass any time."

The blond sweat dropped lightly before taking on a small smirk, him just giving a brief shrug before turning to Kageroza. Said man had his eyes narrowed slightly before his cane suddenly became a large weapon with two large blades on either end of a long golden pole. All the while, Tia and Coyote were attacking Aizen with little success as none of their attacks could seem to hit the brown haired man.

Yet as Rangiku appeared behind the yellow and green haired 'shinigami', he quickly shunpoed away from her powerful downward kick. Which had shattered the ground as it hit, but while the effected area was thirty feet wide, her attack only made a crater one foot deep. Though as Kageroza appeared off to the side, Ichigo and Senna gave chase to him, to which they sent a Getsuga Tensho and an electricity-filled tornado at him.

But their attempt was for nought as Kageroza spun his blade around, which created a large portal directly in front of him. Yet just as it closed, the yellow and green haired man vanished along with the remaining sibling still in his arm, to which everyone narrowed their eyes heavily.

"Shizuku!" Rukia called out as she had her hand outstretched toward where Kageroza had just been.

"He will be heading for a Senkaimon...half of spread out to each one and kill him on sight! The other half stay here and finish this reigai of Aizen Sosuke!" the Head Captain ordered out, him just ignoring the raven haired girl's silent crying as she was obviously fearing for her friend's life.

Though a few of the others had fully noticed Rukia's sobs, most of the people around the old man had given a quick nod in response and vanished in shunpoes to do as he said. Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kukaku and Senna each heading out into Seireitei to get to a senkaimon before Kageroza could. All the while, Ichigo stood himself in front of Orihime, him playing both a guard for her and a seeker for an opening against Aizen. The burnt orange haired teen was kneeling down next to the female sibling, her using her powers to reject any injury Homura had sustained. Though Rukia was kneeling next to Orihime, her main focus was on the yellow and red haired teen as she had a hopeful expression on her features.

Yet while Kon had already got behind the Head Captain for protection, Tia's fraccion had just looked at the elder man with a deep frown. "We don't take orders from anyone but Harribel-sama!" Apacci stated firmly.

The Head Captain turned his now closed eyes to the arrancar and just seemed to stare at her, to which the raven haired woman gulped down in nervousness. But just as Mila-Rose was about to further her comrade left off, she fell silent as Tia called out to them after blocking Aizen's blade; "Just go!"

Though Apacci and Mila wanted to voice out their objection, Sung-Sun had already vanished in a sonido to follow their leader's order. This caused them to immediately go after the green haired arrancar, both calling out; "Hey! Wait for me!" in unison.

All of them heading in the same direction as Senna had, Sung-Sun determining that out of all the people who left, she was the weakest in comparison. But almost immediately after they were gone, Aizen suddenly stopped and let out a silent breath of what seemed to be relief. "Thank you..." Aizen began suddenly as he dodged away from a cero blast from Coyote.

"...it was getting annoying having so many people nearby. I'd prefer to kill a few at a time." he continued as he gained a small, but very confident smirk.

"We'll see about that!" Tia all but yelled as she charged toward the brown haired man along with Coyote.

-Near the Thirteenth Division's Senkaimon-

Three figures stepped out of the gateway, one of which was carrying a small figure in their arms as they all made their way across the long bridge.

"Well...that was a lot easier than I thought." one of the figures spoke with a smirk on his face.

"True...but it's predictable for parents to give everything up to protect their children." another said, his voice sounding a bit more calm and soft.

"Plus those two little 'helpers' that Hitsugaya sent were too late to help at all." the second had continued with a tone that fit perfectly for his shrug.

"No matter the case, I'll take her back to Kageroza...you two make sure to keep the Head Captain busy." the last said as the light of the Senkaimon finally dimmed and revealed the reigais of Kyoraku, Jushiro and Retsu.

"Thirty more minutes...and Soul Society is finished."


	143. Chapter 143

**Chapter 143:**

-A few minutes ago-

Toshiro ground his teeth heavily as he looked at the blade and hand inside of his chest, to which a huge amount of blood gushed from the wound. But as reigai Kisuke and Aizen pulled away, the icy captain coughed out even more of his crimson blood as he fell to his knees from his weakened state. All the while, Kageroza just watched this with a large and victorious grin on his features, to which he walked slowly up to his injured foe.

"How is it, Hitsugaya?" the yellow and green haired man questioned as he pushed Toshiro on his back with his left foot, his arms having the two siblings in them.

As the white-haired captain fell backward, his eyes closed and he coughed out even more blood as he couldn't breath. This seeming to just make Kageroza grin even more as he pressed his foot inside of Toshiro's wound, which didn't appear to be healing.

"I made this serum just for you. It nullifies a hollow's regeneration power for exactly five minutes." Kageroza began as Toshiro's eyes opened and widened.

Yet as the icy captain tried to move his arms, his eyes widened even more as his body wouldn't respond and began to feel numb. Upon noticing this, the yellow and green haired man chuckled silently before continuing on with his words.

"Though under normal circumstances it wouldn't be long enough to kill you, I also added a paralyzing potion on the bottom of my feet...which is now rushing through your veins." he continued as his foot pushed down harder.

"Though this isn't my style of killing someone...I couldn't help the need to watch you, Hitsugaya Toshiro, dying underneath my foot." Kageroza spoke as he twisted his foot into his opponent's wound.

"It should only take two or so minutes for you to die of blood loss, which is far less than how long I was prepared to watch. So this is a 'win-win' for me." he said with another chuckle.

Toshiro weakly ground his teeth as his eyes narrowed at Kageroza, much blood gushing from both his chest and mouth. Yet as this happened, reigai Kisuke chuckled lightly as he looked down at the white-haired captain. But when the blond spoke, he knelt down to his original's best friend and grabbed him by the throat tightly.

"It's a shame that you don't remember much right now. I'd love to see the expression on your face when we defeated you at your full power that you probably thought was unstoppable." 'Kisuke' began as he lifted Toshiro up slightly with his hand.

"You're nothing but a shadow of your true self...though I suppose this defeat will have to suffice." he continued with a smirk.

As reigai Kisuke spoke all this, reigai Aizen just smirked lightly, but then gave an even wider smirk as he glanced toward Kageroza. Whom of which had a nearly psychopathic expression on his face as he looked down at the dying Toshiro below him.

Yet as the icy captain's eyes began to slowly close, they reopened as he felt the pressure around his neck and chest leave. To which when he did, he saw five figures standing out in front of him and against Kageroza, reigai Aizen and reigai Kisuke. All three of which had their eyes narrowed on each of the five before they suddenly disappeared in shunpoes before any attack could be made.

Yet Kageroza's fleeing words made it obvious that their retreat wasn't for the reasons that everyone had been hoping for. "I have no time to waste in dealing with small fries like you."

After the three were gone, Toshiro's eyes shifted to each of the figures before him, his vision clearing up enough for him to make out their faces. The five that were in front of him were Ulquiorra, Gin, Grimmjow, Ashido and Kaien, all of whom had turned to him after making sure Kageroza was gone. Though the icy captain attempted to speak, all that came out was blood as he was still only moments from choking on his own gore.

Yet as Gin stepped forward and kneeled down to the icy captain, his usual smile wavered slightly upon looking in his eyes. "I neva expected to see ya like this." he started with a sigh and slight shake of his head.

"Not only are ya all but dead...but ya don' even rememba how much ya usually hate lil' ol' me." Gin finished as his grin returned fully.

Even as the silver haired man spoke, the bleeding in Toshiro's chest slowly began to stop, to which the icy captain noticed the presence of Nel, both of her fraccion and even the three Privaron Espada. All of whom were on the opposite side of him as the first four that arrived, but it was the green haired woman who pushed Gin away and looked at Toshiro with tear-filled eyes.

"Toshiro~! Don't die! You can't die! Nel won't let you!" she called out as she sniffed between each of her statements.

Though the white haired captain didn't recognize her, he couldn't help but almost smile at her as she continued to cry. Yet all the while, Toshiro was being healed by the combination of all the arrancar's reiatsu, which was allowing his regeneration powers to return. This making the icy captain blink his eyes briefly before taking in a shallow breath as to save himself from suffocating.

"But seriously...you had us worried there for a while. After Masaki called for us to head to Seireitei, all of us suddenly forgot about you all at once. Though Ulquiorra helped us remember who you were with his 'eye-thing'...I never imagined you'd be in 'this' state when we found you." Kaien said with a sigh and sweat drop toward the end.

"But it's not like I would have cared if you had died...we just agreed to come save you." Cirucci claimed as she turned to the side upon making eye contact with Toshiro.

"Don't let her fool you Niño, both she and Bebé over there were quite worried about your well-being." Dordoni informed as he pointed toward Nel as he said 'Bebé'.

"I was not! I simply didn't want our leader to be so weak and make me regret joining forces with him! And I'm already reconsidering if he lets his memory be erased and get defeated so easily." Cirucci said as she crossed her arms and huffed silently.

"I'm pretty sure that was Grimmjow's excuse. The rest of us came along 'cause were just a bit concerned...though you and Nelliel-sama were more than just a bit." Gantenbainne commented with a small smirk, him glancing over to the blue haired arrancar as he just huffed and turned away from everyone.

Though the dark skinned man's comment earned him a glare from the purple haired arrancar, Toshiro took on a weak smile as his wound was halfway healed and now felt very little pain. Yet as all this happened, the others around the icy captain just continued on as though they were at some leisure outing with friends.

"We just followed Nel-sama since she seemed very keen on getting to you as soon as possible." Pesche said with a shrug as he pointed to himself and Dondochakka with a thumb.

"We couldn't let her go alone-de ariusu!" the tiki-like mask wearer spoke in an almost desperate voice, which made everyone just roll their eyes or sigh.

"I apologize for the lateness of our arrival, Hitsugaya." Ulquiorra began as he walked up toward Toshiro, him stopping everyone from wanting to continue their own conversations.

"Though I had arrived here in Soul Society much sooner, upon seeing them becoming lost after losing their memory of you and your orders...I believed it was logical to return their memories so that we could move more efficiently as a large group." the pale arrancar continued as he kneeled down and even bowed his head lightly.

This action allowed Toshiro to notice that one of Ulquiorra's eyes was closed, yet from the small indent, it appeared that there was no eye beyond the lid. Yet despite this, the icy captain gave a weak nod to him as even though the faces of all the people around him seemed only slightly familiar, he could tell there was only truth in their eyes. Save for the silver haired man who spoke to him first, whom still never opened his eyes fully, nor had dropped his almost untrustworthy smile. Despite Ashido still not even saying a word, just the feel of his reiatsu seemed as though he were there to help the white-haired captain as much as Nel herself.

Yet upon looking to Gin once more, said man just grinned even wider when their eyes 'met'; "There's tha' look we all know an' fear." he said as if it were a joke.

Though Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly to this, his vision was blocked as once his chest was regenerated almost completely, Nel hugged his face into her chest. "Toshiro~! I'm so happy you're gonna be okay~! I don't want you to die~! You saved Nel and now Nel must save you~!" she called out as she released him slightly and gave a wide smile.

The white-haired captain let out a slightly strained breath as even though his body was healing, there was still some blood in his lungs. But he still managed to flex his hands, yet it was very weakly as the paralyzing poison was only now starting to leave his system thanks to his returning regeneration powers. This made many around him to sigh lightly in relief, but it was Ulquiorra that spoke up first in his usual emotionless voice.

"Although it will be from my perspective, it's likely that if I show you all the memories I have involving you, it may allow your own memories of the events to return." the very pale arrancar said as the indent in his eye lid began to fill out as his eye returned.

After his words, Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly before slowly nodding his head as he didn't trust himself to speak just yet, despite his wound now being fully healed. Immediately following his gesture, Ulquiorra took in a breath before his eye opened and revealed it to be fully regenerated. To which he had reached up and pulled it completely out of the socket and shattered it in his hand as though it were glass.

As Toshiro watched this happen, he had an odd feeling of nostalgia, as though he had seen this occur many times before. But as many images rushed though his mind, the icy captain closed his eyes and seemed to try to focus on them as much as possible. To which after a few moments, Toshiro's eyes snapped open and quickly narrowed them, his usual iciness returning as he did.

Though it appeared that his memories were now returned, when his expression turned to one of slight confusion as he looked to Seireitei, this was proved not to be the case. Yet the white-haired captain had turned his head to Ulquiorra and narrowed his eyes as he could only move the muscles in his neck at the moment.

"I can remember most of my life." he started in a coarse voice, some blood escaping his mouth as he spoke.

"There are still many holes in my story..." Toshiro continued, him having to pause as he had to hold back a cough so he wouldn't make more blood enter his lungs.

"...but I have enough to remember what I have to do now." he finished as his eyes closed once more before he seemed to literally force his body to stand up.

"Don't~!" Nel called out as she all but tackled him back to the ground as she nearly pouted to him once more.

"If you move now, you'll risk your wound opening up. It's only a temporary fix since we hollows have never actually used our reiatsu to restart another hollow's regeneration powers." the green haired woman stated, her voice still sounding almost as childish as it was back when she had been in the form to fit it.

"But it's better than the alternative." she continued in a near whisper as the faintest sign of red appeared on her cheeks after saying this.

The icy captain blinked for a moment to this before he wiped some blood away from his mouth; "And what would that have been?" he asked as he had to spit some blood out of his mouth so he wouldn't swallow any.

"Well...basically that." Nel said as she pointed toward the blood Toshiro spit out, to which the white-haired captain raised a brow in confusion.

"My saliva has healing properties...so if I drooling in your wound, it would have healed after a while." the hazel eyed woman said as she briefly looked away in what seemed to be embarrassment.

This made Toshiro blink once more and clear his throat from the small bit of blood bubbling up from his lungs, to which he spit that out as well. Yet rather than continuing with the current topic, he turned toward Kaien and spoke up with another raised brow. "I see...but then why didn't you use any healing kido?" he asked silently.

Whom of which just smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck; "Well...the truth is...I'm actually not very good with healing kido." he said, to which he groaned as he noticed a few raised brows directed toward him.

"I know...it's shocking, especially since I was the Lieutenant of the Captain that was sick more often than he was healthy." Kaien finished as he crossed his arms and huffed.

After his comment, Toshiro glanced to Ashido with a somewhat expecting expression, to which the red haired man just shrugged his shoulders and spoke silently. "I simply don't know any healing kido. I never learned any before I ended up trapped in Hueco Mundo."

Toshiro raised a brow to him briefly before he nodded in acceptance and turned his head back to Nel; "So how did you think of using your reiatsu like that in the first place?" he questioned quietly.

The green haired woman blinked to him for a moment before looking down as if in shame about what her next words would be; "It was Aizen Sosuke that developed the idea. He had us use it in order to gain supporters among the Vasto Lorde and Adjuchas that he wished to recruit."

"Though we had only used it on a select few, the result was the same each time." Ulquiorra added, both his tone and small amount of expression told that the result was a success.

"I see." Toshiro muttered as he closed his eyes and let out a breath before he looked to Nel.

"Well...regardless of that, I still have something I must do. And now that Hyorinmaru is gone...I'll truly have to use as much of my strength as possible." he continued as he eyes hardened and he started to stand up yet again.

Though Nel seemed to want to pull him back down, she simply helped him stay on his feet. To which she then smiled lightly to him; "I'll lend you my strength so you don't have to use as much of yours." she claimed.

Toshiro looked to her with a raised brow, but after Kaien walked up to his other side and took on a grin as he punched the white-haired captain's shoulder lightly. "Don't count me out either...you had Masaki call us here to assist you when the time is right, so here we are...and we don't plan on sitting on the sidelines from here on out." he stated as he brought his zanpakuto released trident onto his shoulder.

The icy captain blinked for a moment before he glanced around to most of he people around, to which he gained a small smirk. "Alright...but don't say I didn't warn you that it'll be dangerous." he said silently as Nel and Ashido had taken either of his arms over their shoulders.

The latter of which had taken on a nearly invisible smile as he helped Toshiro to walk forward; "Technically you didn't mention it until now." the red haired shinigami muttered in light amusement.

This made Toshiro chuckle as he looked down at his feet that were barely working due to the poison in his system. "Smart ass." he whispered as they moved toward the Seireitei.

All the while, Grimmjow sighed heavily and crossed his arms as he stayed in the back of the group. "Tch...about damn time. I thought they were going to talk forever." he growled out silently.

"This had better be worth it too. If this turns out to be an easy fight, I'm gonna take it out on that brown haired woman who sent us here." Grimmjow continued as he glanced to the side.

"That woman is Kurosaki Ichigo's mother and one of the last Quincy in existence. It would be wise to leave her alone." Ulquiorra spoke as he walked just a few paces ahead of the blue haired arrancar.

"Is that so?" Grimmjow began as he took on a grin, him looking to the side with this expression.

"Then that would make our fight all the more fun. I've been dying to have another fight with that orange haired bastard." he continued, clenching his hands into fists in the process.

"Well tha' woul' certainly make goo' entertainment." Gin started as he had seeming to just appeared next to Grimmjow without him even realizing.

"I woul' also suggest against it." he continued as his smile vanished and his eyes opened very slightly.

"She's not someone you should mess with." the silver haired shinigami finished, his accent seeming to almost be fully gone during his words.

This made a shiver run up Grimmjow's spine, yet he just shook this off and kept his grin on his features. "We'll just see about that." was all he said as he unconsciously quickened his pace to get away from Gin.

Whom of which just closed his eyes and regained his smile; "Indeed we shall."


	144. Chapter 144

**Chapter 144:**

-Across Seireitei-

Tia slashed her weapon toward Aizen, yet even after he dodged, a huge wave of water hurled toward him with great speed and force. But the brown haired man easily swiped his katana through it and allowed the water to pass to either side him. Yet despite this attack failing, Coyote had appeared beside him and pointed a gun at point blank range to his head.

Though Aizen had ducked under this attack, the Head Captain instantly came forward and stabbed him through the chest. But moments before blood should have gushed from the wound, the brown haired man's image shattered. To which the elder man's head turned toward Tia and Coyote just off to the side, both of whom had rushed quickly to the right as he had made his attack against 'Aizen'. This making Yamamoto narrow his eyes as the pair seemed to be attacking the air, yet he then clenched his teeth tightly when Aizen's form slowly began to show in his vision.

'I see...so his complete hypnosis only works on those that he had shown his Shikai up until the point that Kageroza had taken his reiatsu.' the Head Captain thought to himself silently.

All the while, Coyote had pointed both his guns at Aizen and shot thousands of ceros toward him. Tia however had jumped high into the air, raised her weapon up in the air and began gathering an enormous amount of water at the tip. Yet as the brown haired shinigami continued to dodge out of the way of the ceros, he took the time to glance up at the blond arrancar with a confident smirk.

But when the Head Captain suddenly slammed his zanpakuto into the ground, he created a circle of fire around Aizen. This made said man to raise a brow in question as not even Coyote's ceros could get through the flames that surrounded him. Yet Aizen still remained calm as he decided to look up at what appeared to be a slightly confused Tia as she had continued to gather water.

"What are you planning Head Captain?" Aizen muttered to himself silently with a raised brow.

A few moments after his words, Tia swung her weapon downward, to which all the water gathered hurled down at the brown haired reigai. This torrent of water being as large as a house as it descended toward Aizen, whom just watched it come at him with a raised brow and small smirk.

"Do you really think that you can blind me with steam?" he questioned quietly as he sliced the water in half with a single swipe of his blade.

Once he did this, all the water had splashed down into the flames and created a huge amount of steam, to which Aizen could barely even see his own hand as it raised up. But as his katana's blade began to glow faintly, he slashed it across the air quickly and rather effortlessly. This had blasted a large amount of wind around him and blew all of the steam away from him in the blink of an eye.

Yet as this happened, Aizen's eyes widened slightly as he saw the Head Captain just a few feet away and his zanpakuto drawn back and over his head. Just as he was about to move, the elder man just smirked as Tia had blasted water against his back, preventing him from moving backward. But Aizen also couldn't move to either side as an endless amount of blue and grey colored wolves had bit down on his limbs and exploded on both sides.

"Taimatsu." the Head Captain muttered before swinging his katana forward and blasting a huge wave of fire at Aizen.

Whom of which became even more wide-eyed as his body was engulfed in the huge inferno, him clenching his teeth tightly as it burned his flesh to ash. Yet the process didn't last very long as before his body could be completely reduced to nothing, the reiatsu holding the reigai together just diminished and he turned to dust.

Though each of the three watching this had obviously defeated their opponent, all of them had their eyes narrowed heavily to the ashes that was reigai Aizen's clothes. The Head Captain stepped forward and looked down at the remains for a moment before looking forward; "He let us win." was all he said, him saying exactly what the other two fighters were thinking.

"But why? What would he gain from sacrificing himself?" Tia questioned silently as she looked toward the Twelfth Division as if mentally making that place her next destination.

"Well...how many reigai can be made through one sample of reiatsu?" Coyote asked back as he glanced between the two near of him.

Immediately after his words, both the Head Captain and Tia became wide-eyed for a brief moment before heavily narrowing them. Yet once they turned their attention toward the Twelfth, all three of them paused when Shunsui and Jushiro appeared only a few yards away. This made Tia to shift into a defensive position, Coyote to point either of his gun toward the pair and the Head Captain to re-close his eyes.

"Looks like we arrived just in time, huh?" reigai Shunsui muttered as his eyes began to glow blue and sparked with a strange electricity.

"It appears so." the white haired reigai began as both he and his comrade brought out their zanpakuto and released them in their Shikai forms.

"Genryusai-sensei...we're going to make sure that you and your arrancar allies don't get in the way." reigai Jushiro spoke as he and Shunsui took a step forward.

Though the two arrancar had prepared themselves to fight, the Head Captain stepped a head of them both, his eyes never leave the reigai's. "Leave these two to me. Hurry to the Twelfth Division, stop Kageroza and whatever Aizen might have been up to. I will join you shortly." the elder man ordered, yet his voice had more of an asking tone than a demanding one.

Coyote and Tia glanced to one another for a moment, yet they merely nodded their heads and vanished in sonidos. Despite Shunsui turning around to give chase, he was stopped from moving any further as the Head Captain was already in front of him and behind Jushiro. Whom of which blinked in surprise before smiling lightly as he turned himself around; "As expected of Genryusai-sensei...he is still probably the fastest in all of Soul Society." the white haired reigai said with a light sigh in the beginning.

"Yare yare Yama-jii, you're really not going to make this easy for us, are you?" Shunsui muttered out with a grin as he tilted his head down slightly.

"I don't recall either of you ever being able to come close to striking me down during any of our training spars." Yamamoto claimed as he held his katana out in front of him with one hand.

"True, but we're only here to make sure you don't get in the way. Killing you would simply be a nice bonus." the brown haired reigai stated as he brought his hat back up so he could look at his opponent with somewhat cold and calculating eyes.

"Hmph...you know that neither of you are strong enough to defeat me." the Head Captain countered as his eyes opened and they narrowed slightly on the two.

"Well...you are one of the only two people in all of Soul Society that could handle either of our Bankais." Jushiro started with a small smile; "But then...even you've never fought both of us at once with our Bankais active." he finished as he inched forward.

"Indeed...but neither of you can use them without hurting each other. Plus, there is only one that is able to withstand my Bankai." the elder man began as he brought his blade up so the tip pointed at a spot directly between the two reigai.

"And it isn't either of you." he finished before his katana was engulfed in flames, which had shot out toward reigai Jushiro and Kyoraku.

Both of the two had quickly dodged out of the way, them going in separate directions before they charged toward the Head Captain from either side. "True...but that's why you're not going to use it! You're too soft!" the white haired reigai claimed as he and his comrade continued forward, their blades at the ready.

Yet as they came forward, Yamamoto just slashed his blade across the air, parallel to the ground, causing another huge wave of fire to blast at his opponents. Whom of which had taken alternate ways of dodging, Shunsui jumping over the flames, while Jushiro slid under them with ease. But the moment that the pair reached their target, a huge blast of reiatsu knocked them back and even burned some of their exposed skin.

Once reigai Shunsui and reigai Jushiro landed a few yards away, they narrowed their eyes on the Head Captain as his body was surrounded in his flame-like reiatsu. Though the two had taken a few steps back, the heat radiating off Yamamoto was severely intense and made them both start sweating.

"Yikes...still just as scary as I remember. But then I don't intend to die just yet." the brown haired reigai muttered with a sigh as he took off his hat and pink kimono.

"Looks like we're going to have to create a new strategy to beat him." Jushiro said, him whipping some sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand before bringing his blades out in front of him.

Once the two reigai appeared ready to attack once more, Yamamoto just took a few steps forward and blasted a large ball of fire toward them. "How naive." he had said in the process of his actions.

But as the fire came toward the pair, reigai Shunsui stepped backward and to the side as he prepared to shunpo. All the while, reigai Jushiro brought one of his blades out and absorbed the fire into it, to which he blasted it directly back at the Head Captain, but with even greater speed. Though the elder shinigami had sidestepped out of the way from this, he then brought his blade to the left side and blocked a slashing strike from Shunsui as he appeared there.

"There isn't a single strategy either of you could create that I cannot reduce to ash." the Head Captain continued as he pushed Shunsui away with a mere swing of his blade.

Upon sending the brown haired reigai flying back, Yamamoto turned his attention to Jushiro as he came charging toward him, to which he just sent a large wall of fire at him. But once the white haired reigai brought his blade up to absorb the flames, they suddenly disbursed and revealed the Head Captain, whom punched his shocked opponent across the face. This blow blasting reigai Jushiro backward so far that he collided with an untouched building many yards away, effectively bringing it to ruble after impact.

Then as Yamamoto turned to the side, he noticed reigai Shunsui appear next to him, to which he immediately shunpoed out of the way when he saw the brown haired man mutter; "Black."

But due to the Head Captain already being out of the way, all tha happened was a small, yet deep cut appearing on Yamamoto's chest that Shunsui managed to cut when he swung one of his blades. Yet the reigai's eyes widened when the voice of Yamamoto was heard from behind him; "White."

This single word was quickly followed by a large gash across Shunsui's back and then a swift and strong kick to the spine, which had knocked the reigai straight into the remains of a fallen spire. Once the Head Captain landed his foot on the ground, he easily stepped to the side as he dodged away from a thrusting attack by Jushiro. Whom had then ducked under a quick slash from his opponent, but then immediately rolled away when the old man stabbed the ground in the spot his head would have been.

Yet when both the reigai appeared above Yamamoto with their blades coming down directly at him, large towers of fire erupted around the elder man and cause the two to shunpo away. Once they appeared far off to the side, they waited for the flames to die down before they readied themselves to fight once more.

"Challenging him up close is next to impossible, but there is no other way for us to defeat him." reigai Jushiro muttered with a heavy breath, both him and his comrade being slightly out of breath from the battle thus far.

"Ah...especially since neither of us can match him in terms of kido." reigai Shunsui muttered with a light nod.

"He did teach us everything we know about it after all." the white haired man said as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Enough words." was all Yamamoto stated before he shunpoed only a few feet in front of the two, to which their eyes briefly widened as the ground under their feet began to crack.

Yet even as the two managed to shunpo away, the fire that blasted out of the ground had burned both of their feet so heavily that they could barely walk. This seeming to make the Head Captain frown a bit; "I expected more from the two of you." was all he said before he brought his katana up into the air.

But just before he could swing his blade down at the two reigai, the Head Captain immediately shunpoed out of the way from a large red blast of spirit energy. As this kido made contact with a building a few dozen yards away, the resulting explosion caused a huge percussion wave. Though it wasn't enough to effect the Head Captain as he appeared off to the side, his eyes narrowed once more as he saw the reigai of Retsu standing near of her comrades. Both of whom had been concealed within large green cubes as they were being healed; "Sorry Head Captain...but time is running out. So we must eliminate you now." the raven haired woman spoke in a soft, yet almost cruel voice.

"Hmph...you can't kill me fast enough, if at all. I haven't been the Head Captain for a thousand years for nothing, you should know that better than anyone." the old man claimed as he shifted his body to the side and formed a circle of fire around him that reached his knees.

"Indeed I do. Of course...even if we can't kill you, the least we will do is bide time for Kageroza to complete his objective. At which time, even you will be destroyed...along with the rest of Soul Society." reigai Retsu countered as she brought her hands out toward the Head Captain, the green cubes disappearing and revealing reigai Jushiro and reigai Shunsui with their bodies and reiatsu restored.

"And since you're all alone...there is no way for you to defeat us fast enough to stop the end from coming." she continued as she brought her hands out, to which a huge blue bolt of electricity fired from them and toward the Head Captain.

Though Yamamoto had easily sliced this kido in half, his eyes briefly widened when all three of the reigai had appeared within a few feet of him. But just before they could continue on, a huge flash of pure white kido blasted toward the three, causing each of the reigai to shunpo out of the way. Once the kido subsided slightly, it revealed Rangiku with a grin on her face and her Shunko active as she crossed her arms under her chest.

"Who said he was alone?" she asked as the real Shunsui, Jushiro, Byakuya and Komamura all appeared near of her and Yamamoto.

"Sorry for not following your orders Head Captain...but I figured that it would be best to bring in our own reinforcements." the strawberry blond continued as she kept her eyes narrowed on the reigai in front of her.

"But I did already send all the rest of the Captains after Kageroza...of course I put the Lieutenants out to rescue everyone still alive and get them evacuated to the Fourth." Rangiku finished quickly, her sounding as though she were giving a report in a meeting.

"I didn't expect you to follow my orders completely anyway, but you have bought us more time." the Head Captain spoke as he briefly turned his head toward the Twelfth Division.

"We must defeat these reigai now with our full strength...there is no time to lose!" he continued in an ordering tone as each of the real shinigami readied their blades.

But after he called this out, reigai Retsu just chuckled lightly as she narrowed her eyes on the Head Captain. "Hmph...no matter how fast you kill us, you'll still never make it in time to stop him." is all she said as she grabbed her zanpakuto and unsheathed it.

"We were sent here on a suicide mission anyway." the black haired woman continued as her eyes turned cold and her expression turned almost maniac-like.

Yet just as she was about to speak, her body was surrounded by fire that came out of the ground, causing the other two reigai to shunpo out of the way. Reigai Retsu just gave a smirk from within the flames as she stepped out, much of her skin and clothes being burned away. This allowing everyone to see parts of her skeleton and even some of her insides as much of her body remained on fire.

All the while, she continued to have a lunatic grin on her face as flames died out and her body literally seemed to be regenerating on its own. Which had made many of the people in the area to become wide-eyed at the sight, while the others simply had their eyes narrowed with a look that showed none of them wanted to get in the way. Yet before the reigai of Retsu could continue to heal, another blast of fire erupted from the ground and engulfed her once more. Despite this, the raven haired woman still continued to walk forward, her being completely unrecognizable as her skin had all but been burned away.

But before she could bring her heavily burned arm up that held her seemingly untouched zanpakuto, the reiatsu holding her body together finally gave out and she was reduced to ash. Once she was gone, everyone finally snapped out of the shocked daze that they had been under upon seeing this display. To which they turned to the Head Captain as he had his blade stuck in the ground, him pulling it out after seeing all of the stares he was receiving.

"Finish the other two off...now." Yamamoto ordered as he didn't seem to care that a rather horrifying truth had been revealed about the Captain of the Fourth Division.

Though many of the shinigami had wanted to question the elder man, they all just turned to the remaining two reigai and charged toward them. Yet as they did, the Head Captain had turned his head slightly as he saw Toshiro standing on the remains of a building nearby. To which the two shared a hard stare with each other, but the old man simply shifted his gaze back to the shinigami fighting against the outnumbered reigai.

Despite the icy captain's eyes remaining narrowed on his superior, he eventually evaded his eyes away and turned to Kaien and Ashido. Whom of which were with the others on the other side of the destroyed building Toshiro was standing on. Yet he merely gave them a nod before all of them vanished in their own unique movements, to which the Head Captain glanced back at where they had been.

"The end is coming." he muttered silently before he disappeared.


	145. Chapter 145

**Chapter 145:**

-Near the Twelfth Division-

Toshiro arrived in a shunpo on the roof of a reishi covered building, him narrowing his eyes on the halfway destroyed area before him. Yet he then glanced over to Ulquiorra as he appeared beside him; "Everyone is in place." was all the pale arrancar said as his gaze turned from the icy captain to the building in front of them.

"I guess we better get to it." Toshiro said silently as his eyes narrowed a bit more, him placing an ice-covered hand to his chest as the paralyzing poison still made him feel a bit dizzy.

'Though it was a bit bizarre of how we all came together here in different ways and objectives. It looks like we now have the upper hand...even if my full strength or memories haven't returned just yet.' he thought to himself with a quiet sigh.

'Of course just speaking with Yoruichi really helped with recovering some of my other memories...though I could have done without some of them.' Toshiro reasoned with a groan before closing his eyes.

'But regardless of that...from what Rangiku told Soifon, Kageroza was heading here to get something that was being delivered to him. Then Harribel and Starrk told me that the reigai of Aizen is also plotting something that is probably within the main building of the Twelfth.' he continued, as if repeating something he just heard.

'It's good that the Head Captain ordered most of the other captains, all of the lieutenants, the former Privaron Espada and even Ashido to help clean up Seireitei, but...' Toshiro pondered as he looked over toward the elder man far off to the side.

'...him being here personally is just as dangerous as leaving the Eleventh and Second Division to guard the Fourth. Unohana is bound to finish treating the wounded very soon and quite quickly find Kenpachi...the cause of most of her work load...right at her doorstep.' he thought with a sweat drop.

'But I guess it's no less strange than having Gin and Nel leading _his_ old squad and _her_ fraccion to the opposite side of Seireitei with a very non-compliant Grimmjow.' the white-haired captain mused before his sweat drop became even heavier.

'Kurosaki was right...we really aren't as 'organized' as we lead on to be.' he continued before shaking his head lightly of this thought.

'But whatever the case...if we play our plan out correctly, then we should be able to stop both of them in one go. Especially if what I saw in Kageroza's chest was really a Hogyoku made in the same fashion as Aizen's original.' Toshiro contemplated in his mind, yet he then glanced toward Ulquiorra as said arrancar just stood there silently with an almost questioning expression on his nearly blank face.

Toshiro just cleared his throat and took a step forward, to which he gave Ulquiorra a light nod, whom vanished in a sonido and reappeared near of the open Twelfth Division gates. Which were filled to the brim with grey colored, solid reishi that appeared to be fully concreted into the building around it. Ulquiorra simply looked up at this for a moment before raising his hand up and pointed a single finger to the reishi wall. A brief few seconds after doing this, a large green cero charged at the tip of his finger, to which it fired out and blasted a hole through the reishi.

Once the pale arrancar saw that the hole he made lead all the way inside the building, he glanced to the side and gave a nod before sonidoing away. To which Mayuri took his place and brought out his zanpakuto; "Bankai." he said silently before his whole body began to glow a brilliant red.

"Are you sure about this?" Yoruichi questioned as she walked up beside the icy captain, her leaving Kisuke, Kukaku and Kaien behind as they each continued to stay hidden behind the building for an ambush.

As Toshiro glanced to her, he gave a nod in response and glanced back toward Mayuri as his bizarre, caterpillar-like Bankai appeared behind its owner. But as the strange creature leaned forward and began to breath out a huge amount of purple colored gas, the white-haired captain turned back to his tan friend.

"Whether it's Kageroza or Aizen, neither of them will take any chances when it comes to Mayuri's poison...he's too unpredictable." Toshiro stated as he glanced toward the Fourth Division out in the distance.

"And since Rukia did mention that one of her friends were inside with Kageroza, I made sure that Mayuri had an antidote." he continued as the baby-faced Bankai had eventually just vanished and its owner turned around.

"The entire division should be infected by now...so hurry along with this plan of yours, I need to get my division back to normal so I can continue with my own research!" the orange eyed captain declared in an annoyed tone before vanishing in a shunpo to no one but him knew.

"Jeez...quite touchy isn't he?" Senna muttered as she jumped up to the top of the building along side Yoruichi and Toshiro.

The latter of which looked to her with a raised brow before letting out a sigh; "I thought I told you to stay with Kurosaki, Orihime and Rukia at the Fourth." he said silently.

"How could we? Even though we do want to make sure that Rukia will be okay...we want to help out." the purple-haired girl claimed with a pout.

Toshiro just raised his brow even higher to her and crossed his arms; "'We'?" he echoed back as he tapped an icy finger on his arm.

Once he said this, Senna blinked and cleared her throat as she glanced to the side; "Well...you can't really stop Ichigo when he makes a promise with Rukia to save her friend from Kageroza." she whispered silently.

Immediately after her words, Toshiro turned back to the hole in the reishi within the gate, him seeing Ichigo appear only a few yards in front of it. This caused the icy captain to merely sigh heavily and give Senna a brief shake of his head before shunpoing next to the orange haired teen.

"You better not plan on going in there right now." was all he said, this nearly scaring Ichigo from the suddenness of his appearance.

"Whoa! You really need to wear a bell or something. You nearly gave me a heart attack." Ichigo exclaimed with a heavy breath.

Toshiro glanced to him with a raised brow before just smirking lightly; "I tried...it still didn't work." he muttered in tone that made it hard to tell if he was being honest or simply sarcastic.

The orange-haired teen let out a breath and gripped his still Bankai released katana a bit tighter; "Well...whatever, I'm going in there to rescue Rukia's friend...I gave her my word I wouldn't let anything happen to him." he stated with much conviction in his tone.

"I can respect that...but you still have to wait three minutes for the poison to settle, otherwise...you'll be no better off in there than Kageroza." the white-haired captain said as his eyes narrowed, him sensing the approach of multiple people from within the building.

"I know...but won't it kill anyone else that happened to have gotten trapped inside?" Ichigo questioned as he kept his eyes on the hole in the reishi.

"The poison isn't meant to kill, it's supposed to paralyze the body to the extent that without the antidote, they'll never move again. But I made sure that Mayuri made enough for an entire division, just in case." Toshiro said as he could tell that there were four beings in total that were coming toward them.

Ichigo blinked to him for a moment before giving a light nod, to which the white-haired captain glanced to the teen with a small smirk as he immediately imagined Isshin in Ichigo's place. 'So much like his father.' was all he thought of as he turned his head toward the dark hole.

But then Toshiro's eyes widened heavily when he felt that there were exactly four beings walking out, but they all shared the same reiatsu. This making Toshiro grind his teeth in response; "You self-absorbed bastard." he muttered in a growl, the dizziness from the poison seeming to vanish under the icy captain's boiling anger.

Immediately after his comment, Ichigo glanced over to him with a raised brow before becoming wide-eyed as four reigais of Aizen Sosuke came walking out of the building. Though each of them had similar smirks on their expressions, all of the Aizens were looking in different directions. To which they had all surveyed the area carefully and stopped just a few yards in front of Toshiro and Ichigo.

"Five minutes." one of them said silently as he looked to the left, where he saw Coyote, Tia and the latter's fraccion as they walked over the ruble of the buildings they were hiding behind.

"It's more than enough time." another commented as he glanced toward Yoruichi and Senna still standing atop the building many yards away in front of him.

"I'll take the Head Captain." the third Aizen spoke as he turned his head to the right and to the elder man on top of a roof opposite of the two former espada.

"And I'll keep Hitsugaya busy." the last of the four said as he stepped forward and unsheathed his zanpakuto.

All the while, the icy captain grabbed both of his blades and brought them forward with heavily narrowed eyes. But just as the Aizen that had said he would keep Toshiro busy was going to take another step, the white-haired captain suddenly vanished and appeared before him. Yet just before Toshiro could swing his katanas at the brown-haired reigai, said being immediately shunpoed away.

Once Toshiro gave chase each of the other three Aizens shunpoed toward their own targets. One going for the Head Captain, whom just seemed to wait for the reigai to come to him as he brought his blade out in front of him. Another had gone directly for Coyote and Tia, but had been stopped when Ulquiorra appeared near of him and attempted to slash him with his own unsheathed katana. While the last had shunpoed to Yoruichi, whom just took on a grin as Kisuke blocked the brown haired reigai's strike and countered with his own thrusting attack.

But the moment each of the Aizens clashed with their respectful targets, their opponents themselves seemed to notice something a bit odd about the reigai. Yet it was Toshiro that voiced out the conclusion that each of the others had eventually drawn; "These reigai are far weaker than the original!"

"Hmph...stretch your reiatsu out a bit too much?" Kisuke asked with a smirk as he and the reigai had their blades pressed together.

"Perhaps...but I figured that quantity would give me more of an advantage than quality for what I want to do." the Aizen before the blond spoke with a returning smirk.

"And since we only need five minutes...I'd say that this will give me enough time." the brown haired reigai in front of Ulquiorra said before shunpoing out of the way of a cero from Coyote's gun.

"Plus the fact that we can still use our Shikai still gives us a bit of an upper hand." reigai Aizen spoke as the one before the Head Captain took on a wider smirk as he stood a few yards away from the old shinigami.

Immediately following this comment, Toshiro pushed the reigai away from him as they had their blades locked. He then looked over to Tia's fraccion and called out to them; "All of you go to Yoruichi and Kisuke to keep track of Aizen's movements!"

After his words, he then looked to Kaien and pointed toward the Head Captain, to which the raven-haired Shiba gave a nod in response before shunpoing toward Yamamoto. But once he saw Senna and Ichigo charging toward the reigai in front of him, he held out a hand to them and narrowed his eyes heavily. "Both of you stay out of this! Make sure that Kageroza doesn't take this time to escape!" he ordered out, to which the two just gave a light nod in response and turned back to the hole in the reishi.

Then just as Toshiro deflected Aizen's blade and sent him to the side, he turned to the side to call Kukaku over for help. Yet said woman had already appeared behind him and blocked a follow up slash from Aizen with a very powerful spinning kick. But the force of her kick had not only blocked the reigai's attack, but it had knocking him backward many yards before he could stop. This made Toshiro smirk lightly and turn to Kukaku with a light sigh; "I guess giving you orders is pretty much useless." he muttered silently with a bit of amusement in his tone.

"What makes you think that?" she questioned with a lightly sarcastic tone as Toshiro walked up beside her and faced the reigai before them.

"Hmph...I suppose the last four minutes will be pretty tough." reigai Aizen muttered silently as he charged forward.

Yet before he could get too far, Kukaku appeared behind him and swung a powerful kick toward his head. Though the brown-haired reigai ducked under the attack, he was quickly faced with the edge of Toshiro's blade as it swung right toward his eyes. To which he shunpoed quickly away, but immediately after landing, Aizen was kicked hard in the back by Kukaku.

Upon impact the reigai was sent flying forward and directly toward one of Toshiro's katanas, yet Aizen managed to spin himself away from the tip of the blade. Though his momentum slowed down in doing this, he wasn't able to stop himself completely. Causing the reigai to bend himself backward enough for his body to pass under Toshiro's spinning blade.

Just as Aizen took on a small smirk from all this, he brought both his upper body and zanpakuto up to block Kukaku's strike from above. Yet the force of her attack made his eyes widen slightly as he fell backward onto the ground, to which he just closed his eyes when the saw Toshiro's blades coming down to his chest.

"Two and a half minutes left." another one of the reigai Aizen's whispered as he watched his fellow reigai die at the dual blades of the white-haired captain.

Yet even as Aizen turned his head back to Ulquiorra, he tilted his head to the side when a large yellow cero passed by. This blast had singed some of the reigai's brown hair and allowed the pale arrancar before him to send a thrusting attack toward his face. But just as he swung his katana across to knock the blade away, his hand was shot to the opposite side as a blue cero hit it with expert precision.

This making the reigai narrow his eyes as he brought his free hand up and caught Ulquiorra's blade, yet it slid through his hand and sliced his hand open. But Aizen's action allowed him to duck his head away from the pale arrancar's attack, which missed him by centimeters. To which the reigai then used his momentum to spin himself around, his katana aimed toward Ulquiorra's head as his grip on the arrancar's blade dragged him forward.

Though Ulquiorra pulled his blade away, he had already been pulled too far toward Aizen to move away fast enough. Yet the reigai's attack was stopped as Tia appeared before him with her own weapon, which had a yellow glow on it. Upon seeing this, Aizen immediately shunpoed away just as a large cero fired from the blond's weapon.

But just as he appeared to the side, the brown-haired reigai's eyes widened heavily as the barrel of Coyote's gun was placed against the back of his head. Despite this, Aizen just froze in place as his eyes closed before his head was disintegrated by the arrancar's powerful cero.

"One minute and forty seconds." the third reigai of Aizen muttered as he had watched this death of his comrade, to which he looked to the Head Captain and Kaien with a heavy breath of exhaustion.

"Too bad...I thought I would be able to last longer against you two than this." the reigai continued before his feet seemed almost glued to the ground as water surrounded them, to which his body was soon engulfed in flames and was reduced to ash.

"Looks like without your Shikai or full power in effect...you're not as good as you'd like to think." Kisuke claimed as he grinned at the last remaining reigai.

Whom of which was on one of his knees with a single arm completely sliced off, which was bleeding heavily. Yet the one that had done this wasn't Kisuke, the blood stained blade belonging to Sung-Sun, whom was smirking proudly toward her two arrancar comrades. Both of whom were yelling at the silently gloating, green haired woman as she made mention of her being the one to 'disarm' Aizen Sosuke without the assistance of her 'dull' colleagues. All the while, Kisuke just chuckled to this and looked to the reigai and stepped toward him; "I didn't expect you to loose so easily. You really must have stretched your reiatsu if one of them could catch you." the blond whispered with a quick and almost nervous glance toward the three arrancar as they continued their argument.

But Aizen just chuckled lightly and shrugged his only remaining shoulder; "Well...I can still distract you...for a few seconds more. Before you find out what I really had planned." he claimed, him breathing heavily between each pause.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Kisuke asked as Yoruichi jumped into the air from behind him, her making a downward kick aiming toward the reigai's head.

"I've never been known to be insane, so I just did the next best thing for my revenge." were the words reigai Aizen spoke before the purple-haired woman's attack finished him off.

Though the threat of Aizen seemed to be over, the reigai's final words seemed to worry him slightly as his gaze turned toward Toshiro as he came walking over.

"Why was he trying to stop us for only two extra minutes that we would have been able to get inside in the first place?" the icy captain questioned with narrowed eyes as he glanced toward the hole in the reishi filled gateway.

"I don't know...but we better find out." was all Kisuke said before he, Yoruichi, Kukaku, Ichigo and Senna all vanished and headed inside the building.

Toshiro glanced back to the Head Captain and gave a light nod; "We'll take it from here. Head to Sogyoku Hill...if Kageroza has already escaped, then that's where he's going." was all the white-haired captain said before shunpoing through the hole that lead into the Twelfth Division.

After Toshiro caught up with the others, they rushed through the facility's main hallway, to which all of them immediately noticed that Kageroza's presence was nowhere to be found. This making the icy captain glance over to each of the woman and give a nod, to which they each returned the gesture and took a separate direction when the path split apart four different ways. Yoruichi taking the farthest right path, Senna going down the one just beside of it and Kukaku rushing through the path left of the main hall, which the remaining three continued on down. But as Toshiro, Kisuke and Ichigo continued, the two former felt a pair of fading reiatsus ahead of them, but one of them was approaching faster than the other.

'The closest one must be the soul that Rukia had wanted us to rescue. And judging by the feel of the second, it must be the original reigai of Aizen.' Toshiro thought to himself as he and the other two rushed forward.

The icy captain then turned to look at Ichigo and Kisuke and narrowed his eyes slightly; "Get him out of here." was all he said as he reached into his haori pocket and tossed a small vile of blue fluid to Kisuke.

Said blond looked to his friend for a moment before giving him a light nod and leading Ichigo down an intersecting path. The orange haired teen giving Toshiro a brief, but hard stare before following along with Kisuke quickly. Once the icy captain was sure that they were gone, he slowed his pace down and turned his narrowed eyes toward a door in the opposite direction of where the other two had just gone.

Toshiro took in a breath before he shunpoed to the door and knocked it down with a quick kick, to which he immediately readied for an ambush. But when nothing came, the white-haired captain blinked for a moment, yet stayed on his guard when he stepped in the dark room. Though as he walked forward, he could hear the sound of a single computer running, to which his eyes narrowed and followed the noise.

Once he turned a corner around a line of other computers, his eyes widened briefly when he saw reigai Aizen laying face down on the floor. Though he glanced around as if waiting for yet another ambush, he was almost disappointed when nothing happened. To which Toshiro then walked over to the reigai and kicked him over onto his back, yet quickly regretted it when he saw the smug smirk on Aizen's features.

"He he...how ironic..." the brown haired man muttered before coughing out blood; "...I never would have thought of such a simple solution for getting rid of you if it wasn't for you killing my original."

As he listened to this, Toshiro narrowed his eyes even more on Aizen, yet he never let his guard down just in case. But it dropped immediately when he took a glance at the computer screen and became wide-eyed at what was on it.

"I hope you say your goodbyes soon...cause they'll be on their way soon." was the last thing the reigai said before Toshiro's blade stabbed into his chest and caused him to vanish into dust.

All the while, Toshiro ground his teeth tightly in anger as he even sliced the computer in half, the last thing legible on it were the words; 'Application Accepted'.


	146. Chapter 146

**Chapter 146:**

As Toshiro and the group he came with gathered on the outside of the gate, each of them looked toward Shizuku, whom was swung over Ichigo's shoulder. "Is he still alive?" the icy captain questioned with a raised brow.

"Yeah...Urahara-san checked his vitals over and it looks like Kageroza didn't get to complete the experiment he set up." the orange-haired teen spoke with a light nod at the start.

"Apparently he was trying to duplicate the powers that the hollow possessing him and his sister have. But it looks like we pressured him too much, so he abandoned the project and just disappeared." Kisuke spoke with a shrug.

Toshiro raised a brow in question toward to the blond with the obvious question that everyone was wondering. To which Kisuke just chuckled lightly and adjusted his hat on his head as he continued on; "I recognize the reiatsu that he has...it was that same one that I felt many years ago when I was researching a strange type of hollow that had a scythe on the end of its serpent-like body."

Many of the people gathered gave a nod in response, but then each of the men turned to the woman with questioning expressions. This making them glance to one another and nod as Yoruichi took the lead; "I didn't find a single trace of him, he definitely wasn't anywhere near of where I went."

"Same here...though I did feel a few small traces of his reiatsu, it was too old to be significant." Senna said with a silent sigh and shrug.

"Yeah...well I found a very strong residue of his reiatsu that must have been left there only a couple minutes before I arrived." Kukaku began as she pointed to herself proudly.

But then her expression became serious as she turned to Toshiro and narrowed her eyes slightly; "But I also felt another reiatsu in the same place, very similar to Kageroza's but it wasn't him. And it could only be felt in the room I found it in...so there is no sign of it going anywhere but out." she finished as she waited for either Toshiro or Kisuke to figure out what it could mean.

Though the icy captain and the blond shop owner gave one another a glance, they both just gave a light shrug in response before turning their gazes to Sokyoku hill. To which the latter of the two spoke up with a serious tone; "Whoever it may be, the best place for them to fulfill Kageroza's plan is up there."

"It over looks the rest of Seireitei...so it's the ideal place to destroy Soul Society." Yoruichi muttered with a nod of agreement to Kisuke.

"Right...we better get moving." Senna stated with a grin as she stepped forward, but was immediately blocked as Toshiro put his ice-covered hand out.

"No...you and Kurosaki are going back to the Fourth. We're dealing with something that is likely out of both of your leagues, plus we can't risk him losing too much of his reiatsu." the white-haired captain said as he gestured to Ichigo at the end of his words.

"Y-Yeah...but..." Senna began, but never finished as her orange-haired friend placed a hand to her shoulder.

"Come on Senna...though I don't want to be out of the fight any more than you do, but we do need to know when we have to step aside." Ichigo said with an encouraging nod to her.

Senna gave a heavy sigh to this before giving him a light nod; "Oh alright." she began with a light pout.

"Jeez...who would have ever thought that I would need to be told off by you." the orange-eyed girl continued in a huff.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Ichigo demanded as he raised a fist to his friend.

"Hmph...you're supposed to be the wiser one, you tell me." Senna responded, neither her or Ichigo realizing that Toshiro and the others had already left them behind when their arguing began.

-Sokyoku Hill-

As the white-haired captain and the others appeared near the stairway, they immediately felt a surge of reiatsu that seemed almost the same as Kageroza's, yet it wasn't at all. To which each them turned to Kukaku as she gave a light nod; "That's exactly the reiatsu I felt when I was in that room." she stated before each them shunpoed quickly up the stairs.

But the moment they reached the top and looked to the other side of the hill, they saw the figures of Tia's fraccion and even Kaien laying on the ground. Yet a few yards off to the side, the blond-haired arrancar could be seen with Coyote, Ulquiorra and the Head Captain. The former two of which seemed slightly out of breath, while the pale arrancar was now in his first release form and was standing like a statue on the hill.

Though each of the groups' eyes were fully narrowed on the green-haired figure in front of the Head Captain, said elder man appeared fully calm and his eyes barely open. Toshiro noticed this right away before shunpoing to Yamamoto's side; "Do you know him?" he asked silently as he stared at the person before them.

He shared a very close resemblance to Kageroza, but with solid green hair that was a few inches shorter and a much more youthful appearance. But the more Toshiro looked at him, the more he saw the features of the girl he had taken to the Kurosaki Clinic. Yet he immediately turned away as the Head Captain gave the icy captain a nod, but never took his eyes away from the man in front of him.

"Yes...and you should as well. He was in your division first after all." Yamamoto said as he briefly turned his gaze over to Toshiro.

Whom of which blinked his eyes in response to this, him turning back to the green-haired man and narrowing his eyes. Yet when it appeared that he didn't recognize the person before him, the Head Captain spoke up once more. "His name is name is Yushima Oko...the leader of Project Spearhead."

Upon hearing the names of both the person and experiment, Toshiro's eyes widened as many images of the day that Rangiku had first arrived flashed through his mind. Yushima being among the group he had tested that year and had even recalled that he failed not only him but a number of students as well. But then another flashing memory came into his mind of signing for the transfer of a number of unseated officers that didn't make any of the qualifications for his division.

Then the final memory was of him ordering the imprisonment of a man from the Twelfth Division that headed a research sector that created the modified souls. Whom of which he had heard was driven mad after receiving the order from Central 46 that his experiment had to end. But though the body that the guards dragged into the Maggots Nest was nothing more than a brain-dead body, he still never bothered to look at the person closely.

Once all this went through his mind, Toshiro was brought out of his thoughts as Yushima spoke up with a small, but very confident smirk. "Recognize me now, Captain Hitsugaya?"

Upon hearing his voice, the white-haired captain narrowed his eyes on the man and shifted his feet apart to ready for a fight. To which Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kukaku appeared on every other side around Yushima as they each narrowed their eyes heavily.

Yet despite all this, the green-haired man just chuckled silently as he brought his large weapon, which looked almost exactly like Kageroza's, up into the air. "I'll show you the extent of my new power now that I've been reborn without the limitations of being a simple shinigami." he claimed confidently.

Toshiro watched this silently as he briefly glanced around to Tia, her fraccion, Coyote, Ulquiorra and Kaien, him narrowing his eyes to each of them. 'Those two look like they're simply exhausted rather than defeated.' he began in his mind as he kept his eyes on Tia and Coyote.

'The others are unconscious and even have wounds...so they were obviously beaten. But Harribel and Starrk simply look tired from fighting so much, neither of them even have a scratch on them.' Toshiro continued as he then turned his eyes to Ulquiorra.

'Plus _he_ doesn't even appear like he's broken a sweat yet, so more than likely it is because of all their former fights that they can't continue on at one hundred percent.' was the last thing the icy captain thought before his eyes widened when a strange portal appeared before Yushima as he spun his weapon around.

But what shocked Toshiro the most was when a long green lance came hurling out of the portal and directly at him with great speed. Yet neither he or the Head Captain even moved as Ulquiorra appeared before then, caught the lance in his hand and spun it around with his fingers. As he did this, he moved his arm along with the lance as to merely change its direction, to which it almost instantly hit right where Yushima's feet were a split second ago.

Though despite the resulting blast created a huge cloud of dust and small rocks, Toshiro's eyes immediately shifted to the side as he caught a slashing strike from Yushima. Whom glared heavily at the icy captain and quickly flipped his weapon away from Toshiro's grip and used the momentum to make and upward slash toward him. But this attack never reached him as Kisuke blocked it, then parried Yushima's blade and made his arms go up into the air to made an opening.

This allowing both Yoruichi and Kukaku to appear in front of the green-haired man and punch him hard in the chest. As their fists hit Yushima, the bones in his chest cracked heavily and his body was thrown violently backward with extreme speed and the ground cracked as he fly by. But he still managed to slow his momentum down by stabbing his weapon down to the ground and drag it through the already uplifting earth.

Yet before he could even fully stop himself, Toshiro had appeared behind him, swept both his legs out from under him and allowed Ulquiorra to fire a cero oscuras down at him from high above. Though Yushima spun his weapon around to absorb this attack, his blade was stopped and spun in the opposite direction as Toshiro kicked one of the blades. As the green-haired man's eyes widened, he ground his teeth and just continued to spin his weapon in the same direction the icy captain made it and created a portal.

This one creating a huge wave of blue ceros that caused the cero oscuras to explode and blast Yushima away as everyone else had already moved away from him. To which the brown-eyed man was once again tossed far off to the side and had even been thrown off the edge of the hill. Yet even as he fell, Toshiro once again shunpoed next to him and grabbed Yushima by the throat, which made said man's eyes to widen.

"Even if you could become more powerful than me...there is no way that you could defeat all of us." was all he said as he began to charge a cero between the ice on his hand and the flesh of Yushima's neck.

But just before Toshiro could fire the attack, the green-haired man ground his teeth once more and broke the icy captain's grip before slashing him across the chest. Yet this had made a very shallow cut that healed instantly, which just made Toshiro smirk lightly in response. Though he and Yushima landed on the ground with great force, that had cracked the earth heavily, the white-haired captain just crossed his arms and just chuckled silently.

"You really are just as weak as you had been before." Toshiro muttered silently as he just stared at Yushima in almost amusement.

His words had an immediate response from the brown-eyed man as he charged forward and lunged his weapon toward Toshiro's chest. But it never connected as Kukaku caught the blade with her bare hand and held on very tightly, yet the action never drew blood. This making Yushima's eyes widen once more as he was hit on his shoulder by a powerful fist by Yoruichi and then a slash to both his calves by Kisuke.

All this making Yushima fall to his knees as he could no longer stand or keep a hold of his weapon with the arm that the purple-haired woman broke. Though despite all this, Ulquiorra walked over and simply stabbed a green lance through his opponent's only working hand. Which had made Yushima cry out in pain as his whole body seemed to almost just give out; "Damn it..." he muttered out in anger.

"It's really too bad. You didn't live up to the name that we all thought you would." Toshiro spoke as he just stared down at the green-haired man.

"We all thought you had the power to destroy Soul Society, but with something like this...you're far from the threat you made yourself out to be." the icy captain continued with an uncharacteristic cockiness.

This making Yushima's eyes widen before he let out a battle cry as he pulled his hand away from the lance and grabbed his weapon as Kukaku was about to toss it to the side. He then glared up at Toshiro as he slowly stood up on his feet despite the tendons in his calves being sliced in half. "Don't you dare...UNDERESTIMATE ME!" he screamed out as he stabbed his weapon into the ground.

"Renzan: Hojo Kuri!" Yushima continued as his whole body was engulfed in green reiatsu, to which the ground around him within seven yards of his feet rose up to become level with the top of Sokyoku Hill.

As soon as the earth began to move, everyone around the green-haired man shunpoed out of the way and up to the hill. Where of which the Head Captain was waiting with his eyes closed, yet it still seemed as though he was watching all of this intently as if waiting for the right time to attack. All the while, Coyote, Lilynette and Tia had all returned to their normal state and began helping the blond's fraccion and Kaien to their feet as they regained consciousness. Though as Toshiro and the others arrived, each of the arrancar had made their way over to join them, but only the neon green-haired girl spoke up as she pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Hey! What the hell took you so long to get your memories back?! It was really annoying!" Lilynette called out, her completely ignoring Yushima as his weapon sunk into the ground and a huge green cross appeared around him.

Toshiro just raised a brow to her for a moment before sighing heavily and looking to the side; "You could have just started this when we met up before." he muttered silently as Yoruichi chuckled silently with an amused grin.

"But I was in my gun form so I couldn't beat you up if I wanted!" the small girl continued before Coyote suddenly hit her over her helmet covered head.

"Hey! What was that for?!" she demanded, looking up at the brown-haired man as she turned her accusing finger toward him.

"Don't swear." was all Coyote said as he placed a hand in his pocket and looked to Yushima as a strange structure began to rise up around him.

"All I said was 'hell'...and you were a bit late to hit me for that!" Lilynette retorted as she still paid no attention to the green-haired man to the side, or even the other arrancar around her as they all sweat dropped to her.

"Jeez...I almost wish I could be knocked out again." Kaien whispered to himself, yet quickly regretted it as his sister walked up with an 'evil' grin and a raised fist.

"I can help you with that." was all Kukaku said as her brother just waved his hands out in front of him in an almost frantic manner.

Toshiro just sighed to all that and cleared his throat as he simply turned his head to Yamamoto; "Head Captain would you mind?" he questioned as the bizarre, yet elegant fortress-like construction had fully appeared.

Yet even as the structure formed completely, long tendrils suddenly shot out from the sides and embedded themselves in the up risen earth. But despite this, the Head Captain cracked his eyes open and shifted them to Toshiro as he just gave a light nod before closing his eyes once more. Then as he took a step forward, he brought his katana up and toward the glowing green building before him.

"Shokyaku." was all the elder man said before a straight line of fire blasted straight through the side of the structure, to which Yushima's eyes widened as it passed only inches from him.

But just as the flames died and the wall was regenerating itself, Toshiro suddenly appeared through it and swung an extremely powerful kick toward the brown-eyed man. Though Yushima had brought his arms forward to form a weapon in his hands, it simply shattered apart as the icy captain's kick just went right through it and into his chest. This attack knocked the air right out of Yushima's lungs and made his eyes widen even more, the fortress around them shattering apart as his body flew through it and onto Sokyoku Hill.

As the green-haired man skidded across the surface of the hill, he was stopped as Kukaku caught him and just tossed him to the side with a look of disgust toward him. Yet Yushima could do nothing but cough up blood as his body was giving out from all of his injuries; "D-Damn...it..." was all he could muster out.

Though regardless of his wounds, he still glared up at Toshiro as said captain appeared before him with what looked like sympathetic eyes. This making Yushima confused for a moment as he gripped at the ground with his only working hand; "I see..." he began through clenched teeth of anger.

"...you provoked me into wasting my spirit energy so that it would cut down on the time I have for this fusion. This way...only the 'Kageroza' side of me would die and you could leave 'Nozomi' to live." he continued as a faint glow appeared under his hand.

Toshiro just stared down at the man for a while, him remaining quiet as everyone that wasn't still unconscious walked over toward them. Yet when they approached, the white-haired captain gave them each a short shake of his head before looking down to Yushima once more. Whom of which ground his teeth so tightly it seemed like they would break, to which he suddenly jumped to his feet as his weapon shot up from the ground.

"As if I'd let you become some hero!" he screamed out as he swung his weapon down at the white-haired captain.

Though the brown-eyed man was slowed down because of the cut on his calves, he still commenced to attack Toshiro. But it soon came to an end as said icy captain slashed his hand across the air and shattered the weapon to mere shards. This making Yushima's eyes widen even more so than before, to which Toshiro grabbed him by the face and forced the green-haired man back to the ground.

"It's over Yushima...you can hate me for the rest of eternity if you wish, but as your first commanding officer...I won't allow you to hurt anyone else." Toshiro said silently as Yushima's body began to glow a faint blue.

"Tch...you aren't enough to contain my hatred for this place." were the last words the brown-eyed man said before his form suddenly split in two and Toshiro's ice-covered hand was now placed over Kageroza's face.

"You will pay for this...one way or another." the yellow and green-haired mod soul said as his eyes closed before Toshiro lifted his hand away from Kageroza's head and stabbed him through his chest.

This caused the man to turn to dust and leave behind a small red orb on the ground, which had also disintegrated after a brief second. After Kageroza was fully gone, Toshiro turned his head toward Nozomi, whom was opening her eyes slowly and shifting them toward the icy captain.

"Welcome to Soul Society...Nozomi." was all Toshiro said as he reached down to the green-haired girl, who had sat herself up and took his hand into her own.

* * *

Btw everyone...**Shokyaku** means 'Incinerate', I thought it would be fitting for the Head Captain to have an attack like that. ;) Wow...I just realized, it's been a really long time since I had a note at the beginning or end of my chapters. XD So...hi guys and gals, how's it goin'? Hope you've all been enjoying your summer. ^^ Till next time, ja ne~!


	147. Chapter 147

**Chapter 147:**

-First Division's meeting room-

"And from the reports that Ichimaru Gin and the arrancar Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck gave to us, the remainder of the reigai have been taken care of completely. Furthermore, it appears that after their part played in recent events...our arrancar allies have returned to Hueco Mundo. Though...they never gave an explanation as to why." Byakuya said silently as he had hardened his gaze at the end, him being just a few steps in front of his usual spot in the hall.

Though as soon as he finished his words, the raven haired man stepped back and allowed Retsu to take his place near the center of the other captains that were lined up on either side. "I have successfully freed everyone that had been trapped within the solid reishi and those injured during each of the attacks. Though it appears that a number of Eleventh Division squad members have already been returned back to my care for reasons unexplained." the woman reported with a short glance to the side as if singling out Kenpachi behind her.

The eye-patch wearing man just let out a silent 'tch' as Retsu stepped back into her place and allowed the Head Captain himself speak up. "Well done everyone...this crisis has been averted, but we still must take greater care in the future to avoid such things in the first place. Let this be a learning experience for us all!" he claimed out as he briefly opened his eyes.

"However...it has made it clear that as a group we are severely lacking. So we must move to regain our former strength by taking on new captains for the empty positions." the elder man continued, him tapping a finger against his cane.

"Well, it would be easier and probably far more beneficial to simply ask the previous captains back to their original positions." Jushiro suggested with a light shrug.

"True...plus all of them have already taken the test once before, so it'll be simplest for us to bring them back." Shunsui said with a nod of agreement to his white-haired friend.

"But one of those captains is one of the people who betrayed us...and there is no full evidence to support Hitsugaya's claim of it being a ruse the entire time." Sajin stated as he crossed his arms.

Toshiro simply looked to the anamorphic dog with a raised brow before sighing and just shaking his head; "Well...though I hold no liking for Ichimaru Gin, I do respect his abilities. But unfortunately..." he began, him looking to the Head Captain with narrowed eyes.

"...we don't have time to converse about this just yet." Toshiro continued as he walked up to the center of the room and crossed his arms.

"During the period of my memories being gone...a foe I had never even seen was able to take my zanpakuto." the white-haired captain stated, which made many of the people around him to become wide-eyed.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" the Head Captain questioned as his eyes had opened slightly, only to narrow immediately afterward.

"The spirit of my zanpakuto has completely left both of my blades." Toshiro said as he watched each of his fellow captains stare in shock and disbelief, to which he just continued on.

"You see...the fusion of my hollow powers into this second katana required that I place a piece of Hyorinmaru's presence within it to allow me to use both Bankai and Resurreccion at once. So even if this person had the ability to steal a shinigami's zanpakuto, there should be no reason why the presence I placed in the second blade would have disappeared." he said as he glanced between the grips of both of his katanas.

"Which means that Hyorinmaru wasn't simply taken from my blade...he's literally left my very soul." Toshiro finished as his eyes narrowed even more.

His words immediately caused everyone in the room to become far more wide-eyed than before, though Mayuri had taken on a grin soon afterward. Yet while Soifon showed detest for the person that had stolen Toshiro's zanpakuto, Komamura had what appeared to be a smug smirk on his features. This expression seeming to be speaking high volumes of 'You're getting what you deserve' without the anamorphic wolf even needing to speak.

All the while, Retsu, Shunsui, Byakuya and Jushiro simply gave the icy captain glances of concern as Kenpachi was just looking to the side in as the head Captain opened and hardened his eyes at Toshiro, he eventually closed them once more before speaking up.

"This matter must be attended to immediately! If there is someone out there that is able to fully steal a captain level's zanpakuto, then all of Soul Society must be on high alert! Find and eliminate this threat!" Yamamoto ordered out before slamming the end of his cane on the floor boards.

Almost instantly after this, all of the captains vanished in shunpoed, save for Toshiro and the Head Captain himself. "Central 46 has been asking many questions about you." the latter of the two said silently as he opened his eyes once more.

The icy captain let out a breath as he uncrossed his arms; "I figured as much. There has been quite a lot of commotion around Seireitei...and I've been right in the middle of almost all of it." he said silently with a silent sigh.

"Indeed...but that's not why they started asking questions." Yamamoto claimed as he stood up from his seat and gave Toshiro a hard gaze once more.

Though the white-haired captain had his eyes only slightly narrowed, on the inside he was cursing many times over as he knew what the Head Captain was going to say.

"It has come to their attention that 'they' have accepted your application and that you'll be leaving within the next few days." the elder man spoke as he placed both hands on his cane as if to show his displeasure toward the subject.

Toshiro stared at the Head Captain for a moment before giving a light nod; "Ah...but as I said earlier, it was reigai Aizen that sent the application in the first place." he said with a much more firm tone than he intended.

"I understand that, but you have already refused in joining the Zero Division on three occasions. One of which had involve the Soul King himself and you still turned the offer down." the Head Captain spoke with an almost forceful voice.

"The very fact that they were willing to go to such lengths to get you there means that even if it were falsified, there will be no possible way to reverse this. The Soul King, the Zero Division and even Central 46 have all agreed to it. Though they'd probably give you extra time to recover your zanpakuto..." he continued as his tone became more silent as he went on, him never finishing as he let his sentence hang.

After hearing this, the icy captain's eyes widened heavily in response, to which he looked down and clenched his hands into fists. "There is nothing I can do." he stated in a near whisper.

Despite Toshiro not looking at the Head Captain, as the elder man nodded in response, the white haired captain just let out a sigh and turned away. "I'll be taking my leave then." was all he said before vanishing in a shunpo.

He then appeared outside of the First, closed his eyes and ground his teeth together in frustration. "Damn it...even after everything I've gone through to kill that son of a bitch, he still won." he muttered in a low growl.

"He actually beat me...without even having to be here as himself...he still defeated me in the end." Toshiro continued as his reiatsu briefly spiked and caused a cold mist to surround him.

But this soon disappeared as the icy captain's body relaxed and his eyes opened; 'Looks like...I'm going to have to start with my goodbyes pretty soon.' he thought rather sadly before he shunpoed away once more.

-Tenth Division-

As Toshiro arrived in front of the gates of his own division, he glanced around the area as if he were trying to memorize even more so than he already had. Yet after pushing the large doors open, his eyes briefly blinked as he saw Yoruichi talking with Kukaku and Rangiku off to his right. Then on his left were Ichigo, Orihime and Nozomi speaking along with Rukia and the two siblings. The two latter were shooting glares at the orange haired teen, despite the burnt orange haired girl trying to get in the way to make it stop.

Though as the icy captain continued to look around, a small smirk curled his lips, but it faded away as he let out a breath and walked toward Ichigo and his group. "So have these two finally calmed down after you told them everything?" Toshiro questioned as he turned to Rukia with a brief glance at Shizuku and Homura.

"Yeah...though it'll still take time for them to get over their hate of shinigami, it seems that they're coming to terms with me being one and that not all shinigami are bad." the raven haired girl said with a small smile as she looked to the two siblings.

"And Nii-sama said that it was okay that they stay with me at the mansion. Of course they would have to be there as guests so the clan elders will accept them...but it looks like we're finally going to pick up right where we left off in Rukongai." Rukia finished with an even wider smile as Shizuku and Homura returned the gesture.

Toshiro nodded his head in response to this, then turned his eyes over to Nozomi as he spoke up once more. "What about you? Are you sure you want to stay in the World of the Living? I could always offer you a place here in my division."

The green haired girl shook her head lightly with a small shrug; "I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to pass. Despite being a bit difficult when I first regained consciousness, Masaki-san and Isshin-san took me in and treated me like I was another one of their daughters." she began with a small smile on her features.

"They were so kind to me and lifted my spirits despite being what I was. Plus...I promised to pay them back for what they did for me, even though they said that I didn't need to." Nozomi continued, her chuckling silently soon after her words.

"Well...Masaki-san said I didn't have to, Isshin-san said that I could pay him back by becoming their fourth daughter." she said as she chuckled a bit more before looking back to Toshiro.

"For now...I want to be apart of their family just a little bit longer, then I'll come back and accept your offer." the green haired girl said with a light nod as if to show that she meant what she said.

Though Toshiro gave a small smirk and returning nod in response, his mind drowned in thoughts of him not being there when she would return. Yet he kept these thoughts from showing on his expression before looking to Ichigo and Orihime; "The senkaimon should be ready soon for your departure, make sure you have everything you need." was all he said before he turned around and started making his way over to the three on the opposite side.

But he paused in his steps when the burnt orange haired girl spoke up with a concerned tone; "Toshiro-nii...are you feeling alright? You look somewhat distracted and a bit sad."

As everyone turned their eyes toward the icy captain, he never returned their gaze as he simply spoke silently. "I'm fine...just a bit tired from everything that has happened today."

Immediately after his words, Toshiro began walking toward the three women, him having to ignore many of the worried and suspicious stares from everyone behind him. But the moment the white-haired captain came up to Yoruichi, Kukaku and Rangiku, he merely gestured to them to follow him with his hand before he vanished.

The three females quickly gave chase, despite them narrowing their eyes in confusion and concern as they went. Them only stopping when Toshiro himself did near of his office, to which he led them all inside and waited for them all to sit down before speaking up in a silent tone. "The Zero Division is coming here in a few days to accept me into their ranks."

Once these words left his lips, each of the women's eyes widened heavily in shock, all of them jumping up from their seats and staring at the icy captain. "But they can't! You're the acting head of three of the most powerful clans in all of Soul Society!" Yoruichi claimed as she slammed her fist into Toshiro's desk as he sat down in it.

"You're already pretty much the head of my clan, you control the Kuchiki clan when Byakuya is away and you even keep the Shiba clan under management! They can't just take you away!" the purple haired woman continued as both anger and sadness was apparent in her expression.

But as the other two women were about to agree with this, Toshiro just shook his head lightly in response. "I already said that to them a long time ago...but it doesn't matter how close to nobility I am, I can't get myself out of this since I'm not the actual Head of one of the Four Great Noble Houses of Soul Society." he said silently, him closing his eyes and leaning his chin on his clasped hands as he propped his elbows up on his desk.

As the women heard this, they each looked down in outrage, despair and thought, to which they all tried to make some sort of solution to make this right. Yet before they could think for too long, Toshiro just spoke up once more as he reopened his eyes.

"That was the only reason why Captain Kuchiki Ginrei was able to avoid being called into the Zero Division. He was one of the original captains of the Gotei 13 and had contributed much to the evolution of kido." the icy captain said as he leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"All of the captains ever accepted or requested to be in the Zero Division had done something extremely significant when contributing something new for Soul Society. At first it was both me and Kisuke that were requested to join due to our research with the Hogyoku." Toshiro continued, which made all of the women's eyes widen slightly.

"Of course, when we were asked, they had taken us to the Soul King's dimension itself...which in turn allowed us to complete our research of it. Though we both turned it down due to us believing it was too dangerous...and we were right." he said, looking up at the ceiling.

"It was because of reigai Aizen's failed Hogyoku that allowed for Yushima to be beaten so easily...it was devouring his reiatsu the entire time. Fortunately it vanished with Kageroza's body after its main source of 'food' died. But just a single faulty Hogyoku was able to bring about a powerful mod-soul's destruction within a matter of minutes. So Kisuke and I refused to be acknowledged for something that could potentially be harmful to Soul Society." Toshiro said silently as each of the women eventually sat back down to listen to him.

"Then a few years after we turned the offer down, I was asked once again...this time it was due to me being transformed into a hybrid." as the white-haired captain said this, Yoruichi's eyes widened heavily, while the other two blinked in a bit of shock.

"They figured it out only a few weeks after it happened, all because I let my guard down once during the entire time I was hiding the fact. Though it was strange that they would want me to join upon seeing what I was, they were much more interested in my potential than anything else and wished for me to join the Zero Division." he spoke, to which he tilted his head back down so he could look at each of the other before him.

"I was only able to tell them 'no' because I explained everything about Aizen Sosuke. I then told them that the only way to make sure that he would pose no threat to the Soul King was to let me stay here and dispose of him." Toshiro continued on as he took in a deep breath.

"And the most recent time they requested me to join them was just 35 years when I had my break through in nano-technology. Due to its remarkable potential...it was something that could progress Soul Society by nearly a thousand years in weeks. Something of which was more than enough to gain even the Soul King's attention. Which led to me actually meeting him in his palace." the icy captain stated with a near shiver as if just thinking about it sent a chill up his own spine.

But each of the women weren't any better off as they were all wide-eyed and felt an almost natural chill go through them, despite it not actually being cold. Yet Toshiro just cleared his throat and crossed his arms as he regained his slightly saddened expression. "But though I managed to convince him that I still needed more time to defeat Aizen, he had been gracious enough to give me twenty years to settle all of my affairs here in Soul Society before I would join the Zero Division." he said, his voice becoming more and more silent as he spoke.

Though as each of the women looked down with a bleak expression on their faces, Yoruichi's eyes suddenly blinked in realization. "You said that they could still recruit you no matter what unless you're the true head of one of the Four Great Noble Houses of Soul Society, right?" the tan woman questioned with a small grin.

Toshiro turned to her with a slightly raised brow as he merely nodded in response; "Yeah...and since no matter what temporary position I hold, it's not enough...regardless of its importance." he stated as though he had heard it many times before.

"True, but what if you became the true head of one of those clans?" Yoruichi asked as her grin widened, to which Kukaku grinned widely and Rangiku cleared her throat and looked away at what the purple haired woman was starting to suggest.

"It's not possible to become the head of a clan over night. Nor is it possible to create such a powerful clan within such a short period of time." the icy captain said, him not catching on.

"Well then...both Kukaku and I are the heads of our clans...so..." was all Yoruichi said as she let her words hang in the air until Toshiro grasped them fully.

But though it didn't take long for the white-haired captain to understand, it took a few extra moments for him to process what it would mean for him. To which he blinked many times and cleared his throat as he wasn't able to form any words to come out of his mouth.

"It could work...but which one of us is he going to marry?" Kukaku asked as though it were no big deal.

"Hmm, considering the Four Great Clans have more pull...I guess it would have to be me." Yoruichi responded with a rather excited tone as she took on an even wider grin than before.

"Wa-Wait a second." Toshiro managed out, but was merely ignored as Rangiku decided to speak up with a light pout.

"But if he marries you, then what about the rest of us?" the strawberry blond questioned, yet she quickly blushed and cleared her throat as she tried to think of a way to turn her words to something much more innocent.

"Well it's not rare for the head of a high-class clan to take on multiple wives." the tan woman claimed as she brought up her finger as to gesture her point to be correct, her never giving Rangiku the chance to take back her words.

"I heard about that...but it's usually only allowed by law when the clan is on the verge of dying out completely." Kukaku stated as she raised a brow and placed her real hand to her hip.

"True...and that's why it could work. My clan has only me left as its natural heirs, so it stands to reason that either I or my husband could take on multiple partners." Yoruichi said with a light, yet almost proud nod.

But before any of them could continue, the room became somewhat cold and Toshiro let out what nearly sounded like a growl. "You three..." he began as his left eye brow twitched slightly from impatience.

As the women felt and heard this, they each turned to the icy captain with a bit of nervousness, to which they smiled sheepishly. "T-T-Toshiro..." Yoruichi and Kukaku muttered out as Rangiku stuttered with his title.

"...I understand that you're trying to help me. But this is getting out of hand!" he declared, his tone still sounding a bit like a growl as he stood up and gave chase to the three as they immediately took off running.

Yet all the while, as the four ran around the entire division, a shimmering figure walked up toward the gate. But as the being placed their hand to the surface of the doors, it took on a small smirk as it could feel an invisible barrier placed over the entire division. Then as the person turned around and tilted its head up to look at Sokyoku Hill, they let out a silent chuckle.

This figure was a tall thin man with pale skin and shaggy, yet somewhat short dark brown hair. Which was mostly flat, though he had part of his bangs crossing in an 'X' over the bridge of his nose. He had turquoise-colored eyes circled by purple marks that appeared similar to a design on his clothes. This being made up of a long white robe-like coat, it looking close in resemblance to that of a robe dawned by an Arrancar. Though the collar of the robe was covered with a thick fur, it also featured a purple ascot tie that was fastened by a ruby brooch.

He even wore a wide sash at his waist, that was decorated by a long purple stripe in the center of the garb. Despite his boots appearing almost exactly like ones that would be worn by Gillian-class Menos, they had a slightly less of a curve on the pointed toe. Yet the most prominent feature about this being were his absurdly long fingernails, which seemed even longer than the fingers that supported them.

But as this person continued to look up at the hill off in the distance, his smirk just widened as he began walked down the street. "Just two more days...Master." was all that he spoke before vanishing.


	148. Chapter 148

I hope everyone is still enjoying this, I've only been getting a few reviews each chapter so I just hope people aren't losing interest. :) Btw, the start of this chapter was written by my awesome friend Tuli-chan, so you can thank her for so much detail and epicness. XD

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**Chapter 148:**

As the darkness fell over the whole of Seireitei, a gust of cold wind blew across the seemingly empty streets. Only the sounds of guard's foot steps from each division could be heard as they tried desperately to stay awake in the cold night. While the dark clouds filled the sky, the moon's face was hidden fully, which acted like a prelude for what was about to happen as shadows grew deeper and the wind seemed to become dead silent. Then just like that, the shadows started to move once again, following the silent creature that maneuvered through each division without disturbing a single living being. Each division was at the darkness' mercy and no one was left without the touch of the ghostly threat, whom had eventually found their place upon the Sokyoku Hill.

The night passed on slowly, all the while, the shadowy figure gained a small smirk on its features as it looked down upon Seireitei. Even while the clouds covering the moon had blocked out its silhouette, it was obvious that this person was the one responsible for Hyorinmaru's disappearance. Upon the clouds clearing with a brief gust of cool wind, this man's shadow was immediately cast down over much of the Seireitei, which almost signified the start of one thing, and the end of another.

The being had brought out one of its hands with its overly long nails, smirked a bit wider than before and spoke out in a near whisper. "And so it begins."

The moment they said this, a loud snap echoed through the night air, which called upon the greatest enemies that Soul Society could ever face. Each one appearing within Seireitei itself and with such great bloodlust that nothing could be compared to it.

-Sasakibe Chojiro's room-

During the white-haired man's sleep, he let out a silent groan from something he had been dreaming of, though this did not deter a figure approaching from the shadows. This being appearing to a black-haired man wearing old fashion, Japanese-style traveler's clothes that carried a long pike in his right hand. Though as he approached Chojiro, he brought his weapon up into the air and spun it around a few times, this creating a large amount of blue electricity that sparked brightly in the dark room.

Upon hearing the crackling of the electricity, the oldest lieutenant in all of the Gotei Thirteen snapped awake and watched in near horror as the lightning struck down at him.

-Soifon's room-

The petite woman stirred slightly in her sleep as if feeling the approaching danger that took the form of what seemed to be a small golden, glowing orb. This sphere materializing out of the raven haired captain's own zanpakuto, which had begun to hover toward Soifon and stopped just above her. But then in a flash, the orb came right toward her at blistering speed, to which the petite woman snapped her eyes open just as the golden glow filled her sight.

-Omaeda Marechiyo's room-

As the sound of the tall and heavy set man's snoring filled the room, a huge figure appeared next to him. This being was an obese shirtless man with a very flat nose, which gave him what seemed like a frog-like face. He appeared to bear a small resemblance to the sleeping man before him, but his form was even larger than Marechiyo's. The figure also had red hair that was kept in five sets of spikes, plus a small green cape that only managed to cover his shoulders. There was even a crescent moon shaped scar just above his chest and a piercing on the right side of his lower lip.

Though as this person took a step forward, a grin covered his features as he lifted a large spiked-ball over his head. "This is just too easy." he muttered silently.

But before they swung their weapon down on Marechiyo, said lieutenant groaned awake and saw the attack coming. Yet rather than to attempt in dodging it, all the raven haired man did was scream out as the ball came hurling down at him.

-Kira Izuru's room-

While the blond slept in his bed, he just clutched his blanket tightly as though he were having some kind of nightmare. But unbeknownst to him that reality was about to become worse as the sound of chains clanging together was heard just to the side. Yet it became silent once more as a blade rose up into the air, which had a squared out hook at the end.

As this happened a brief cast of the moon's light had illuminated the being as they slashed their weapon down at Izuru. He was an emaciated, shirtless man who was carrying a large metal ball on his left shoulder while his blade with his right hand. His pants resembled that of a shihakusho, but they were tied with chains instead of an obi. They also had a heavy hunch even with his arm raised, all the while, his raven colored hair was almost completely shrouding his face. This person also had a large stone tablet chained to his body and very heavy stones attached to his ankles.

Though this time, the blond never awoke as the being swung his blade down with only the air to get in his away and gravity to help it along...

-Unohana Retsu's room-

The raven haired woman was sleeping contently, seemingly undisturbed by the appearance of a slim humanoid figure materializing right beside her. This being was covered in bandages and wore a very long light green hood that fully obscured any possible way to tell their gender. But even as they came up to Retsu, she had cracked an eye open and had taken on an unseen smirk as the moon's light vanished from the room. This not allowing anything or anyone to see what happened next, even as the sound of a blade being drawn was heard.

-Hinamori Momo's room-

While the young girl smiled lightly in her sleep, she turned herself over to right side and let out an almost content sigh. But then as the sound of a large, yet silent bell was heard almost directly next to her ear, the shinigami awoke with a silent groan. As Momo opened her eyes, she instantly noticed someone else in the room, to which she attempted to call out, but was immediately stopped as a long pink sash wrapped around her mouth.

After this, Momo finally got a very good look at the person before her and became wide-eyed as she felt as though she knew them too well. They had taken the form of a small girl dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, which consist of a white kimono jacket and purple hakama. She also wore a light yellow obi, it being tied in a bow around her waist along with two long ribbons on the end. This girl was carrying two large round bells, that were tied to the long pink sash that both encircled her body and now Momo's mouth. She had long brown hair with a cylinder-shaped clip on one individual bang and even a hairpin in a shape similar to Momo's Shikai along with it.

"I'm sorry Master...but this is the end for you." the girl whispered out as the bell in her opposite hand seemed to catch fire before it engulfed Momo's vision.

-Kuchiki Byakuya's room-

As the grey-eyed man slept almost soundlessly in his bed, he never awoke even as a slight creek was heard in the floor boards near of him. But the being that created this noise was still within the shadows of the room and could not be seen. Not even the clearing of the clouds over the moon could illuminate any part of the figure to become visible. Though as a gentle breeze flew in from the window near the bed, a few sakura petals floated into the room. But just as Byakuya's eyes snapped open as if he finally sensed the danger, a single glowing sakura petal floated down in front of his face.

-Abarai Renji's room-

The heavily tattooed lieutenant was snoring away in his room and even scratched his chest in the process as two strange beings materialized from a brief red glow. The first one being an adult woman and the second was a small boy with a long snake-like tail. The boy was attached to the woman by a long chain that was locked onto a chain around his neck. The woman being appeared to be tall with a curvy figure, green fur that covered her body except for some of her chest and abdomen. She also had very long, light mallow colored hair with strange markings that seemed somewhat similar to Renji's tattoos. Her eyes appeared to be green in color and she also had a beauty mark on the left side of her chest. The boy however simply had on a white and yellow robe that revealed his abdomen.

"Hmph...this is almost too easy." the woman spoke as a blade that was the exact same as Renji's Shikai form appeared in her raised hand before she swung it down with great force.

-Komomura Sajin's room-

As the large captain slept, he silently howled and huffed in a near growl while his closed eyelids tightened briefly. Though despite him staying asleep as a loud step on the floor next to him could be heard, he sniffed at the air for a moment before opening his eyes. Yet they quickly widened as he saw a towering figure standing over him with glowing yellow eyes, red colored skin, spiky blue hair and flames coming out of its mouth.

Though Sajin never got out a single word before the being attacked, he did however see the flames coming toward him from the spinning bolas in the figure's hand.

-Kyoraku Shunsui's room-

While the straw hat over the brown-haired captain's face was able to block out any signs of him being awake, the sound of his light snores was enough proof for two figure to approach him. Yet the pair differed greatly in appearance as it was very clear that one was much taller than the other. The first was a tall, purple-haired woman with a red ribbon around her neck and an eye patch covering her right eye. Though the eye that could be seen was turquoise in color, the shadows of the night prevented any chance of seeing it.

Her hair was worn in two corkscrew pig-tails with bangs framing her face down past her chin. She had on an indigo cape with a skull imprint upon it, a long, dark dress with a significantly low-cut neckline. This exposed her well-endowed bust that rivaled even Rangiku's as she stepped forward into the moonlight shining through the nearest window. Which had brought into view the golden bone headdress located just above her forehead.

The second being was another female, though she was younger in appearance, she had the same colored eyes as the other woman. But along with this, she also had the same color hair, only hers was cut chin length and in a way that her bangs only showed her right eye. She had on a dark top that covered her lower face, neck and arms, a pair of close-fitting shorts and knee length socks. Over this she wore a purple, hip-length coat fastened at the front by a dark purple sash and a small skull placed on the left side of her head.

Yet the moment the pair reached either side of Shunsui's bed, a blade appeared in either of their hands. To which they flipped them around so the tips were pointed down, to which they thrust them at the shinigami. Neither of them noticing that the silent snoring had stopped as they went in for the kill.

-Hisagi Shuhei's room-

Though the raven-haired man slept silently, the sound of an approaching and almost maddening chuckle caused him to wake up slowly. But upon hearing a few chains clanging together, Shuhei's eyes flew open before they turned quickly to a grinning figure that held two blades over his head. These weapons appearing exactly like the lieutenant's Shikai, yet it was the person's appearance that shocked him.

They were a thin yet well-toned, dark-skinned man with long black hair, that stretched out passed his knees. He wore dark grey strips of cloth that wrapped around his lower body, arms, neck, and shoulders. Along with this, he also had a set of boots of the same color as the cloth, them appearing to have a long and heavily curved toe. But just as Shuhei went to dodge away from the incoming strike, his eyes widened as his legs had been tied by the chain. To which all he could do was watch in horror as the red outline around the opposing man's body flickered as the blades came down at him.

-Matsumoto Rangiku's room-

The strawberry blond muttered silently in her sleep as her blankets were thrown to the side and her body was sprawled out in the opposite way that her bed was facing. But though was appeared to be in a very heavy sleep, the silent being in the corner of the room knew better. This person being a female werecat with peach skin, turquoise eyes, and maroon chin-length hair. While she looked mostly humanoid, she had a long, yet thin tail that swayed from side to side as she stared heavily at Rangiku.

She also had a set of cat ears on the sides of her head, which twitched slightly at every bit of sound. But the biggest feature was the pink fur covering certain parts of her body. The area around her chest seemed to take the form of a rather provocative shirt that didn't cover her shoulders or midsection. While the fur on her left leg appeared as a sort of stocking, and around her waist were what seemed to be a pair of puffy shorts that extend mid-thigh. She also had sharp claws for nails and sported a voluptuous figure that seemed equal to that of the strawberry blond before her.

Yet as if she had gotten tired of waiting, she suddenly jumped high into the air and slashed down with her claws. Though as she did this, a cloud of ash streamed along with her hand and hurled down at Rangiku, whom just suddenly stopped muttering in her sleep.

-Madarame Ikkaku's room-

A quick shine from the moon's light off of the bald and loudly snoring shinigami's head was seen. This nearly blinding a huge figure standing to the side of him, it having to bring up one of its large arms to block out the light. Yet as the being approached, it narrowed its small eyes and spun a spear around in his hands.

This person was a large man with dark brown skin and long messy orange hair, which along with his same colored beard formed a four point star around his head. He also appeared to be shirtless with only a white robe around his waist as his only form of clothing. This had allowed the tattoo on his shoulders to become visible, which appeared similar to a Chinese dragon. He had red markings under his eyes, similar to that of Ikkaku's himself, though they seemed a bit darker against his very tanned skin.

"This is against how I prefer to fight...but it can't be helped." the large man spoke as he stopped spinning his spear around and stabbed the tip down at the still sleeping shinigami.

-Ayasegawa Yumichika's room-

"Hmph...such a shame to kill someone with such a great sense of beauty like myself...but oh well." a strange man spoke as he walked over to the raven haired shinigami.

Though as he approached, his harpy-like form could be seen as the blue and green feathers on his hand-wings fluttered in the breeze. The man was quite lean in his build with shoulder-length blue hair that he had framing both sides of his face and even made a long braided ponytail that reaching his waist. He also had bandages wrapped around his head, while long orange feathers could be seen in the back.

But despite his appearance not seeming threatening whatsoever, the multiple bladed weapon in his right wing-hand spoke of his intentions. Yet above all, the killing glint in his eyes made it clearly obvious long before he rose his blade up, he was going to murder Yumichika at any cost.

-Kurotsuchi Mayuri's room-

While the scientist slept with both of his eyes open, the small hovering being off to the far side of the lab-like room was glowing a faint color of red. But as the glowing stopped, it allowed the figure's form to be shown, which was nothing more than a baby-like creature with butterfly wings. Though it also had a small bit of blue hair, it only had a red and green robe as clothing with a large halo over its head.

Yet even as it started to come closer to Mayuri, it let out a strange beeping-like noise when it saw the shinigami's eyes open even as it was apparent that he was sleeping. The creature almost seemed to hesitate for a moment before its large bug eyes narrowed and called out; "Bankai." in a high-pitched voice.

-Ukitake Jushiro's room-

As the white haired captain slept, he ended up waking up to the sound of a pair of foot steps running around his bed. Once his vision had focused enough, he was able to see two twin children rushing by him laughing silently. They both wore the exact same outfit that consisted of a light blue robes over a similar colored kimono. The two also had light blue, triangular-shaped hats, light beige hakama and blue shoes. But it was the white hair and green eyes that made Jushiro blink his eyes; "Are you two..." he whispered out silently.

Though the moment he spoke, the twins turned to him with a slight tilt of their heads. "Aw~...it looks like he figured it out too soon." one of the children spoke in a disappointed tone.

"Looks like we're just going to have to skip to the ending game." the other said with a shrug, to which Jushiro narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yet he didn't get to react fast enough as the two suddenly appeared over his bed with a folded out scroll of sorts. Which had produced two glowing fans that came right at Jushiro without any warning whatsoever.

-Kuchiki Rukia's room-

An unmistakable chill flowed throughout the area as the small girl let out a small shiver, despite her somewhat used to colder climate. Though as the subtle sound of footsteps came closer and closer to her, the raven-haired shinigami gave a silent groan upon her awakening, to which her eyes blinked a few times when she felt a huge chill run up her spine. This caused her to snap awake and bring herself up to a sitting position, but it was too late as the last thing she saw was a beautiful white-haired, pale skinned woman with ice blue eyes and wore a pure white outfit.

"Farewell...Master." were the only words spoke by this woman as she blew a icy wind from her open hand.

-Hitsugaya Toshiro's room-

A silent sigh left the icy captain's mouth as he turned from his side onto his back, to which as he breathed out again, it could be seen floating up into the air. This making it obvious that the temperature was dropping fast, even for the white-haired captain himself. But due to his already low body heat, Toshiro hardly noticed the cold as he continued to sleep soundlessly.

However, the shadowed figure of Hyorinmaru's humanoid form stepped forward and narrowed his eyes heavily on the sleeping hybrid before him. "Could this really be him?" he had muttered silently to himself as a blade materialized in his ice-covered hand.

Though Toshiro didn't appear to be even close to being conscious, his eyes briefly tightened at the sound of his zanpakuto's voice. Whom had walked up to his master's bed and brought his blade out; "If it's true that Muramasa has my master, then I must do as I'm ordered." were the last words Hyorinmaru said before stabbing his katana down at Toshiro's sleeping form.


	149. Chapter 149

**Chapter 149:**

-The next morning-

Toshiro let out a heavy sigh as he looked around Seireitei from high a top a tall spire near of the Fourth Division. Though much smoke could be seen in many different areas all across every division, there were still many buildings standing in the division he was in. Where of which many shinigami could be seen rushing in and out of, most of the ones coming inside were either carrying an injured person or were wounded themselves. Yet as the icy captain watched all this, he then turned to the side as Rangiku appeared in a shunpo and spoke up.

"Everyone remaining has arrived, we're waiting on you." was all she said as the strawberry blond had her right arm fully casted in a sling.

But as Toshiro turned to his lieutenant, his eyes briefly flashed with guilt as he saw a small, yet long and deep burn on the right side of her face. This injury leading from the back of her jaw to the center of her eyes, which made the white-haired captain completely miss her light smile.

"Come on Captain...it's not that bad. Plus Captain Unohana said that she would be able to heal it, so that I'll only have a light scar where the burn used to be. So I'll still look as beautiful as ever." Rangiku stated with a grin and wink.

Toshiro blinked to her for a moment before gaining a nearly invisible smirk before he nodded his head and they shunpoed away together.

"Besides, it's you I'm worried about." the strawberry blond stated as they appeared just outside of the Fourth Division's garden.

Her words caused the icy captain to raise a brow in question, to which he paused for a moment as they walked; "Why?" was all he asked, him quickly quickening his pace to catch and keep up with Rangiku.

Whom of which had taken on a wide grin as she said her next words in a teasing tone; "Well you have a strange obsession with standing in high places...so I'm worried that you might have a versed case of Vertigo."

Toshiro sighed heavily to her and just shook his head as he rubbed his eyes; "Actually it's Acrophobia...and no, I don't think I have a 'reverse case' of it." he said silently.

Soon after his words, they entered the garden itself and immediately saw a group of shinigami near of Fourth Division's side exit that lead into one of the emergency rooms. The entire gathering had six people, all of whom were in different spots in the area as they watched the two walk toward them. Retsu, Shunsui and Jushiro were each sitting on the walkway that lead inside the division, to which they each had a rather troubled expression on their features.

Soifon and Yoruichi had taken it upon themselves to place themselves on either of the railings to the short bridge, which led over the small stream in the garden. Though they both had similar expressions as the other three, the former had a cut on the left side of her face. But along with this, there was a black design that was normally the symbol for her poison sting of her Shikai.

All the while, Gin just let out a silent breath as he kept his signature smile on his face when he pushed himself off the door leading outside. "My my...what kept ya?" the silver-haired man questioned with an even wider grin.

"Unlike you...most of us had a bit of an incident last night, so I was trying to make sure that at least a certain number of people were brought here to be treated." Toshiro responded without even looking at Gin.

Whom of which had just shrugged his shoulders as his grin stayed constant on his features; "Alright then." was all the closed eyed man said.

"And just how many did make it?" Retsu suddenly asked as she briefly closed her eyes before shifting them directly toward the icy captain.

Toshiro turned to the raven-haired haired woman and looked down for a moment; "Not as many as I was hoping for." he said silently, to which Retsu merely nodded her head.

"Alright..." Shusui started as he looked around to everyone; "...I just received word that the progress for the reconstruction of Seireitei is moving quite slow, but it appears that thanks to the solid reishi that had been blasted everywhere from the Twelfth Division, it might be sped up quite soon. Right now we have the remainder of the Third, Fifth, Ninth and Thirteenth helping with the rebuilding, so hopefully we should have everything fixed within a month or so."

"Then there are the rest of the Second, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh Divisions out surveying Seireitei to make sure that the zanpakuto don't attack again." Retsu said with a light nod to the brown-haired captain.

"Though with Komamura out of the fight along with nearly all of the lieutenants, defending against another attack will be difficult in itself. Especially since most of the attackers are Zanpakuto from high level shinigami." the raven-haired woman continued.

"Indeed...plus we only have reports of Lieutenant Matsumoto retrieving her Zanpakuto after last night. Which means we'll still have to find a way for everyone to somehow fight against their Zanpakuto and best them in battle." Shusui said with a silent sigh.

"True, but how?" Jushiro asked as he looked from his best friend before down at the ground in thought.

"Though each of us could have defeated our own Zanpakuto, they had dematerialized too quickly. So it's not going to be easy to fight an opponent that can just fully disappear if the fight begins to slide our way." he continued with a silent sigh as he gestured to everyone but Yoruichi, Gin and Rangiku herself.

"Plus, as far as we know...it's likely that if anyone else besides someone's master destroys their Zanpakuto, they'll disappear forever." Jushiro stated, him taking a glance to Rangiku as she gave a small shrug.

"It's possible...but if the Twelfth Division can reforge our Zanpakuto, even if they are destroyed by another person...then we may not have anything to fear from this 'rebellion'. But for now, we need to concentrate on this 'Muramasa' that Haineko had mentioned." Toshiro said silently, crossing his arms in the process.

But as he did this, he slightly flinched as if in pain before he suddenly began coughing up much blood. Immediately following his actions, Rangiku quickly turned to him and placed her free hand to his back. "You really need Captain Unohana to remove that. You can't just walk around with an icicle in your chest." the strawberry blond stated with concern, Yoruichi and Soifon going over to his side as Toshiro continued to cough.

Yet just as Retsu was about to stand up, the white-haired captain's coughing began to lighten and he quickly waved her off. "It's fine..." he all but choked out.

"...my regeneration powers..will be able to to break it...long before too much blood enters into my lungs." Toshiro continued, him having to take a short breath between each pause.

"You know...sometimes I wish you weren't so damn stubborn." Yoruichi said with an almost irritated pout as she placed her hands to her hips.

Toshiro blinked to her for a moment as his coughing eventually stopped and he looked to his blood-covered hand. "Alright...I'll do it." he muttered out silently.

The moment these words left his lips, everyone blinked to him a few times, even Gin had opened his eyes to do this. Yet the icy captain just raised a brow in question to this and looked around at everyone; "What?" was all he asked as they were staring at him as if he just grew a second head.

Though Retsu had stood herself up and began walking over to Toshiro, she never said a word as to let someone else explain their expressions. This responsibility falling on Yoruichi as the tan woman cleared her throat; "Um...well...usually you'd still never accept help even if you had both your arms cut off, an ax sticking out the back of your head and even a hole straight through your chest."

Despite her words making everyone sweat drop, no one had made a single disagreement to them whatsoever. This causing Toshiro to clear his own throat and look to Retsu as she began to use her reiatsu to disintegrate the icicle and allow his regeneration to finish healing his wound.

"I know I know...I never asked for help because I didn't want to feel weak. But I've realized that despite my power, I'm still not invincible...so asking for assistance from others isn't a bad thing." the icy captain said silently, to which many of the people around him blinked once more before giving a small smirk.

Yet Gin just chuckled lightly as his eyes had already closed and his expression returned to his usual grin; "More like you were embarrassed that you couldn't break a meager piece of ice because it was basically being held together by your own reiatsu." he muttered with a shake of his head.

"Shut up Gin...you're ruining the moment." Rangiku said with a pout toward Gin, despite her giving a silent giggle in agreement to her old friend's comment.

Toshiro simply cleared his throat once more before he looked to Yoruichi, Soifon and Rangiku with a much softer expression on his features than usual. But though he appeared to want to say something, he just turned away and looked to Jushiro and Shusui. "But all things aside...what's the status for finding the Head Captain?" he questioned with a 'back to business' tone.

"Unfortunately we still have yet to find him...the First Division has scattered themselves all over Seireitei, but no trace of Genryusai-sensei has been found." the other white-haired captain said as he to the side.

"Same for Captain Kuchiki and the entire Sixth Division." Jushiro continued as his gaze shifted from Toshiro to the ground.

After Jushiro said this, everyone was silent for a long while, to which Rangiku took it upon herself to give a small smirk and speak up. "Oh please. He was far better than I was in the academy...if I could get my Zanpakuto before she could escape, then he probably got his back without a single problem."

"There wasn't a single thing broken in his room after all, what more evidence do you need?" she continued as she placed her free arm to her hip.

"True...but look how injured you became during your fight with Haineko? She and Senbonzakura are quite similar in fighting style, so it's likely that they would leave just as much of a mess behind as you did." Toshiro said, his tone at the end sounding almost skeptical in a way.

This making Rangiku pout to him and quickly huff; "I told you that I don't always clean my room so most of that stuff was already like that before the fight~!" she whined out.

"I highly doubt your dresser being upside down is one of those things." the icy captain muttered silently with a roll of his eyes.

"But you're right Rangiku...Byakuya likely either defeated his Zanpakuto and is currently pursuing the one that caused this. Or he was defeated and is now somewhere training himself." he continued, his tone seeming absolutely convinced that the raven-haired captain he trained couldn't be dead.

Though the mood took a swift change as Gin spoke up in a more serious way than usual; "But which eva one it is, we 'ave ta assume tha' now tha' he's actin' of 'is own accord...he views this whole rebellion as somethin' personal."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes to the silver-haired man before giving a light nod of agreement; "Indeed...which must mean that this is something the 'Head of the Kuchiki Clan' must do." he concurred, crossing his arms.

"Meaning that whoever is behind this...might be connected to the Kuchiki Clan itself." Shusui added as he tilted his straw hat up so everyone could see his eyes.

"But most records about any of the Four Great Clans are within the clans' own safety box. And those can only be opened through a pass code that only the head knows, it holds the funds for that clan after all." Jushiro said with a light shrug, him putting extra emphasis both times in saying 'only'.

"So we can't access the Kuchiki Clan's records of a possible rogue." Retsu said as she had gone back to her spot between her two younger friends.

After the raven-haired woman's words, everyone became silent for a few moments in thought as they were all thinking the same thing. 'How do we get those records?'

But when a few moments passed, Toshiro blinked his eyes for a moment before looking to Yoruichi. "Does the Head of the clan choose a code for the safety box?" he asked with a hard gaze as he seemed somewhat guilty about something.

Though the purple haired woman gave a light nod in response, she also blinked her eyes for a moment in question. "Yeah, why? Do you know what it could be?" she asked back.

As Toshiro gave a returning nod, the rather saddened expression on his features made just about everyone to look down in understanding. This showing that just about all of them had figured out what the code to the safety box would be, to which Toshiro quickly cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Alright...I'll go through the records to see if I can find anything. Yoruichi, report all of this to Kisuke and ask him if he'll be able to help in Mayuri's research to rebuild our Zanpakuto just in case. Soifon, you take the Onmitsukido out to find where the Zanpakuto are hiding. It's likely they would need a based at least fairly close to Seireitei so that they won't be tired from the travel coming here. Check anywhere and everywhere that is large enough to conceal a small group of beings." the icy captain ordered out.

Yoruichi gave a quick nod in response to him before vanishing in a shunpo, to which Soifon mirrored her movements soon afterward. This allowed the white-haired captain to turn to Gin with a hard gaze; "You gather 'everyone' that hasn't lost their zanpakuto and meet me here in an hour. I have an idea for what we can do to not only separate the Zanpakuto with one another, but to also get each of them to face against their own master." Toshiro stated as Gin just gave a fake salute before disappearing.

Toshiro turned his gaze to Rangiku and simply sighed; "Sorry...but you're going to have to stay here until you're fully healed. But make sure to question Haineko about anything and everything she can remember from when she was under this 'Muramasa's' control."

Though the strawberry blond gave a huff to him and his words, she eventually gave a light nod in response. "Oh alright...but don't blame me if she doesn't remember anything, she's such a bratty and rude Zanpakuto, I doubt we'll get much out of that mush she calls a brain." Rangiku huffed out with a pout.

The icy captain just sighed heavily to her and watched as she headed inside, to which he then looked to the last remaining three. "I trust that all of you already know what to do when the time comes." was all he said before gaining a small smirk.

As he glanced between each of the older captains, they gave a smirk and nod to Toshiro. Whom had returned their gesture and shunpoed away, to which Jushiro sighed silently as he tilted his head up in thought. "It's a shame that we still leave most of these things to the younger generations." the elder white-haired captain said.

"True...but I think that they're already on their way to replacing all of us." Shusui said with a smirking chuckle.

"Indeed, though for now...I think we had better lend a hand to them when it's our time to do so." Retsu spoke out as she eventually stood up and walked to the door.

"Like for now, the both of you two can help me and my squad members carry in the injured." she continued with an almost 'too sweet' voice.

This making the other two captains to gulp down and sweat drop before nodding their heads with a simple; "Hai."

-Across Seireitei-

Hyorinmaru narrowed his eyes as he looking silently over the heavily frozen Tenth Division; "How strange..." he muttered silently to himself.

Though while he stared down at where he had attacked his own master, his eyes slowly shifted toward the area Haineko was defeated by Rangiku. The icy zanpakuto letting out a silent breath as his eyes briefly closed; 'It's obvious that Muramasa is lying to me about my master, but it's almost as if he erased everything from my being rather than only my memories. My instinct is to find a place to belong, which I feel is where ever my master is.' he thought to himself.

'But...for some reason it's like even that has been tampered with. My instinct to find my master feels warped to the point that it has become more of a feeling to kill my master rather than to just find them.' Hyorinmaru continued as his grey eyes turned to the side.

The sole zanpakuto able to feel Toshiro's reiatsu approaching quite fast; 'If that is true, then that boy truly is my master. But how? Such a young being cannot be the master of me...my powers are far too vast to be in the hands of someone so juvenile.' he thought silently as he turned away and began to vanish in a strange green glow.

But as he did this, his eyes once again glanced toward Rangiku's quarters; 'But even more odd...that woman zanpakuto, Haineko...it almost feels like I knew her from somewhere.' was the last thing that went through his mind before he vanished completely.

Not seconds afterward, Toshiro appeared in the exact same spot his zanpakuto had been moments before, to which he closed his eyes. "He was here." the white-haired captain muttered silently.

Though as he stood there for a moment, his eyelids tightened and his head tilted slightly as if he were trying to hear something. "Purpose..." Toshiro whispered out before his eyes opened once more.

'He was trying to figure out his purpose. But why? What happened to him?' the icy captain thought as he looked around the area as to get an idea of what Hyorinmaru was thinking before he left.

Yet he wasn't able to search for long before he immediately felt the presence of someone nearby, to which he snapped his attention to a nearby roof. Where of which he saw the being that had begun the zanpakuto rebellion; "Muramasa...I presume?" Toshiro stated more than asked, him just receiving a small smirk in response.


	150. Chapter 150

Chapter 150:

Muramasa's smirk remained constant on his features, even as he spoke; "Indeed I am. And you must be the infamous Hitsugaya Toshiro."

Said captain simply kept his eyes narrowed on the zanpakuto and nodded his head lightly; "Ah...so what are you doing here Muramasa?" he began, him raising a brow and crossing his arms.

"You obviously wouldn't have come here if you didn't have something to say." Toshiro continued as the brown-haired zanpakuto had placed his hands into his pockets.

"That I do." he started, him briefly closing his eyes and tilting his head down as if in thought about something.

But as he carried on, Muramasa looked back to the icy captain with slightly narrowed eyes; "I'm here to warn you and all of Seireitei that your reign of this world is over and that it's time for the Zanpakuto to take over."

Toshiro was silent for a moment before he just smirked lightly as if in amusement; "You can drop the act." he said, causing the zanpakuto before him to widen his eyes briefly.

"It's quite obvious that you're not here to take this world over. If that was the case, then you would have simply continued your assault until only a handful of us were left." the icy captain continued as he took a step forward on the roof.

"You obviously had the upper hand on us last night, yet rather than to continuing to attack Seireitei until it was all but in ruins...you simply pull back after you start a couple fires and kill a couple dozen people." Toshiro stated as his small smirk stayed on his face.

Upon his words, Muramasa's eyes momentarily widened once more, yet they then narrowed as he brought his hands out of his pockets. Though the white-haired captain was still not finished as he took another step forward; "So why are you really here? And what is your connection to the Kuchiki Clan?"

The very moment the zanpakuto heard the mention of the Kuchiki Clan, he took a step back in shock as though he had just been kicked in the chest. To which the strange purple flame that would have brought forth his katana just died out, him then working his mind quickly to think of what his next words would be. Muramasa not being able to believe that the hybrid in front of him was deducing so much without any sort of corroboration to his words. Yet while Toshiro watched this reaction, his smirk simply widened slightly and he had even let out a silent chuckle.

"So you really do have a connection?" the white-haired captain stated more than asked as he came to a halt from his next step forward.

"It looks like Byakuya had a good reason to disappear after all." Toshiro continued to himself with a brief, yet relieved expression on his face.

As Muramasa narrowed his eyes on Toshiro, his eyes flashed with a bit of hatred as he obviously didn't like the fact that he fell for the captain's trap. But after a moment, he simply chuckled silently and shook his head; "You certainly are quite the troublesome man." he whispered as his eyes narrowed on the icy captain.

"But there is no consequence that you have figured this information out. You still have no clue as to what my plans are for Soul Society...or even for all of you." Muramasa went on as his hands returned back into his pockets.

"Is that so? Well I'm on my way to the Kuchiki Clan's mansion to read a few things about any possible rogues in the family." Toshiro continued on as his eyes briefly narrowed.

"So would you like to tell me before I figure it out? Or will I find out on my own and discover a way to defeat you long before you get the chance to fulfill your objective?" the icy captain questioned.

Muramasa merely chuckled lightly as his body began to disappear with a faint green glow; "You can try." were his fleeting words before he was gone completely.

Toshiro raised a brow to this before he just turned his head toward the Kuchiki mansion; "And here I was expecting a fight." he muttered to himself before vanishing in a shunpo.

Though as he arrived near of his destination, his eyes immediately noticed Byakuya sneaking inside of a high tower window on the south side of the mansion. This made the white-haired captain narrow his eyes for a moment before taking a few steps forward and into the shadows of the gate. Once he was concealed from view of where Byakuya was, he quickly flipped over the wall silently before disappearing into the darkness of the courtyard's trees.

'He must be here for the same reason that I am. Which means that I can just wait for him to leave and find out what he learns.' Toshiro thought as he stayed fully out of sight within one of the trees.

-Far west side of Rukongai, within a cave-

Hyorinmaru stood silently in the poorly lit area as the only sound that could be heard was the talking of the various other zanpakuto. While the female side of Zabimaru was sitting in a wooden chair in front of a table, the male half was laying on the floor beside her sleeping somewhat loudly. Ashisogi Jizo was sitting on the house-shaped back-pack on Gonryomaru, whom was standing next to a stalagmite.

Sode no Shirayuki was leaning against the wall along with Senbonzakura, Wabisuke and also Tenken, all of whom were perfectly silent in their own small group. Hozukimaru and Ruri'iro Kujaku were sitting on a boulder off to the side, them being back to back as they seemed to ignore Kazeshini and Gegetsuburi arguing with one another. Both of whom were on their own wooden chairs in front of the table, yet the latter of the two was munching on a bag of chips in between talking and listening.

"Well your master is a second-rate lieutenant that does nothing but eat all day! Maybe you're more like him than you're willing to admit!" the dark-skinned zanpakuto claimed as he pointed a finger at the opposing man.

"Yeah well yours is so weak that anyone could beat him! He's afraid of his own power...and nothing is more pathetic than that!" Gegetsuburi retorted.

"Like I give a shit! That's one of the reasons why I couldn't stand working with him anymore...so I'm just going to slaughter his ass!" Kazeshini called out with a grin at the end.

Yet underneath all of this noise, Hyorinmaru had paid close attention to the faint sounds of water drops falling into a deep pool off to the side. Though as he kept his head turned to the right, his eyes were closed and he appeared to be very deep in thought.

But these thoughts were cut short when the subtle noise of foot steps approaching was heard, to which Hyorinmaru opened his eyes and turned toward the source. Him immediately seeing Muramasa coming down a long set of steps as he eventually joined the other zanpakuto. Yet the moment the brown-haired man approached, the whole group had become silent and turned to him.

"The time has greatly shortened my friends. We must take action now before all we hope to accomplish is ruined." Muramasa stated as he looked around to everyone.

"And what exactly are we going to be doing?" Kazeshini questioned as he leaned back against the wooden chair he sat in.

"We must use Hitsugaya Toshiro to break the Head Captain free so we may use Ryujin Jakka's assistance to eliminate not only him, but the rest of Seireitei as well." the turquoise-eyed zanpakuto said as he unconsciously clenched his hands into fists within his pockets.

"But the Head Captain himself has already made Ryujin Jakka-dono submit to him...what will allow him to over come the Head Captain and even the rest of Seireitei?" Sode no Shirayuki questioned as she stepped forward from her place beside Tobime.

"Because we shall all fight as a group. Right now our powers are equal, which means that we only need one more piece to tip the scale to our side." Muramasa stated.

"Are breaking the seal, his powers will be in flux for a brief moment...we'll use that opportunity to strike the Head Captain down before he can respond." he continued before turning to the small glow that was Suzumebachi.

This zanpakuto was a female that was no more than a few inches tall, her wearing a gold and black armor with a large stinger-like weapon that covered her entire right arm, the form of which looked similar to Soifon's Shikai. Besides this, she also had on a white, fur-like choker that could be seen around her neck. Her hair was reddish-brown in color and designed up in two long pig-tails attached to a bun on both sides of her head. Though her bangs swept down on either side of her left eye, it still allowed her light pink orbs to be seen.

"Well that's all fine, but how exactly do you plan on tricking Hitsugaya? From what I know of him, he's not the type to be tricked very easily...at all." Suzumebachi said in a somewhat high-pitched tone.

"I have a plan to do just that..." Muramasa said with a small smirk as he glanced over toward Hyorinmaru.

Whom of which had narrowed his eyes on his fellow zanpakuto, but he didn't voice anything until the brown-haired man continued his words. "...but it'll require the sacrifice of one of our most powerful allies."

The moment he had said this, all of the zanpakuto present turned their heads toward Hyorinmaru, who just shifted himself to face Muramasa fully. "And you expect me to do this how?" was all the teal-haired zanpakuto questioned as his eyes narrowed even further.

From the initial expression that Muramasa had given, Hyorinmaru had gathered that it wouldn't be a simple task. But the way the turquoise-eyed man spoke his next words, it became even more obvious that it would be a very difficult mission. "You must fight him...to the death."

-The Kuchiki Mansion-

Byakuya pressed a small key pad upon a large safe that was hidden underneath the entire house in itself, to which his finger briefly hovered over the last button as he spelled out Hisana's name. His eyes closed tightly during the process of the many locks within the safe being undone, him being in deep thought as he merely waited. Yet once the door had started to open, Byakuya took a step back and opened his eyes once more to the sight of the many bags and boxes inside the large container.

'My grandfather would have left his journal about 'that' event along with his most prized possessions.' the raven-haired shinigami thought as he walked through the opening.

Though as he went, his grey eyes shifted from one side to the other as the entire safe seemed more like a long hallway than anything else, to which he then stopped next to a small box. As he saw the name 'Kuchiki Ginrei' written upon the crate, Byakuya kneeled down and opened it up to reveal a photo album that had a picture of his younger self, Ginrei, his son and even Toshiro on the cover.

Once Byakuya saw this, a brief and completely invisible smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, to which he brought out the photo album and narrowed his eyes on the book beneath it. The raven-haired man then took out the book and flipped through its pages, to which he stopped after nearly halfway through. "Kuchiki...Kouga..." he whispered out silently as he began to read through the book.

'Jii-sama had told me about when he had to seal him away in the World of the Living. But is it that man's zanpakuto that is causing this? Or is it someone else?' he thought as his eyes narrowed as they scanned through the pages.

Yet while he did this, he sent a few brief glances to the door as to be sure that no one was approaching, him returning to the book when he was sure that he was still alone. But after a moment of his reading, Byakuya's eyes simply narrowed more before he eventually closed the book and placed it back where it originally had been.

'The description matched from what Senbonzakura told me. This 'Muramasa' is indeed the same zanpakuto that Jii-sama wrote about in his journal. So he is trying to free his master from the seal...which will probably lead to many deaths in both the World of the Living and Soul Society before he will be stopped again.' the grey-eyed shinigami thought.

'So that means I'll have to keep my heart 'open' in order to kill Kouga once he is released. Though it also means that I must do this as the Head of the Kuchiki Clan and not as a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen. Since as a Captain...I can't allow him to be freed in the first place.' he continued as he took off his haori, folded it up and placed it inside the box.

Byakuya then grabbed the photo album to do the same, his eyes drifting to the part of the cover picture that had his grandfather. "I'll finish this for you, Jii-sama. I swear it on the Kuchiki's honor." he whispered out as he put the photo album back in its place before closing the crate's cover and shunpoing to the door.

As soon as the door was shut and all the locks were reactivated, Byakuya immediately vanished and rushed out of his own mansion as a few of the guards walked in the opposite direction. But the moment he reached the end of the courtyard, he was instantly stopped as Toshiro had appeared in front of him, to which his eyes narrowed slightly.

"So...what exactly did you find out?" the icy captain questioned with a raised brow as he crossed his arms.

-Fourth Division-

Rangiku let out a groan as she rubbed her eyes, the burn across her face being mostly just a deep scar now. 'I really hope this isn't what Captain has to put up with.' she thought silently as Haineko made her twentieth remark about being hungry.

"I already told you Haineko...Captain Unohana has a certain schedule for when she feeds the patients, so we have to wait until then to eat anything." the strawberry blond said as she leaned back in her bed, it having the front propped up so she could sit.

"But time is moving so slow~!" Haineko whined out with a pout as she crossed her arms and paced back and forth through the room.

"Well if you have a problem with it, why don't you make a complaint to her?" Rangiku suggested, her hiding a small devious smirk after saying this.

The zanpakuto blinked to her for a moment before nodding her head and quickly heading to the door after a quick; "That's just what I'm gonna do!"

But not thirty seconds after leaving, Haineko came right back inside the room with a horrified expression on her face and her whole body shivering slightly. This just made Rangiku hold back a laugh and talk mostly in an inquisitive manner; "So...how did it go?"

Immediately following her words, the zanpakuto quickly rushed at her with a frightened look on her features. "She's the scariest person I've ever met in my life! How could you be so cruel as to let me go out there?!" she cried out in an overly dramatic manner.

As Haineko said this, the strawberry blond finally let her laughter come forth and spoke out between each gasping breath. "Because...it was too...funny!"

The werecat simply huffed to Rangiku and crossed her arms under her chest; "So mean...no wonder my darling's master doesn't let you lack off. He doesn't want to give you time to set up pranks." she muttered to herself.

Though Rangiku heard this, she merely giggled lightly and shrugged her shoulders; "What can I say? I enjoy teasing people, especially Captain since his reactions are always the best." she claimed with a wink.

Haineko raised a brow to her for a moment, yet she tilted her head up in response as she eventually gave a nod. "Well I know my darling's reactions are always the cutest and I know just how to break his icy demeanor when I really want to." she said with a mischievous grin.

The grey eyed shinigami smirked lightly to her comment before looking up thoughtfully; "I wonder something..." she trailed off as she drifted into her thoughts.

The zanpakuto blinked her eyes for a moment and tilted her head to the side; "What's that?" she questioned in curiosity.

"I was just thinking...does your infatuation with Hyorinmaru come from my...'liking' of Captain? Or is it the other way around?" the strawberry blond said, her clearing her throat during her brief pause.

"Who knows...maybe it's just because our taste in men are basically the same." Haineko said with a shrug and quick glance up at the ceiling.

"Maybe..." Rangiku whispered silently before turning to the side with a slight breath, but then swiftly turned to the side as a loud explosion occurred very close by.

The pair had immediately rushed out of the room, then right out of the building as they followed a large stream of smoke a few dozen yards from the Fourth. Once they arrived, they saw Toshiro and Byakuya with their blades locked and eyes narrowed on one another heavily. This sight caused both Rangiku and Haineko to widen their eyes in shock, to which they were about to intervene, yet the pair vanished before they could even move.

Though the strawberry blond and her zanpakuto were about to give chase, they weren't able to locate neither Toshiro's or even Byakuya's reiatsu. "What in the world happened?" Rangiku had asked silently as she and Haineko looked around for even a small sign of the other two.

"I don't know...but I could sense some really strong anger in both of them. They were really fighting seriously just then." the werecat said as she glanced to her right.

"Yeah, though if that were true...then why would they just suddenly disappear? If you're fighting someone, you never just vanish in the same moment as them." Rangiku stated as she placed her free hand on her hip.

"Something is definitely amiss with this whole thing." Haineko said with a light nod of agreement toward her master's words.

"And we're going to find out what that is." the strawberry claimed as both she and her zanpakuto took on a similar grin.


	151. Chapter 151

Well...I really hope everyone is still enjoying this, I've been rather pressed for time with me turning in my paperwork to the Coast Guard in the beginning of next month. So I've been really trying to keep things good. And Tuli-chan has been a real big help, so thank you yet again. ^^ Anyway, let me know what all of you think in your reviews. ;) I've only been getting like three each chapter as of late, so I've fallen behind quite a lot. =/ But thank you to each of you that have always kept up your steady reviews, you're all awesome. ^^

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Chapter 151:

-Tenth Division-

Hyorinmaru walked by the many frozen buildings with his gaze shifting in short and very concentrated glances. Yet the entire time, he kept his senses open so he would know when the inevitable attack would come as he flared his reiatsu. Though once the zanpakuto came to a halt, his eyes narrowed slightly as he could no longer sense Toshiro's spirit energy within Seireitei itself. This causing him to turn his head from side to side slowly as he kept his extra sense open just in case the icy captain was suppressing his reiatsu.

But even though he knew that Toshiro was probably doing this anyway, Hyorinmaru felt confident that he could still make out Toshiro's presence if he came too close. To which the zanpakuto turned his right hand slightly, this allowing a long katana to form in it after a brief white glow.

'Only minutes have passed since I was last here, but it still feels as though he has completely left Seireitei.' Hyorinmaru thought to himself as he glanced from side to side.

'But why would he simply leave? Did he decide to go looking for the cave? Or was it something else?' he continued in his mind.

Yet moments after his inner words, the zanpakuto quickly turned to the side as he felt a familiar reiatsu, though it belonged to both of the figures approaching. But just as he expected an attack, a voice called to him that caused his guard to drop before he was nearly tackled to the ground.

"DARLING~!" one of the beings squealed out, them jumping into Hyorinmaru's chest with their arms quickly wrapping around his neck.

"It's about time you got here~! I've been waiting forever~!" Haineko whined out as she pouted up at her fellow zanpakuto.

Though the teal-haired man looked down at her with a raised brow, his hand made no move to strike her down with his katana. All the while, Rangiku blinked her eyes to this and flushed lightly; "I almost hope this isn't what I look like with Captain." she whispered silently.

"Then it would just be too obvious." she continued to herself as Haineko kept hugging Hyorinmaru with a grin on her face.

But the whole time the werecat did this, the icy zanpakuto merely looked down at her as if confused about why she was behaving in this manner. "I am relieved to see that you are alive and unharmed Haineko, but now that you have been drawn back to the side of the Shinigami, we are now enemies." Hyorinmaru said silently, him sounding as though he were merely repeating something already said rather than warning her.

Haineko herself picked up on this instantly and just giggled lightly, it sounding closer to that of a purr as she continued to hug him. "Aw~...don't be like that~! You used to let me cuddle with you in your original form whenever our masters would be close enough." she said with an even wider grin.

Hyorinmaru raised his brow a bit higher upon her words, to which he then narrowed his eyes despite the rest of him remaining motionless. "So you know who my master is?" was all he questioned as he didn't seem to take anything other than that from her words.

Though the werecat kept her hold on him, she blinked a few times in response to his question and tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean? Of course I do...don't you?" she asked back.

The teal-haired man looked at her silently for a few moments before to the side with narrowed eyes; "I believe it to be the one Muramasa desired for me to kill last night, but if that is true...then the most recent order from him is something I must fulfill." Hyorinmaru stated as he kept his gaze away from his fellow zanpakuto and her master.

Both of whom had blinked for a moment in confusion before the werecat spoke up; "And what was that order?" she questioned as she slowly released her hold on him and slightly narrowed her eyes.

"To fight against him to the death." the icy zanpakuto said, briefly closing his eyes in the process as he quickly thought things through.

'It seems that he is no longer here in Seireitei, which means that I'll have to go searching for him. And since the only part of my mission is to fight against Hitsugaya Toshiro...there is no reason for me to fight against anyone else.' Hyorinmaru thought as he watched Haineko and Rangiku widen their eyes briefly to his spoken words.

Yet after a moment, the strawberry blond took on a grin as she shrugged her shoulders; "Well that's perfect." she began, placing her free hand on her hip in the process.

The werecat turned to her and gave a small smirk as she nodded her head; "That it is...we simply need to figure out where he and Byakuya ran off to." she said as her smirk turned to a grin.

As Hyorinmaru listened to the two speak, his brow raised once more before his eyes closed fully. 'I suppose it would be beneficial to me if I stayed with them. I have a greater possibility of finding Hitsugaya Toshiro if I'm with one of the people who know him very well.' he thought to himself before merely shrugging his shoulders to the two before him.

"Very well...I'll go with the both of you to find him." was all the icy zanpakuto said before Haineko suddenly hugged him tightly.

"Yay~! I get to spend time with my Darling again~!" the werecat all but squealed out as she grinned widely.

Rangiku gave a small smirk to this scene before she looked off to the side with a sigh; "I just hope he's not doing anything too reckless." she muttered silently to herself.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" Haineko asked with blinking eyes as she looked to her master, despite her still not releasing her fellow zanpakuto.

"Nope...nothing." Rangiku began as she turned to the side; "Now...from what I felt a while back, it feels like the small traces of Captain's reiatsu leads into the forests past Rukongai, so that should be our first place to check." she finished with a serious nod of her head.

"Aw~! But I just got reunited with my Darling~! I wanted to go out on a date with him at least once before we left." Haineko pouted as she puffed her cheeks briefly.

As Hyorinmaru remained fully silent, he simply stood there glancing back and forth between the two. 'Though they have an idea of where to actually begin searching, it might be a bit noisy traveling with them.' Hyorinmaru thought as Rangiku just waved in response to her zanpakuto's whining.

"Anyway..." Rangiku began as she cleared her throat slightly; "...we better get a move on if we hope to catch up to Captain." she finished with a small wink.

Immediately after she spoke, both zanpakuto gave a nod in response before they all vanished and appeared just outside the Seireitei itself. But as they rushed on, Rangiku took the lead and had eventually waved Haineko forward as she and Hyorinmaru had gone a few feet back from the strawberry blond. Though once the werecat caught up to her master, the two began to whisper to one another and made the icy man to narrow his eyes slightly on them.

"Do you think we should have told anyone else about us trying to find Captain? I know that we told Captain Unohana about what we saw, but is it a good idea to just leave right now?" Rangiku questioned as she rubbed her cast covered hand for a brief moment.

After her words, Haineko blinked a few times before quickly shaking her head; "Of course not! Now if we manage to find him, you'll get to spend extra time with him!" she declared with a grin.

"Which means that you'll get a 'leg up' on Soifon, Kukaku and possibly even your greatest rival...Yoruichi." the werecat continued.

Rangiku blinked her eyes to this before giving a small grin of her own and nodding; "That's right...if I can relay more to him this time around, then he'll have to show what he truly feels for me." she claimed in a confident tone.

Haineko grinned even wider and halfway fist-pumped the air; "Exactly! Now let's get on with it so that when we meet up with him...it'll be in a romantic moonlight." she said with a hinting wink, which made Rangiku both flush and smirk widely at the same time.

All the while, Hyorinmaru just let out a breath as he follow along with them and shook his head lightly; 'Such strange women.' was all he thought as they all continued on through Rukongai and even into a heavily dense forest.

-Within the forests outside Rukongai-

Toshiro narrowed his eyes heavily on the darkness before him as the sound of water droplets echoed outside of the cave he stood before. Though as his eyes eventually closed, a small smirk appeared on his face as he could sense the Head Captain's reiatsu within the cave.

'Perfect...now it's his turn.' he thought to himself as he turned his head to the side, to which when his eyes reopened, they met the materializing forms of many of the rebelling zanpakuto.

Kazeshini was in the very front of the group with a large grin on his face and his blades pointing to the side in a battle ready pose. Sode no Shirayuki was on his left and beside Tobiume, both of whom had their long sleeves covering their mouths as they looked at the icy captain. Next to them were the two halves of Zabimaru, the woman form of which just had her hands on her waist and a raised brow. While the boy side was sitting on his tail just behind his other half, him appearing to be almost nervous in looking at Toshiro.

But on the other side of the black-skinned zanpakuto were Ashisogi Jizo, with its blank stare, and Gegetsuburi as he munched on a large cookie. Yet beside this pair was Ruri'iro Kujaku as he flipped his hair to the side and seemed to just examine the white-haired captain for a while. Though Hozukimaru stood beside him, the larger zanpakuto was standing firm with narrowed eyes at the hybrid before him.

All the while, behind each of these beings were Senbonzakura, Tenken, Wabisuke and Gonryomaru, all of whom were completely silent. Though the last zanpakuto, Suzumebachi was floating in the air above all of her comrades, she seemed to be the farthest one from Toshiro.

"Tch! It's about damn time he got here! Now I can finally cut loose!" Kazeshini declared as his grin widened even more.

"Don't be stupid...this isn't your everyday shinigami we're dealing with here." Tobiume muttered as she removed her sleeve from her mouth.

"Indeed, a single wrong move from any of us will result in our immediate demise." Sode no Shirayuki concurred, her shifting her icy cold eyes toward Kazeshini as he glared at the two.

"Ha! Who cares! I'll slaughter him all on my own if you're all too scared to fight!" the black-skinned zanpakuto claimed as he took a step forward.

Though as he did this, Toshiro simply turned to face his opponents completely and even took on a small smirk. "Oh? Is that so?" he questioned out silently as his eyes narrowed slightly, yet dangerously.

"Then try it." was all Toshiro said as the ice covering both his hands shattered apart and landed on the ground around him.

This action caused all of the zanpakuto to widen their eyes and even flinch to a certain degree, to which Toshiro just kept his eyes narrowed on them and let his smirk fade. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to slaughter me all on your own?" the white-haired captain asked as his eyes met Kazeshini's.

Whom of which ground his teeth slightly as his hands briefly trembled before his grip tightened around his weapons and he charged forward. But as he did, his roar of a battle cry echoed too high over the warnings his comrades gave to him as he rushed on. Though he never made it more than ten feet of Toshiro when said captain brought his hand out in a flicking type fashion. To which once he had flipped his finger forward, a huge shock-wave blasted out and right at the zanpakuto.

All of which were instantly consumed by this blast and knocked back with such force that it even uplifted much of the ground around them. But while a select few of the zanpakuto only went back a couple of yards, due to them jumping over most of the attack, the rest were knocked back nearly a hundred feet. Though the moment each of them had shifted their eyes over toward where Toshiro just was, they looked around in shock as there was no sign of him.

This making Kazeshini let out a 'Tch' as he stood himself up a bit painfully, him receiving the blunt of much of the shock-wave. "I knew we should have attacked when we had the chance. Even he wouldn't have been able to take all of us on at once!" he declared in frustration.

"Don't be an idiot...he's already shown to be able to knock all of us back with just a flick of his finger, do you really think he couldn't kill us all if he wanted to?" the female side of Zabimaru spoke out as she helped the boy half stand up from being knocked down.

"Though I agree with you on that...it's curious as to why he didn't." Sode no Shirayuki said silently as she brushed the dirt off her snow white kimono.

"Who knows...all that matters is that we keep him away from here and have Hyorinmaru find him so they can fight." Suzumebachi claimed, her high-pitched voice sounding somewhat shaken up.

"Hmph...it's a pretty boring job if you ask me. I'm more interest in fighting against more shinigami that will give me a good fight rather than a quick death." Hozukimaru said in a near groan as he crossed his arms.

"I agree. Perhaps we could spare some time to attack Seireitei again?" Ruri'iro Kujaku said, him covering his mouth with his feathery sleeve.

"We were told to stay here and guard the entrance! Plus now that we've seen Hitsugaya, we should peruse him...at least to the point that he would meet Hyorinmaru-san." Tobiume spoke up as the bells in her hands jingled when she turned swiftly to the pair.

"Sounds good to me! Let's go cut loose!" Kazeshini claimed, him completely ignoring the female zanpakuto.

Just as Tobiume was about to make another argument, each of the three men had vanished before she could utter out a single word. This making her huff and groan impatiently, to which she glanced around to the others as they simply stayed in place and gave her a small nod. Yet it was the smallest of the group that spoke up as she floated down to land on Sode no Shirayuki's shoulder; "We should probably split up then. A few should stay here to guard, while the rest give chase."

After her words, everyone present gave a small nod in agreement, to which Suzumebachi pointed the opposite direction that Toshiro had sent his opponents fly just moments ago when she continued on. "I can still feel a faint sign of his reiatsu that leads over that way, so if we really hurry...we might even catch up."

"We'll stay here to stand guard...the rest of you guys can chase after him." the woman half of Zabimaru claimed with a small smirk, to which the boy side blinked up at her in shock.

"What!? All by ourselves?! But if he comes back...we're doomed!" the red-haired boy declared in a bit of panic, him receiving a hit to the head from his other half.

"Just leave it to us." the green-furred female said with a light nod as she crossed her arms despite the snake-tailed boy still trying to dispute.

But it was too late for him as the rest of the zanpakuto had already vanished, this making the male tackle the woman down and started smacking her with his overly long sleeves. "We're going to die out here!" he called out as neither of them noticed as Byakuya shunpoed past them and into the cave.

Said raven haired man had to immediately narrow his eyes so they would adjust his sight to the darkness quickly. This allowed him to move forward with ease and his sense of direction not being mislead; 'Just a bit further.' he thought to himself as Senbonzakura appear beside him and they moved on together at great speed.

Yet in the complete reversed direction was Toshiro as he sat on a high branch of a very tall tree, to which he flexed his newly ice-covered hands. Though in doing so, his eyes flinched a bit and his teeth ground tightly while he muttered to himself. "I guess it's still too early."

'Though it's good that I got them to go the opposite way to search for me...it probably won't take them long to figure out that reiatsu is an older trail. But I truly have to be sparing when it comes to using my full strength...otherwise my muscles will rip apart.' the white-haired captain continued in his mind as a faint sound that was only heard during an arrancar's regeneration could be heard.

'Even after a few days...that fight against Aizen is still costing me even more than I would have liked.' he thought before the sound stopped and Toshiro flexed his hands once more.

But the icy captain was jerked away from his thoughts as he heard an all too familiar sing-song voice from down below; "So there you are Captain~!"


	152. Chapter 152

Chapter 152:

-A few moments ago-

Rangiku blinked her eyes as she looked around the forest around her, to which she let out a heavy sigh to the sound of her zanpakuto humming behind her. Though the strawberry blond didn't bother to turn around, she could already picture the sight of Haineko still having her arm hooked around Hyorinmaru's. Which was fully correct along with a wide grin spread across the werecat's face, and her eyes being closed with glee.

But after a few moments, the humming became purring as Haineko had even started to skip along beside her fellow zanpakuto. This had made Hyorinmaru turn his nearly expressionless face toward her, him letting out a silent breath and closing his eyes briefly in the process.

'She is a very strange woman indeed, but yet...it feels as though I've done something like this before with her.' the icy man thought in his mind.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, Darling~?" Haineko questioned with a slight tilt of her head as she looked up at Hyorinmaru.

Whom just looked back to her with a brief shake of his head; "Nothing." was all he said as he became completely silent afterward.

But the werecat merely pouted to him as if not accepting his answer, yet she turned away with a huff as she spoke. "Hmph...still a dragon of few words I see."

The icy zanpakuto looked to her once more as his brow raised almost invisibly, to which he momentarily closed his eyes yet again. 'It truly feels as though she's said something like that to me before.' he thought as he took a short glance at Haineko's arm that was still wrapped around his.

'And 'this' feels so...' Hyorinmaru continued on, but he never finished as a sudden burst of reiatsu that belonged to Toshiro could be felt nearby.

This caused all of them to snap their attention to the left as they all immediately shunpoed toward the white-haired captain's spirit energy. Which all but vanished soon after the flux, making them all look around quickly as to figure out where to go next. Yet this was soon answered when Rangiku side-stepped to the right and looked up in a tree, beyond a blocking branch.

"So there you are Captain~!" she called out with a grin as she waved to her superior.

Toshiro had turned to her and blinked a few times before sighing heavily, yet once he saw Hyorinmaru with her along with Haineko, his eyes narrowed quickly. Once Rangiku stopped waving her good arm, she then turned to the icy zanpakuto as Toshiro had immediately shunpoed in front of him.

"So have you figured it out, Hyorinmaru?" the white-haired captain asked as he looked up at his zanpakuto with a slightly raised brow and narrowed eyes.

Though a moment of silence passed between the two, which made both Rangiku and Haineko feel uneasy, Hyorinmaru had simply given a nod in response. But after this gesture, the teal-haired zanpakuto had formed a katana in his ice-covered hand as he spoke up.

"Though I don't have any desire to fight against you for the sake of Muramasa's plan...I do wish to fight against my master for my own purpose." Hyorinmaru began as his eyes never left Toshiro's.

"A dragon is fiercely loyal to the one they recognize as their master. And though just knowing you are indeed my true master is enough to place me on your side...I want to see if you are truly worthy of my powers." he continued, to which the icy captain's eyes narrowed a bit more.

"From what I can tell, you are one of the strongest beings to exist in this world...so I desire to see it for myself." Hyorinmaru finished before both he and Toshiro shunpoed away, the latter giving a brief nod a split second before.

This making Rangiku pout and groan as she quickly followed after them along with Haineko; "Can't they just sit still for a minute?" the strawberry blond asked in a pout.

"What do you expect? They're dragons...us cats have to help teach them how to relax and unwind." the werecat spoke with a wink as they followed the two icy beings, both of whom seemed to know exactly where they desired to fight.

Yet the moment they had appeared in the clearing within a large mountain range, the two women sweat dropped lightly. "Figures." was all they said in unison as they took their spots on tall rock formations.

The valley the pair had chosen was surrounded by mountains on three sides, each of which went on for as far as the eye could see, though the forest they came from was the only side that didn't hold any sort of mountain. All the while, Toshiro and Hyorinmaru shunpoed a few yards apart, the latter of which bringing his weapon up and out to the side as his body glowed a faint white. The white-haired captain narrowed his eyes to this and gave a short glance to his lieutenant and her zanpakuto. Both of them had taken a step backward as they seemed to prepare for what was to come, to which Hyorinmaru hardened his gaze on his master.

Whom had spread his feet apart and unsheathed both his katana, to which he held them out to either side of him and pointed away. But immediately following this, a quick burst of reiatsu radiated from Toshiro and briefly caused Rangiku and Haineko to strain for a breath. Yet as quickly as it was felt, the reiatsu diminished and the icy captain flew forward at a great speed.

Though Hyorinmaru saw his attack coming the entire way and blocked Toshiro's slash toward his chest. Once their blades connected, a huge percussion blast caused the earth around them to uplift and shoot away at velocities that knocked down many of the surrounding rock formations. All the while, both of the fighters just kept their eyes on one another, despite one of them being half blind.

But as they kept their katanas locked, Toshiro gripped his other weapon a bit tighter before swinging it forward and at Hyorinmaru. Whom narrowed his eyes for a moment as he parried the white-haired captain's primary blade away before blocking the next attack. Yet this one still created a similar after-effect as the previous one, which made Rangiku and her zanpakuto to quickly jump backward when their footing crumbled down.

Immediately following this slash, Toshiro took on a small smirk as his eyes turned black and gold before twirling his body around. This knocking both of their blades to the side and allowing the icy captain to throw a spinning kick at his opponent's rib cage. But this attack was quickly blocked by a strong arm that Hyorinmaru brought out to guard. Which had caused everything in the direction, save for the mountain itself to be nearly eradicated as the force from Toshiro's kick blasted it all away.

Yet despite the strength, the icy zanpakuto appeared unaffected by it as his eyes remained narrowed on his master. Who returned this expression before he flipped backward and away from Hyorinmaru, whom leapt forward with both his icy hand on his weapon's grip. Toshiro watched this carefully before he too instantly came charging right back at his opponent with great speed. They then collided their blades out in front of them, which strangely enough caused no damage to the landscape, though a strong gust of cold wind blasted out from the pair.

But seconds after the wind died down, the earth suddenly caved in within a fifty foot radius of the fighters, to which the ground seemed to literally blow out in every direction. Though as Hyorinmaru kept the pressure on his blade, his ice-covered feet dug hard into what was left of the earth as the strength from both of Toshiro's weapons nearly knocked him off his balance. Though after the dirt stopped flying out and away from the center of the collision, a large cloud of debris and dust formed around the two. This had allowed Toshiro to vanish from Hyorinmaru's sight without needing to use shunpo, though Hyorinmaru knew he had the moment the pressure left his blade.

All this making the icy zanpakuto to shift his narrowed eyes around quickly before spinning around to block the moon shaped blade coming toward him. But he then had to turn the other way as a second moon-blade came toward him, to which he knocked it away with ease. Though the moment Hyorinmaru heard the sound of another object coming through the dust cloud, he used his reiatsu to blast the dirt billow away.

Which had allowed him to see that what was coming at him was a katana, but the wielder was right behind him with the weapon's chain end around his left hand. Hyorinmaru then turned himself around and partied the icy captain to the side, only to make him head right at the katana he threw earlier. But rather than being impaled, Toshiro simply caught his other blade, stopped his momentum instantly and spun both his katanas at his opponent.

Hyorinmaru had his eyes shifted to the side as he watched most of this from the corner of his eye, to which he swung himself around with his blade in both hands. This bringing about another powerful collision that seemed to cut the air around them, a blast of icy cold reiatsu bursting out of both of the fighters. Though immediately afterward, Toshiro had flipped himself forward to swing a downward kick at Hyorinmaru.

But as the icy zanpakuto went to block, his eyes widened when he saw some ice coming off of the white-haired captain's foot while it came down. Yet the moment ice hit steel, Hyorinmaru's widened eyes opened even more so as the force of Toshiro's attack seemed twice as strong as the previous ones. Which had caused the teal-haired man to flinch from the strain of stopping the kick, and even for the earth to crack heavily within a hundred foot radius.

Though while Toshiro hovered in midair for a moment, he suddenly threw himself into a fast backflip. This allowing him to use his other foot to kick Hyorinmaru's blade up, plus give him a full opening for the cero he charged in his right hand. Despite the white-haired captain tossing both his katanas into the air, he only formed a cero in one of his hands and fired it right where his zanpakuto had been.

Yet as the cero flew on into the distance, Toshiro landed on his feet from his flip and turned around to face Hyorinmaru, whom sent five large ice dragons toward his master. But the turquoise-eyed captain simply watched it come toward him and caught both his katanas in his respectful hands. To which as the dragons came within inches of his body, they suddenly shattered apart as a gigantic explosion occurred from the cero's impact with a far off mountain.

The blast itself had demolished nearly half of the mountain itself into nothing, leaving a huge crater that was filled with melted rock and ash. But this was unseen as the eruption created too much smoke, yet the percussion wave that destroyed Hyorinmaru's attack reached said zanpakuto like a strong shove to his chest. Yet neither of the fighters paid any attention to the explosion as they kept their eyes heavily narrowed on one another, despite the grey-eyed zanpakuto having to tense his legs to stay in place from the percussion wave.

'Did he plan on my attack just then? Or did he simply seize the opportunity not to waste any energy in stopping it?' the teal-haired man thought to himself as the grip on his katana tightened.

'Either way...his power is exactly what I expected of my master. Now all that's left is for him to show me the true extent of his strength so that I may truly understand his heart.' he continued, his eyes narrowing slightly.

All the while, Rangiku and Haineko had taken cover far back within the very forest they came from. To which neither of them noticed the zanpakuto that were pursuing Toshiro had arrived nearby and began watching the battle between the two dragons. Which had now become a brief test of wills between Toshiro and Hyorinmaru as they readied for another attack.

Yet it was the latter that had taken the first opportunity as a stream of cold air had gone from his blade into the sky, this creating a great many storm clouds. But he hadn't ended there, he then tilted his blade slightly as ten pillars of ice appeared around Toshiro and slammed together at too great of a speed for even the white-haired captain to escape. Yet the ice surrounding said hybrid shattered within moments for reasons that couldn't be seen through the ice that had encased Toshiro. To which the icy captain then charged forward and brought his now glowing white blades to either side of him.

Though as he came closer, the icy zanpakuto shifted a foot behind himself as to be braced for the incoming attack and narrowed his eyes heavily. But Hyorinmaru's expression turned to a slightly shocked one as the dust and smoke cloud from the far off cero blast finally came within range. This completely covering Toshiro as he came rushing at his opponent and blocked the teal-haired man's view of everything around him.

As the icy captain approached Hyorinmaru, he felt in the subtle movements in the air that told him that he had shupoed away, to which he immediately followed. Though once he appeared near of Hyorinmaru, said zanpakuto sent a slashing blade down at his head with great force and speed. Yet Toshiro quickly side-stepped out of the way and slashed the ground near both the fighters' ice-covered feet. This causing the cero energy surrounding Toshiro's blade to create a blast that knocked the two backward a few yards.

But unlike Hyorinmaru, the white-haired captain wasn't caught by surprise and recovered from the explosion instantly. Which had given Toshiro the element of surprise as Hyorinmaru was knocked out of the dust cloud and the icy hybrid followed immediately after him. Though the zanpakuto's eyes widened to his sudden emergence through the cloud, he was even more shocked of when he saw the hollow mask over his face.

"Cero Oscuras." was all Toshiro said before the white glow on his blades turned black and swung them forward.

This had engulfed Hyorinmaru completely and sent a great amount of the attack into the mountain range near of them. Which in turn created an even greater explosion than before as a few of the mountains themselves vanished completely. The attack itself blasting everything a mile far and fifty feet across to either ash or just nothing. Yet while the viewers watched all this, many of them just stared in awe at the raw power that they saw before them. It being like nothing any of them had ever seen as many of their masters hadn't been present or conscious during the battle against Aizen.

The only two people who didn't appear shocked by this were Rangiku and Haineko, both of them simply watching in worry as if they weren't watching the fight as an actual fight. But as the explosion's debris and dust began to clear away after much time, everyone's eyes widened slightly when a huge dragon made of ice emerged from it.

Toshiro briefly widened his eyes for a moment before quickly narrowing them as he quickly shunpoed back and away from the dragon that was Hyorinmaru. Yet upon further examination, the zanpakuto had strange tattoos all across his body, and his eyes were now the same as a hollow's. Then the large dragon let out an earth shattering roar, causing all of the other zanpakuto nearby shivered lightly in response. All the while, Rangiku just bit her bottom lip as she gulped down somewhat nervously.

"This is getting out of hand really fast Captain. You're going to have to end it fast...before we have to reform the map of Soul Society." the strawberry blond whispered silently to herself.

But as if Toshiro heard her voice carry through the largely destroyed area, the ice on his body shattered apart and he shifted his body to the side. "I really hope my body can withstand it." he muttered before vanishing in a sonido.

The second he reappeared next to Hyorinmaru's head, he let out a short battle cry before he slammed a fist into the dragon's face. This causing his black and gold eyes to widen as his head was jerked backward, only for his body to follow along with it soon after. Toshiro's single punch causing Hyorinmaru's entire bulk to be lifted off the ground, to which it then slammed into a great many rock formations in the opposite direction they had been originally fighting in.

Once his body hit, the rocks crumbled down and fell directly on top of the large dragon, to which it let out a roar of pain. Yet the icy captain suddenly appeared high above his zanpakuto and descended down with extreme speed, him flipping above and around a series of a dozen simultaneous ice dragons coming toward him. Toshiro then slammed a powerful downward kick into his opponent, to which the heavily cracked and uplifted ground around them seemed to literally explode from the sheer force. It almost seeming as though a meteorite the size of a small mountain hit the earth directly on top of Hyorinmaru, whom let out a screeching roar of pain before all fell silent.


	153. Chapter 153

**Chapter 153:**

Toshiro walked forward through the heavy fog of dust and debris, to which he let out a breath of what seemed to be exhaustion. But as he came up to the blade of his own Hyorinmaru, his icy stare softened slightly and he tilted his head down. 'I truly used too much strength...even if my opponent was you.' he thought to himself as a gust of wind blew the cloud of dirt away.

This revealed a huge crater in the ground so large that it could have fit an entire division within it. Yet as he stood over his zanpakuto, his eyes widened instantly as a ripping sound was heard in his left arm and then in his right leg. The icy captain immediately grabbed his arm tightly as the skin on his forearm had literally split apart, showing a series of bulging muscles that brought forth a great amount of blood.

While his right hand concealed most of the red liquid and his spontaneous injuries, his leg was covered completely by his hakama pants. But the blood gushing out of his lower limb had become a puddle under his icy foot, which caused him to fall to his knee in pain. Yet the white-haired captain never made a noise as he ground his teeth so tightly from the agony, it seeming as though his dentures would shatter from the pressure.

Though as Toshiro started to stand himself back up, his regenerating powers seemed to heal him quite quickly, to which his hands began to shake. This made the icy captain to look at his hands with narrowed eyes, him then closing his eyes and curling his fingers to form fists.

"Looks like I'm out of time." he muttered to himself as he sensed Rangiku and Haineko rushing over to him.

Yet the white-haired captain simply turned his head to the side as he let out a shivered breath; 'Looks like this is as far as I can go Byakuya...the rest is up to you.' he thought in his mind before wobbling slightly on his feet.

But just when it seemed like Toshiro was going to fall over, Rangiku and Hyorinmaru caught either of his arms. The latter of whom had materialized from the blade on the ground, to which he then brought his master's right arm around his shoulders. All the while, the strawberry blond did the same and had even brought her own arm around her captain's waist to steady him. Though this caused them both to bend their knees a bit to be at his level, this served no obstacle for either of them.

"Jeez...talk about flashy. Do you have to make the people making maps of Soul Society go ballistic every time you have a huge fight?" Rangiku questioned with a teasing tone and pout.

Toshiro turned to her slowly and smirked lightly with a shrug; "It's been a number of years since I've fought that hard when it hasn't been against Aizen." he responded with a silent chuckle.

"Well there was that arrancar named; Arturo Plateado." Hyorinmaru stated as Haineko came up close to him as if to check for any injuries.

"You had a great amount of difficulty defeating him after he had managed to absorb your Shunko's power." the icy zanpakuto continued, him giving Haineko a short nod as if to assure her he was alright.

"Huh? Who are you talking about? I don't remember an arrancar attack." Rangiku said with blinking eyes before looking to her captain with a raised brow.

Whom of which just sighed and closed his eyes briefly; "It was about forty years ago. He was an arrogant arrancar who was hell-bent on killing anyone that could be considered powerful. Though he had told me that he would be part of Aizen's future army, it seemed likely he wasn't overly enthused about it." the white-haired captain said silently.

"Hmph...who would have been?" Haineko added with a roll of her eyes as she and her master chuckled lightly, while Toshiro and his zanpakuto gave small smirks of amusement.

But after a moment of silence, the icy captain spoke up and steadied himself on his feet as he seemed to regain his balance. "I had better get back to the office...I have a number of things I need to do."

Immediately after his words, Toshiro attempted to move away from his zanpakuto and lieutenant, yet the latter had stopped him by putting a hand to his chest. As the two made eye contact, the strawberry blond narrowed her blue orbs and shook her head quickly.

"No way Captain...you need to rest right now. You never told me how or why it's dangerous for you to use your full strength too much, but it's obvious right now that you just did." Rangiku began as she kept her superior's arm around her shoulders.

"When you told me about your increase in strength all those years ago, I didn't bother to question you and simply promised that I would make sure you never pushed yourself too far. Well I'm going to fulfill that promise." she continued with a tone and gaze full of determination.

This made Toshiro blink a few times in response, him looking down for a moment as if recalling something. Yet he quickly let out a breath and cleared his throat; "I appreciate that Rangiku...but that promise is a bit outdated at the moment. If I don't get to the office soon, my whole body could end up ripping apart." the white-haired captain stated with narrowed eyes and a dead-serious voice.

Haineko and her master had instantly become wide-eyed to this, to which they looked from Hyorinmaru back to Toshiro as they both began walking forward. Rangiku immediately followed along before she tripped, her captain's arm was still being wrapped around her shoulders. But as she did, she shifted her gaze quickly to Toshiro, her eyes holding the question that her zanpakuto asked without much delay.

"What in the world are you talking about?" the werecat all but demanded as she walked closely with the others.

But as they continued on, the zanpakuto that chased the icy captain to the battle ground seemed to come out from behind the trees far off to the side. To which they weren't able to hear what Toshiro spoke next, yet none seemed to care as they all left the area as fast as possible.

"Okay...Hyorinmaru-san is with him now, so we can just leave." Tobiume claimed as they all rushed off.

"O-Of course...Muramasa never said to do anything to him anyway, so there is no reason for any of us to get killed by getting involved." Sode no Shirayuki said with a nod of agreement as they continued on.

"As if there was any 'getting involved' with a battle between monsters like that." Gonryomaru added with a somewhat frightened expression on his features.

"They're not monsters!" Suzumebachi claimed with a slightly angry tone despite how high-pitched her voice was.

"They're just a lot more powerful than most of us...combined." the small zanpakuto continued with a slight sweat drop and now a nervous sounding tone.

"Let's..." Tobiume began as she cleared her throat; "...let's just pretend that none of that ever happened."

Immediately following her words, all of the other zanpakuto gave a light nod in response to her. All the while, both Byakuya and Senbonzakura appeared near of where the fight took place. But upon seeing the destruction, Byakuya's eyes had widened and he turned his head back and forth slowly to take everything in.

"I had always known Captain Hitsugaya to be powerful with only the Head Captain himself as a rival. But..." the raven haired shinigami began as he swallowed down hard.

"Such destruction is beyond the normal limits of a shinigami." Senbonzakura finished as even through the holes in his mask, his eyes were wide in shock.

Byakuya simply nodded his head as he turned to the side as his eyes narrowed a bit further; 'Though it appears that he has gained control over his zanpakuto...why is he heading back to Seireitei?' he thought to himself as he noticed four sets of foot prints leading from the battlefield into the forest.

"Perhaps he was injured?" Senbonzakura suggested as he could hear his master's thoughts as though they truly shared a single mind.

"Possibly, but with the high-speed regeneration from his hollow powers...it's not likely any injury he would sustain could cause him to make a full retreat." Byakuya speculated as his arms crossed and he turned to the side as he felt the presence of many of the zanpakuto heading away from them.

"It appears that none of them were unintelligent enough to begin a battle with either of them even after the fight had ended." the samurai-dressed man spoke as he shifted his head with his master's before turning back to said shinigami.

Byakuya himself just gave a light nod before letting out a breath and shifting his body to face where he and his zanpakuto had just come from. "Well if Captain Hitsugaya is leaving, then it is up to us to finish this off for good." he stated as his eyes now narrowed from conviction.

Senbonzakura shifted himself in the same direction before nodding his head; "The Head Captain will be freed in twenty more minutes, so we have a time window to lure the other zanpakuto away. It should make it easier to follow Muramasa to the World of the Living when he attempts to revive Kouga." he said as his eyes disappeared in the shadows of his mask.

The raven-haired shinigami looked to him briefly before shifting his gaze back and vanishing in a shunpo, to which his zanpakuto followed after him. Them leaving behind the now barren wasteland, which at one time had been a clear and almost beautiful valley in the mountains.

-Tenth Division office-

Toshiro walked over to the side and looked back to Rangiku, Haineko and Hyorinmaru as they had all stood back as per his instructions. To which as the white-haired captain placed an icy hand to the surface of the wall, a faint glow was seen from it in the shape of an actual door. But once the glowing stopped, a dark stairway appeared in place of the glowing area of the wall, making Rangiku and Haineko blink in surprise.

"Whoa...can I have something like that for my closet?" the strawberry blond muttered out with a small smirk.

The icy captain merely rolled his eyes as he started walking down the stairs; "Touch the left side for five steps, the right for two, left for three, the right for seven and the left for one." Toshiro called out in the echoing darkness.

Though as each of the three did as they were told, the stairway suddenly gave out from under them and they all dropped a few feet before landing on a hard ground. Yet due to there not being any light in the area, no one could see until Toshiro had snapped his fingers. This brought on a series of lights that revealed a huge laboratory that seemed like half of Mayuri's entire division put into one spot. All the while, the white-haired captain and his zanpakuto seemed to allow Rangiku and Haineko time to take all this in, both of the dragons heading off in another direction.

But it didn't take long for the strawberry blond and her zanpakuto to snap out of their shock and follow after the two. Though the former of the two couldn't help but voice out the question they both had; "When in the world did you have time to build all this?"

Toshiro glanced back to his lieutenant and gave a small smirk as he stopped in front of a very large status tube. It being large enough that it could fit all four of the people present and still have enough room for three more. But as the icy captain turned to this, he decided to answer Rangiku's question with his own.

"Why do you think I spent so many extra hours at the office after I helped to take down Kisuke's lab?" though immediately following his words, the strawberry blond just pouted to him and huffed.

"But I was only a seated officer back then, I couldn't possibly have figured out that 'this' is what you were doing." Rangiku claimed as she continued to look around.

"Well...you had told me back then that I should get a hobby." Toshiro said with a shrug as he glanced to her once more.

"Jeez, I know I said that...but this is a little overboard." the lieutenant countered as she shook her head slightly with a heavy sigh.

"Plus...it's not fair that you never told me about any of this, even after all the time we've spent together." Rangiku continued, but then she tilted her head down slightly as if she thought about something she didn't want to.

"Just how many other secrets do you keep from me?" she whispered to herself, the only one able to hear her being her zanpakuto as Toshiro activated his machine and created too much noise for him to listen.

But despite not hearing her, he seemed to notice her change in demeanor, to which he raised a brow. "What's wrong?" he asked with an actual genuine amount of concern.

Rangiku simply waved her hand dismissively and cleared her throat of the tightening to keep her voice from cracking when she spoke. "Nothing...so what is this for anyway?"

Toshiro kept his eyes on his lieutenant for a few extra moments before he turned to the machine as it hummed somewhat loudly. "It's basically an aging machine. It'll allow me to increase my physical age so that I won't have to worry about...well...my most recent problem." the white-haired captain said as he looked down at his arm that had ripped apart only minutes ago.

"Eh? But why haven't you used it sooner? To avoid that whole thing in the first place?" Haineko questioned with blinking eyes.

"Because it wasn't complete until just the other day. But even then...this machine is still too dangerous to just step inside of without proper tests." Toshiro explained as he let out a breath.

"And thanks to everything that has been happening...I haven't been able to run any tests. So now that I've run out of time, I have touse myself as the first test and hope that the arrancar's ability to basically never age will play into effect and avoid being reduced to dust." he continued as he pressed a button and allowed the tube part to be lifted into the air.

"Wait a second!" Rangiku called out as she grabbed her captain's wrist quickly before he could step into place.

"How and why in the world did you even think to make something like this?!" the strawberry blond demanded as she narrowed her eyes on him in worry and shock.

"'How' is after the fight against Barragan. I took a sample of his reiatsu when I could after everything was over and began construction on this based on his powers." Toshiro stated with a silent breath.

"As for 'why'...it was specifically for 'this' reason only. I needed to age my physical body so that I wouldn't be ripped apart from the strength I gained from...well...you know. But though I was hoping not to rush things, it looks like I have no other choice now." he continued on as he stepped underneath the tube, Rangiku releasing him slowly.

Though as he turned around to face the others, his and his lieutenant's eyes met and he gave a small and reassuring nod. "Don't worry...I have a fail-safe that will deactivate the machine if my body starts to decay at a molecular level." Toshiro said as he pressed a button on the console just to his right.

Once he did this, the tube lowered around him and sealed him off from the rest of the world. To which a subtle purple glow began to radiate from within the tube and engulf the white-haired captain in its light. But as this happened, Hyorinmaru glanced toward Rangiku as she held a saddened and very worried look on her features.

'She knows.' the icy zanpakuto began in his mind as he turned his eyes to his master as the machine began to hum louder.

'My Master would be long dead before his body itself would be broken down at a molecular level.' he finished as the purple glow turned brighter, nearly blinding everyone watching.


	154. Chapter 154

**Chapter 154:**

-A half hour later, World of the Living-

Byakuya stood in the air looking around for a long while, him narrowing his eyes heavily as his right hand stayed ready to unsheathe his katana. But after a moment, Senbonzakura suddenly appeared in a kneeling position beside him and looked up at the raven-haired shinigami.

"What is the status in Soul Society?" Byakuya questioned silently as he didn't even bother to turn to his zanpakuto.

Whom of which eventually stood himself up and spoke in an informing tone; "Muramasa has successfully retrieved the Head Captain's memories of Kouga's seal, and is now on his way here. It appears that the device Captain Hitsugaya gave to you was a complete success in disintegrating the Head Captain's barrier within the spoken amount of time."

After hearing this, Byakuya simply nodded his head, but then he shifted his gaze to Senbonzakura as if telling him to continue. Though the zanpakuto seemed hesitant at first, he complied with his master's unspoken order.

"Muramasa also released Ryujin Jakka-dono and is having him attack Seireitei, but he is being held at bay by Hyorinmaru-dono as the Head Captain regains his strength. Furthermore...most, if not all of the remaining rogue zanpakuto have been defeated by their masters or killed in the crossfire of Ryujin Jakka-dono's and Hyorinmaru-dono's fight." Senbonzakura continued on with his slightly visible eyes narrowing.

Though the grey-eyed captain still didn't say anything, the question in his eyes was obvious to his zanpakuto as he looked at him almost directly. "Although there doesn't seem to be any sign of Captain Hitsugaya himself..." the mask-wearing man began silently.

"...Lieutenant Matsumoto and her zanpakuto Haineko had informed me that he had left the Seireitei after receiving an emergency message from Shihoin Yoruichi." the zanpakuto finished silently with a neutral tone as he tilted his head down.

Byakuya was silent for a few seconds before he merely nodded his head lightly and turned to the side with narrowed eyes. "They will manage to contain Ryujin Jakka...we must keep our full focus on Kouga once he has been released." he stated as he walked through the air with quiet steps.

The raven-haired zanpakuto gave a light nod to his master before following beside him as they both felt a senkaimon opening a few dozen yard directly in front of them. But the moment Muramasa came through the gate, he never bothered to look around as he simply shunpoed through the air and toward the outskirts of the town.

Though Byakuya and Senbonzakura followed him at a distance, they both noticed that Muramasa's movements were very sluggish and becoming even more weak the further he went. But the moment the brown-haired zanpakuto stopped in front of a river, the pair also stopped themselves as they watched him from high above. The whole area being surrounded by a dense forest that didn't allow anything to be seen through it unless the view was from high above the trees themselves.

As Muramasa brought up a hand toward a small island in the middle of the water, he wobbled on his feet before falling to the ground. This made the two look to one another before shunpoing down to the zanpakuto, whom appeared to have just passed out. To which Byakuya narrowed his eyes heavily and looked to the side; "Hmph...it appears it won't be a simple task." he whispered to himself as he then turned his gaze in the opposite direction.

Where of which he could feel the presence of Inoue Orihime coming closer along with one other being that Byakuya identified as an arrancar. All of this making the shinigami's eyes narrow slightly before looking back toward Muramasa; 'Though it's quite questionable of how they were already so close to this area despite there not being anything out here...it's very fortunate that they are. I can use that Inoue Orihime's powers to bring him back to his normal strength so he will be able to release Kouga.' he thought to himself, to which he vanishing with his zanpakuto as the other pair came closer.

But as the two took their places high in the air, Senbonzakura turned to his master as said shinigami watched Orihime immediately go over to Muramasa without question. Yet all the while, the arrancar never seemed to come into view as they stayed within the cover of the trees.

"Must it be him to release the seal? Surely Ginrei-sama would have spoken something about the seal in his journal." Senbonzakura spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Unfortunately Jii-sama didn't wish for him to ever be released, so he didn't mention anything about the seal itself. So yes...it must be Muramasa to do it." was all Byakuya responded with as he never turned to his zanpakuto.

"I understand that...but why allow him to be released in the first place? It may be for the honor of your clan to 'dispose' of a traitor such as himself, but why go this far?" the armor-wearing man spoke from behind his mask.

"It's not only for my clan's sake, it's for my own pride...and also Jii-sama's pride. This man soiled the Kuchiki name and therefore Jii-sama's; I will kill Kouga outright for doing such a thing to my family." Byakuya claimed as his eyes hardened almost angrily.

This made Senbonzakura simply give him a light nod in response, it being obvious that he was giving his master some space since he had surprisingly strong emotions when it came to his family. But though he stayed quiet the whole time, both he and Byakuya suddenly gained the same question in their minds as they watched Orihime. 'Where is Kurosaki Ichigo and the rest of his friends?'

Yet this inquiry soon disappeared once Muramasa soon regained consciousness a few minutes after it had come into their minds. To which Senbonzakura shunpoed down in front of Orihime when it appeared that his fellow zanpakuto would attack the teen. Yet as the brown-haired man stared heavily at Senbonzakura, he simply turned away quickly and immediately shunpoed to the small island out in the middle of the river.

Though as the zanpakuto began to utter out the incantation to release his master, Byakuya allowed himself to drop down to the ground and beside Senbonzakura. Once he landed on the grass beneath him, he glanced back to look at Ulquiorra as he stepped out from under a tree. Said arrancar having his hands in his pockets and his eyes focused on Muramasa, to which his gaze shifted over to the raven-haired shinigami as he spoke.

"Hitsugaya-sama told me to come here in order to keep everything and anything out of your way as you fight against this 'Kouga'. And also to give you a message after you have claimed your victory." Ulquiorra said silently as he took one of his hands out of his pockets.

'I see...so he must know about Kouga's abilities as well.' Byakuya thought to himself as he just gave a silent nod to the green-eyed man before him.

'Which means that he believes that I can defeat him without needing any assistance.' he continued in his mind as he turned toward the sudden shattering of what had originally been a large tree.

As he did, Byakuya fully missed Senbonzakura clearing his throat lightly as he heard his masters inner words, him keeping his thought of; 'as if you'd ask for any' to himself. Yet all the while, the shattered of the fake tree had revealed a black coffin hovering in midair, which had grey chains wrapped around it along with four long golden spears going through it. But this soon disappeared as a great amount of blue electricity surrounded it and caused the coffin to disintegrate.

The moment it did, it showed a withered and malnourished man with piercing green eyes and shoulder length dark purple hair. Which was very messy, but also had some red on the left side, though it appeared to be heavily cut as though it had been sliced off by a blade. He also seemed to have a strange mask and a set of gauntlets around his wrists and forearms. But the former of these appeared to be cut with only the part on the bridge of his nose remaining. All the while, he held what seemed to be a broken katana in his right hand, along with a red scarf draped over his shoulders, a beaded necklace around his neck and a pair of torn hakama pants.

Though this man seemed somewhat different from how Byakuya's grandfather described, said raven-haired captain immediately knew he was looking upon Kuchiki Kouga. To which Byakuya had shunpoed to the island and brought forth his katana to be ready as Kouga hovered down to the ground below him. The second his feet touched down, Kouga's eyes snapped open and he immediately shifted his gaze to Muramasa, whom had begun to smile upon seeing him.

"Master..." the brown-haired zanpakuto whispered out as he stepped toward Kouga with his eyes clearly showing his joy of his plan finally being completed.

All the while, Byakuya just stood there watching this with his eyes narrowed on the former Kuchiki. Yet in the corner of his eye, he could see Orihime leaving quickly after Ulquiorra's order, to which he silently let out a breath. 'Now I don't need to hold back for her safety.' he spoke inwardly in silence.

But the very moment he finished this thought, Byakuya's eyes widened heavily when Kouga suddenly stabbed the blade in his hand through Muramasa's stomach. To which, said zanpakuto looked from his master in shock, down to the katana sticking out of him in disbelief.

"M-Master...why?" Muramasa questioned in a gasping breath as his eyes couldn't shake the complete despair that overwhelmed him after Kouga spoke.

"I have no need for a broken weapon that doesn't appear to my call." was all the shinigami said in a disgusted tone before he just kicked his zanpakuto, him having an expression that fit his tone perfectly.

This blow had driven the blade even deeper into Muramasa as he fell to the ground, him coughing up blood in the process. Yet the zanpakuto didn't seem to feel the physical pain as his mind was breaking under the mental stress of his master no longer needing him.

"Get out of my sight...you waste of a tool." Kouga continued as he spit on the brown-haired man and picked up a spear that had fallen nearby from the coffin that imprisoned him.

But just as the former Kuchiki raised the weapon up to strike down his own zanpakuto, he was stopped by Byakuya's blade as he pushed Kouga away with a quick swing. This caused Kouga's eyes to narrow heavily as he turned to Byakuya, whom just readied his zanpakuto in front of him.

"Someone that raises his blade against their own zanpakuto is not even worthy of being a shinigami...let along part of the Kuchiki household." was all the raven-haired captain said as Senbonzakura appeared next to Muramasa and shunpoed back to the mainland with his fellow zanpakuto in his arms.

Though as Kouga saw this in the corner of his eye, he still had to dodge away from a slashing attack coming right toward his neck. But despite getting away from this attack, he immediately had to shunpo away as Byakuya lifted his left hand, pointed two fingers at him and blasted a Byakurai spell at him. To which as Kouga reappeared to the side, he took on a small grin when he looked at Byakuya with narrowed eyes.

"Hmph...I see." he began silently as he brought the spear up in a more battle-ready position.

"You must be the new head of the Kuchiki clan, huh? Perfect!" Kouga continued as his grin widened to the point of seeming psychotic.

"This will be the best way to not only test my powers for when I rule this and every other world! But also to rid myself of that cursed clan forever!" the former Kuchiki claimed as he charged forward with his spear's blade aimed at his opponent's head.

Though as Byakuya brought up his blade, he only slightly parried the spear off to the right side so that he could use Kouga's momentum to give him plenty of time to raise his hand up."Soren Sokatsui." the raven-haired captain muttered as a huge blast of blue spirit energy blasted from his hand.

This caused Kouga's eyes to widen briefly as he spun away from the attack, yet his left hand was still caught in the kido and burned somewhat. But this didn't stop the purple-haired shinigami from coming back with a thrust from his spear, which Byakuya easily side-stepped away from and pointed his katana right at Kouga's eye. Which was only spared of being impaled due to Kouga quickly tilting his head to the side, yet he still ended up shunpoing away as Byakuya placed his free hand on his other arm with his fingers pointing to the side of his opponent's head.

But it was all for naught as the moment Kouga appeared to the side, his body was slammed from all sides by six yellow beams of light that stopped him from moving. This caused the purple-haired shinigami's eyes to widen heavily before shifting his eyes to the side as Byakuya appeared behind him and slashed him deeply across the back. Yet even as blood gushed out from this wound and Kouga let out a growl of pain, the grey-eyed captain then kicked his enemy hard in the side. Which had broke his own kido and sent Kouga flying to the side, making him stab his spear into the ground to stop himself as he breathed heavily in pain.

Though the moment he steadied himself, Kouga's eyes widened once more as he looked up and saw Byakuya muttering silently with his hand pointing down right at him. To which all the purple-haired man heard before he shunpoed to the side was; "Hado no. 88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho."

This had engulfed the entire island they were on to be consumed by a gigantic beam of blue electrical and spiritual energy that made a huge percussion wave that uplifted the trees closest to the river. Yet as Byakuya looked down at the heavily scorched island, he tilted his head up and over to his right as Kouga was completely out of breath and nearly gasping for air. But after a moment of just staring, the raven-haired man just let out a sigh and allowed himself to drift down to the burned ground below, to which Kouga followed soon after.

Said green-eyed shinigami eventually began to chuckle and gain a smirk as he regained his breath; "Hmph...your kido is certainly impressive I'll give you that. Admittedly...it's even better than mine or even Ginrei's. It seems that things have progressed since I was sealed." he began as his reiatsu leaked out and filled his opponent's senses little-by-little.

"Which reminds me...if you're fighting me, that must mean Ginrei must have finally died and he's left his pathetic little descendant to deal with me in his cowardly stead." Kouga continued with high amusement in speaking about the elder man's death.

Yet the second these words had left his lips, Byakuya was directly behind him and slashed the man across his bare back. "I won't allow you to ever speak his name." he claimed with true hatred echoing out of his normally cold voice.

This caused Kouga's eyes to widen heavily and swing his spear toward his attacker, even as a large amount of blood began to gush forth from his new wound. But the raven-haired captain was already gone and grabbed his opponent by his shoulder; "Raikoho." Byakuya whispered out as a huge blast of yellow electricity blasted through Kouga's shoulder.

The kido making a large hole in the green-eyed man's limb, which smoked slightly from the burned flesh, but not after Kouga quickly spun around in a fury and spiced his spear at Byakuya's head. But even as the raven-haired captain shunpoed away, his enemy immediately followed after him and suddenly shot a huge ball of fire at him.

"Kongobaku!" the former Kuchiki called out as he blasted his kido from the tip of his spear.

But as the ball of fire came closer to him, Byakuya just stared at it blankly, to which he tossed his katana into the air slightly and held out his fingers. As he did this, the kido seemed to just vanish for a moment, which caused Kouga's eyes to widen once again in shock. Yet the second Byakuya swung his other hand forward, his enemy quickly shunpoed to the side and pointed his spear at Byakuya once more.

"Hyoga Seiran!" the green-eyed shinigami yelled out as a huge wave of ice hurled toward the grey-eyed captain.

Yet as it came closer, Byakuya just turned toward this and pointed his hand in the kido's direction. The moment he did this, a huge ball of fire twice as large as the one Kouga blasted toward him came flying out and into the ice kido. This created a large explosion that resulted in a great amount of steam and cold air, but also a cover for Byakuya as he came right toward his opponent.

Whom of which gained a small smirk when he saw Byakuya's blade stabbing him in the chest; "Even after saying that you won't let me say his name again..." Kouga began, his voice being directly behind Byakuya.

Said captain turning all too late as the spear pierced into and through his back, to which he gasped for a blood filled breath. This just making Kouga smirk a bit wider as he continued on with his words; "...it's quite unfortunate that he never taught you on how to deal with my special ability to manipulate your senses."

But soon after he finished, Byakuya's own voice was heard behind Kouga, whose eyes widened heavily at the sound. To which he quickly turned his head from the sight of the other 'Byakuya' becoming nothing but a mere collection of small pieces of black cloth, over to the real one with rage burning in his eyes.

"He never needed to." the raven-haired captain said as he slashed his enemy across the back swiftly.

This wound being a bit deeper than the last one and had produced even more blood as it was now gently flowing all down his back. Yet Kouga just growled in pain and quickly vanished in a strange shimmer, to which a dozen versions of him began to appear all around Byakuya.

"We'll just see about that." Kouga called out from each of the embodiments of himself before they all charged at Byakuya.

Who had closed his eyes and took in a breath before spinning around and blocking what seemed to be one of the Kouga's neck. But after a brief shimmer of purple, it showed the real former Kuchiki with a shocked expression on his features.

"I-Impossible..." he whispered out before he just shunpoed to the side and glared heavily at Byakuya.

Said captain turning himself toward Kouga and finally opened his eyes once more and looked at him with a blank stare. "No...my own master taught me too much to be fooled by such meager illusions." the grey-eyed man said silently.

These words made Kouga's eyes twitch in anger and rage as he clenched his spear tighter; "You dare to call my powers 'meager'?" he growled out as his teeth ground hard against each other.

"I'll show you that I'm the most powerful being this or any world has ever seen!" he screamed out as he raised his spear into the air and his whole body was engulfed in purple reiatsu.

But just as he seemed ready to charge, Byakuya was suddenly behind him and his katana was sheathed. "Onmitsu Shunpo, Third of the Shiho." was all the raven-haired captain said as blood gushed out from both Kouga's chest and back.

This made the wounded shinigami's eyes to widen in shock as his spear broke into pieces and his body just fell limply to the ground. "It can't...be..." was all he said before his consciousness was lost and death took him.

As Byakuya turned around to look at his opponent, he let out a breath and turned to the side with narrowed eyes. But they quickly widened a bit as he saw Toshiro standing there with his arms crossed and a small smirk on his face. Yet it was what was different about the icy captain that made his old student become as shocked as he had.


	155. Chapter 155

**Chapter 155:**

-Ten minutes ago-

Hyorinmaru shunpoed along with Rangiku and Haineko as the three quickly appeared on top of the gate that surrounded Seireitei. But each of their stern expressions turned to some degree of shock as they saw a huge wave of fire hurling directly toward them. Yet despite each of the three knowing exactly whom it was within those flames, they stayed completely still in their position to keep any intrusions out of the center of all Soul Society.

Though the entire time the wall of fire came closer, the trees from the forest of Rukongai that separating them were burning down quickly. This wave of destruction leaving nothing but ashes in its wake as the flames eventually reached the wall and swept up like a tsunami of fire over it. But just as the blaze was about to engulf the three, the fire itself suddenly vanished and revealed Rangiku and Haineko ducking slightly on instinct. All the while, Hyorinmaru was faced with another figure with their katana locked with his own.

This being was a youthful male that stood just as tall as his opponent, whom he stared at with deep blue eyes that burned with the fires of a million suns. He had long fire-made hair that stretched down to the middle of his back and seemed to spike up at the top due to the flames themselves. His attire was made up of black and gold armor pants, similar colored armor on his hands, forearms and shoulders. Though he had no shirt that showed his heavily toned and scared body, he had a long gold and silver scarf around his neck that also covered most of his face.

"Long time no see...Hyorinmaru." the man stated as a loud hissing noise was heard between his and said zanpakuto's blades.

All the while, the icy man just narrowed his eyes a bit and pressed his katana harder against his opponent's. "And you...Ryujin Jakka." Hyorinmaru responded as they both pushed away from one another and vanished into thin air.

All of this had caused Rangiku and Haineko to blink in shock as they looked around, but couldn't find any sign of the two. But their question was quickly answered when they felt a shock-wave occur far off to the side, to which they immediately followed after the explosion. Yet they were quickly stopped when Senbonzakura appeared before the pair; "I need to ask you something." was all he said as he seemed to just ignore a second blast and shock-wave, which had been directly behind him and even uprooted a few trees that hadn't been burned down.

-A hundred meters away-

Hyorinmaru instantly blocked a swing from Ryujin Jakka, to which yet another gigantic crater appeared beneath him from the raw strength. This made him flinch slightly as his eyes narrowed once more on the zanpakuto before him as they both backflipped away from each other.

"It appears that you've grown over the years." the blue-eyed man spoke with a neutral tone that seemed as though he was faking some kind of amusement.

"As have you." was all Hyorinmaru responded with as he shifted his feet apart slightly.

After doing this, the clouds in the sky darkened and spread out all through the atmosphere. But the moment they reached within a few yards of where Ryujin Jakka was standing, they just disbursed. This leaving a large hole in the sky that merely made the fire zanpakuto look up in an unimpressed gaze.

"Don't bother." Ryujin Jakka muttered silently as he simply tapped his foot and caused all the water within two miles to just evaporate completely.

Though the ice on Hyorinmaru remained, it hissed and began to steam from the extreme heat that hit much of the area. All the while, the teal-haired man just kept his eyes narrowed before tilting his katana to the side. This had caused a huge amount of steam and cold air to occur all around them, which formed a heavy fog that neither of them could seem to get rid of.

"Our element based powers are still just about equal." Ryujin Jakka said, his tone still quiet as he spoke, yet it seemed to echo almost all around Hyorinmaru.

"For now." the icy zanpakuto said back as he just stayed put and glanced around, both zanpakuto being very silent and short with their words as neither seemed too interested in actually speaking.

"Indeed." the fire-haired man spoke out from just behind Hyorinmaru, whom immediately swung a slashing attack toward him.

But when his blade never connected to anything, the grey-eyed man just went back to searching for his opponent. Who had spoken directly behind Hyorinmaru once more; "Enough conversation."

Instantly after speaking, Ryujin Jakka vanished as a sudden spike of ice shot out from the ground under his feet. Though the second he appeared to the side, Hyorinmaru was already behind him swinging a blade toward his head. "Agreed." was all the icy man said as he made his attack.

Yet metal never hit flesh as Hyorinmaru was quickly knocked back, a large wall of fire appearing between the two fighters and blasting the grey-eyed man away. Though as he went, Hyorinmaru watched the flames disappear and reveal that his enemy had also vanished without a trace. Once the ice zanpakuto stopped, his eyes widened slightly when he saw Ryujin Jakka directly in front of him with a leg raised to kick.

But though Hyorinmaru managed to raise an arm up, the blue-eyed man sent his roundhouse kick to his opponent's side with enormous strength. This blow sending the teal-haired man far off to the side and into the burned path Ryujin Jakka created on his way to Seireitei. Yet Hyorinmaru soon stopped his momentum and parrying away a follow-up stab toward his chest.

This allowed Hyorinmaru to turn and grab Ryujin Jakka by the arm with his left hand, to which he then proceeded to slam his right fist into his enemy's stomach. Though due to him still having his katana in hand, one of the spikes on the guard stabbed into the fire zanpakuto's abs. Yet it didn't have any effect as it seemed like a pin prick to Ryujin Jakka, whom was only harmed from the punch itself as he was thrown backward.

But even after he flipped around and landed his feet on the side of a tree that was still intact, the second he kicked off of it, the whole tree just vanished from existence. Despite there being a small pile of ashes from where it had stood, those were blown into the wind from the force of Ryujin Jakka's legs. Yet as said zanpakuto came toward Hyorinmaru, the icy man took his katana in both hands and blocked the powerful swing from his opponent.

The moment their blades collided, a large shock-wave blasted out around them, along with their reiatsus. Which had taken the form of a white and red aura respectfully and had begun to flare around the pair. This causing the whole area around them to both freeze and burn all at once, causing the earth around them to simply crumble under the power and pressure.

Though before their own foot hold could crack, the two simply shunpoed away and reappeared in midair. To which they started to move through the sky with such speed that even when they stopped to attack, it could hardly be seen by the naked eye. Yet they soon came back to the ground, both of them sending a punch into the others fist, which made the ground to shatter and blast away. Once the rocks and debris settled, it showed the two standing in the center of a fifty foot crater that was twenty feet deep.

"It's about time for us to finish this." Ryujin Jakka stated in his strange tone that continued to sound as though he was somehow faking his emotions.

Hyorinmaru merely responded with a nod of his head and shifted his katana out to the side, him holding it parallel with the heavily cracked ground beneath him. All the while, the fire zanpakuto simply tilted his own blade outward so his palm was facing his enemy, yet his grip had begun to tighten on the handle. Despite their positioning being different, their stances were the same as they both muttered out a single word in unison. "Bankai."

A split second after they two said this, two enormous pillars of reiatsu blasted up into the sky and caused the ground to crack and shatter from the immense pressure. But the thing that caused everyone in ten miles to gasp in shock was the fact that the air itself seemed to vibrate from the raw power. This being caused from both the severe heat and extreme cold, which were battling for dominance on a molecular level within the atmosphere itself. To which anyone with little to no spirit energy just passed out instantly, the reiatsu itself being too much for their bodies to handle.

All the while, Hyorinmaru had taken on his full dragon form and was surrounded by a field of ice under his serpent-like body. Ryujin Jakka himself had also taken on a dragon-like form, only his was slightly longer and rather than having wings, he had legs and arms that ended with heavily clawed feet and hands. Yet while his scales followed the same color scheme as his armor he wore previously, his hair had turned into a fire-made mane that flared around his head.

But as Hyorinmaru had ice beneath him, Ryujin Jakka had heavily scorched ground that turned fully black as what trees that were left on his side spontaneously combusted. Though it was only within a two hundred foot radius this happened, it was enough to cause panic all around Rukongai. The moment screaming could be heard, Hyorinmaru lunged his body toward his opponent, whom had done the same as he brought his front claws up to attack.

Once they had collided a blast of reiatsu made the air so heavy for anyone and everyone within a hundred feet that they fell to their knees to gasp for a breath. This included Rangiku and Haineko as they were continuously having to back away from the fight due to just how powerful their reiatsu was combined together.

Yet the fight itself had just become more and more savage as it progressed on. In place of sword slashes, there were bites and swiping of large claws. Rather than fast shunpoes, the pair made quick lunges with their entire bodies. And instead of bursts of their powers over fire and ice, they created enormous waves and tornadoes of roaring flames and freezing snow.

But as the two battled on, the ground around them both began to crack and crumble, creating a large gorge where there once was a dense forest. Though as they continued their monster-like fight, they eventually split away from each other and looked around their surroundings. This making their dragon eyes narrow slightly, yet it was Ryujin Jakka that spoke up in the large canyon they both made.

"This is all we are Hyorinmaru..." the fire creature began as he brought his front legs off the ground to stand up higher on his back ones.

"...destruction." he finished as his reiatsu began to heighten, to which his opponent just narrowed his eyes even more.

"Possibly..." Hyorinmaru started silently as he moved his own body upward to be at eye level with Ryujin Jakka.

"...but that's not our only purpose we've been given." the ice dragon stated just as his enemy was wrapped up in a strange black fabric.

But the moment this happened, the fabric itself began to turn to ash, yet not before a great many weights hit the fabric. This causing the fire dragon's body to slam into the ground, causing a brief earthquake as he seemed to struggle to free himself. Though even as the fabric was starting to fall away from him, five towers the size of sky scrapers suddenly fell from the sky and landed down on Ryujin Jakka. While there was one pillar for each of the dragon's limbs, the fifth landed directly on his head and pinned him down even more.

Yet this suddenly disappeared as the fire dragon roared out loudly, causing all of the kido thus far to just evaporate into nothing. "Nishi: Zanjitsu Gokui!" could be heard from Ryujin Jakka as he continued his roar.

Though just as the dragon looked up toward where he now knew his master to be, his eyes widened heavily as he looked down and saw the Head Captain just standing there. But it wasn't the elder man's presence that shocked him, it was the sword that was pierced through his scaly chest. This caused the dragon to stumble slightly before he gained a small smirk on his features and just vanishing with a last few words.

"About time, Master."

-World of the Living, at the same time-

Toshiro let out a breath and rubbed his eyes; "I know...'this' wasn't what I was expecting either." he muttered out silently as Byakuya just continued to stare at his former sensei.

"I'm just glad I had this haori made a while back, my other one was torn to pieces after..." he continued before clearing his throat, him showing that he was dropping the subject before it started.

"Anyways...I'm sure you have some questions for me." Toshiro finished as he just crossed his arms as to let his appearance to be taken in.

The icy captain was now only two inches taller from what he had been just less than an hour ago and had slightly more mature features. But this would have gone completely unnoticed if it wasn't for the fact that his hair was now twice the length it originally was and designed in a somewhat similar fashion as his zanpakuto's. Aside from this, Toshiro also now had a high collar haori that had short sleeves rather than none, plus a golden outline along the edges.

All this had mad the raven-haired man blink a few times before clearing his throat; "I will save my questions for your sudden change of appearance for later." he began silently.

"For now...I will simply ask of you why you sent him to deliver a message when you, yourself are already here to give it to me?" Byakuya questioned as he gestured toward Ulquiorra, whom stood motionless like a statue on the shoreline of the river.

Toshiro glanced over toward the pale arrancar before back to Byakuya and gave a light shrug; "Well that actually wasn't him. I'm an ice clone and I modified myself to look like Ulquiorra in order to see your fight against Kouga. That is just an ice statue that I made when I returned to my normal form. I didn't want you to get suspicious even during your fight, so I made it to make sure you could concentrate fully on defeating Kouga." he said as the raven-haired shinigami blinked in a bit of shock, 'Ulquiorra' just shattering apart.

"I figured that since you always seem to try and impress me during your fights that I'm physically there for, I would just watch as someone else. And it seems to have worked...especially since I didn't have to worry about you hearing when Orihime accidentally called me by my name." 'Toshiro' continued on, to which he just gave a small smirk to the question that was on Byakuya's features, 'Why?'.

"Well..." the ice clone started, him glancing down to the ground for a brief second as he took in a short breath.

"...your grandfather didn't tell me everything that happened between him and Kouga. But he did mention the fact that he wished for either you or someone of the Kuchiki line to finish what he couldn't." he spoke, him crossing his arms across his chest.

"Of course not long after him telling me what he had, Ginrei told me to promise him that when the time came...I would make sure to protect you. Though I couldn't be here in person...I still made sure I kept my promise to him." the white-haired clone said as he gained a small smirk along with Byakuya.

Though after a moment, the raven-haired captain raised a brow in question as he briefly glanced toward his zanpakuto. Whom was sitting with Muramasa as he appeared to be fading away, yet Byakuya didn't seem to pay much attention to this as he turned back to 'Toshiro'. Despite his gaze unintentionally shifting down where the icy hybrid's eyes used to be, he quickly adjusted himself when he spoke.

"If that's true, then where is the actual Captain Hitsugaya?" the grey-eyed shinigami asked as his brow raised a bit more.

"Well...that's actually part of the message I wanted to deliver to you." the ice clone began before clearing his throat.

"Kurosaki Ichigo's younger sister, Kurosaki Yuzu...has been kidnapped by beings from Hell. He is currently with Uryu Ishida and Kujo Nozomi. My original is not far behind them and has likely caught up to them in Hell." he stated with a simple informative tone.

Though this information shocked Byakuya fully, he controlled this easily and only had his eyes widen slightly. To which he just nodded his head and narrowed his eyes once more; "What is it that Captain Hitsugaya wants me to do?" he asked with a tone that showed that he may or may not follow the order.

"He wants you to return to Soul Society, inform the Head Captain of the defeat of Kouga and the situation that is going on in Hell. Also..." the turquoise-eyed clone began, his voice trailing off silently at the last word.

After a few moments of pausing, Byakuya's gaze hardened slightly as he wondered why even a clone of Toshiro would hesitate so much so say something. But he didn't wait long before he had his answer, to which his eyes had widened more than they ever had in his entire life in response.

"I'm going to marry Shihoin Yoruichi."


	156. Chapter 156

**Chapter 156:**

-On the shoreline, during Byakuya's and Kouga's fight-

As Senbonzakura stood fully still with his back turned to Muramasa, he watched his master battle against the former member of his own clan. Yet the brown-haired zanpakuto ground his teeth and started to push himself up, despite still having his own broken katana stabbed through his stomach. Though the moment he got to his feet, he stumbled down to his knees and choked on a breath that was filled with blood.

But Muramasa endured this and returned to his feet, him looking at Kouga with hazy eyes as he reached out in a desperate manner. "M-Mas...ter..." he managed out as blood dripped out of his mouth.

Once the first drop of the crimson liquid hit the grass beneath him, his eyes rolled back and he fell forward limply. Yet just before he went too far, his momentum was stopped by Ulquiorra, whose eyes were now a turquoise color rather than their usual emerald-green.

"You've lost Muramasa." the arrancar spoke in his usual emotionless voice, said zanpakuto seeming to regain his senses after nearly blacking out.

Muramasa then narrowed his eyes heavily at the man keeping him from falling, to which they instantly widened the moment Ulquiorra had continued on. "Not only in this battle...but your master as well."

"Even if his destiny had been to rule over everything, he would have still needed to control his own power rather than allow it to control him." the raven-haired arrancar said, to which his voice seemed to start out normal, but gradually turned into that of Toshiro's.

"Y-You know nothing of our pain!" Muramasa began as he pushed himself away from the arrancar he had identified as Toshiro.

"We were always held back and feared! No matter what we did, they were always jealous!" he continued as he stumbled to his knees, to which Senbonzakura turned toward him.

"Kouga was the greatest there ever had been, yet they just tossed him aside and planned to seal me away out of fear of our power! I wouldn't let that happen!" the brown-haired zanpakuto declared before he began violently coughing out blood.

But as he did this, 'Ulquiorra' seemed to just stare down at him silently for a while, to which he just let out a quiet breath. "And that is why you both lost your way." he began, him glancing toward the fight for a brief moment.

"You desired for your master to be the greatest, while he desired for his power to be acknowledged. Putting the two together creates..." 'Ulquiorra' continued as he pointed toward Kouga, whom panted slightly.

"...an impatient and immature man with the will to destroy everything in his path because of a superiority complex." he finished with a stating tone that just made Muramasa's eyes widen as his coughing finally stopped.

"I-It can't be..." the injured zanpakuto muttered silently through his blood covered hand, him having placed his hand over his mouth upon the start of his cough.

"It's understandable of what you were trying to do, Muramasa." Senbonzakura spoke up, to which both the brown-haired man and 'Ulquiorra' turned to him.

"There isn't a zanpakuto in history who wouldn't tear the world apart to help their master. But you lost your connection with Kouga long ago." he said silently, only his right eye being seen through the small light reaching into the shadows of his mask.

"You should have realized that you were both going in the wrong direction when you couldn't hear his voice." the deep purple-haired zanpakuto continued, causing Muramasa's eyes to widen even more than what they had.

"B-But...how did you know that?" was all the bleeding man could muster as he still had yet to pull the blade from his body.

"It doesn't take a newly born zanpakuto to see that you have suffered physically and mentally at the hand of your own master. And we all know what happens when we are no longer in sync with out masters...we're no longer able to hear them call out to us." Senbonzakura said, him turning away from the two and looking at his master blast a great many kido spells at his opponent.

"You've gone many years without truly communicating with your master...and with the way he is now, there is no chance of changing that. Both you and Kouga lost this fight long before it even began." he stated as his arms crossed across his partially armored chest.

Though Muramasa wanted to retort to his fellow zanpakuto's words, nothing come out of his mouth as subconsciously, he knew all of what Senbonzakura said was true. But regardless of this, he shakily stood himself up, pulled the broken katana from his stomach and went to attack the deep purple-haired zanpakuto with it. Yet his movements were very sluggish as the moment he pulled the blade from his body, blood began gushing from the wound and made all his muscles all but shut down. Muramasa only able to move forward out of sheer willpower, but he was quickly stopped as 'Ulquiorra' grabbed him by the wrist and pushed him back slightly; "It's over Muramasa."

Despite the arrancar using very little force against the zanpakuto, said man stumbled back a half-dozen steps before he steadied himself. But Muramasa didn't appear to want to give up, even as his complexion had paled so much from the lack of blood, he still stood as firm as possible.

"You have no more reason to fight now...so just let your last few moments be in peace." 'Ulquiorra' continued as he simply stepped between the two zanpakuto.

Muramasa glared heavily at the man before him, his grip on the broken katana tightening the whole time as the wound seemed to actually be healing and his bleeding lessened. But then he simply dropped the weapon and he looked down with an expression of despair; "I just wanted things to go back the way they were." the brown-haired man began as he allowed himself to fall to his knees out of both weakness of his nearly blood drained body and sadness.

"I just wanted to be one with Kouga again...like we're supposed to be." he whispered, his head tilting back so he was looking up at the sky.

"I know." 'Ulquiorra' said silently as he stepped forward as his form seemed to transform into ice and literally split in two.

As this happened, what appeared to be the raven-haired arrancar regained the proper colors as he turned around and just stood motionless facing Byakuya and Kouga. All the while, Toshiro's form took shape from the remaining ice and he came up directly in front of Muramasa. Though when he came within a few feet of the man, he took on the appropriate colors of his flesh and clothes.

"Though it may not have happened in this life, perhaps in the next...you will both be closer than you ever were in this one." Toshiro said silently, him kneeling down in front of the brown-haired zanpakuto.

Whom had looked to the icy captain with blinking eyes before he gave a small smirk and nod; "Maybe..." was all he said before laying back and taking in a breath.

After his single word, Toshiro just vanished into thin air, to which Senbonzakura turned to him and looked down. "I am truly sorry that things ended up this way." he said silently through his mask.

Muramasa just shifted his gaze away from the sky toward his fellow zanpakuto before shaking his head; "What's done is done...I will simply have to wait for the next life for my second chance." he responded as his eyes closed.

As Senbonzakura listening to this, he gave a quick glance over toward the battle as it seemed to be drawing to a close. To which he walked over to Muramasa and kneeled down next to him, this bringing both his eyes into view.

"I look forward to our next meeting." was all the deep purple-haired zanpakuto said as the other man began to glow a faint blue.

Though Muramasa never spoke, he just gave a small smile and nod as his form slowly disappeared with Senbonzakura whispering one last word. "Farewell."

-In Hell-

Toshiro flew past a great many white blocks floating in mid-air, him following along a series of blue pathways that seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see. Yet the white-haired captain moved through the area expertly as if he had been under the purple colored sky many times before. Though as he went through, he reach what seemed to be the end of the blue road, which seemed to stop right on a cliff.

But just before he came to the drop, a huge figure suddenly came right out of the floor of the path and blocked him. This figure was nearly fifty feet in height with blue skin, an elongated skull-like head, and a large piece of armor on its right shoulder. Which was heavily muscled as its arms were what mostly supported its huge body, despite its small lower legs only being attached by what appeared to only be a spinal cord.

"Get out of my way." was all Toshiro said as he continued forward as if the enormous being wasn't even there.

Though the moment he said his words, the creature just seemed to sink back into the ground, allowing Toshiro to just jump right off the cliff. Which lead to what seemed to be a vast lake with large stone water lilies all across the surface. But the icy captain didn't bother taking in the fairly serene view as he simply flew straight into and through the water.

This itself bringing him into yet another completely different area that now had a very dark blue sky, as if the water above has merely vanished after coming through. This new landscape was just a barren wasteland with various craters everywhere, but within each of these was what appeared to be yellow lava. Yet on the far side of all this, Toshiro could see what looked like a narrow passageway beneath a thick veil of smoke. Which was only lit by dim lights that surrounded the path itself, all the while there were wooden arches that looked similar to that of a shrine all the way down.

But once again, the white-haired captain never bothered with any of the scenery as he continued on, to which he went right to this passage and down the many steps. Though it went on for nearly a mile, it eventually lead out to a huge desert-like area that was made up of ash rather than sand. All the while, the white-haired captain saw a strange giant skeleton kneeling over a large lava pit out in the distance, which had stone arches surrounding it.

Yet Toshiro's eyes immediately narrowed when he saw an enormous black and red getsuga tensho coming directly at him. All the while, the icy captain could hear someone screaming from within it as the overwhelming reiatsu sliced right through one of the many ash dunes before him.

'It looks like Kurosaki already reached his sister.' was all Toshiro thought as he flew directly into the black and red spirit energy, which parted as he came closer due to his own reiatsu.

Though even as he continued on, his progress was quickened as the enormous explosion that occurred from the getsuga tensho blasted him forward. This giving Toshiro a very clear view as he saw Ichigo standing almost directly in front of the large lava pit, whom had a strange sword going directly through his chest.

Despite the white-haired captain not seeming to show any sign of concern or anger, his eyes immediately turned golden. But even as his left eye was a lighter shade due to his blindness, the fury within them was the same when his gaze shifted upon that of a strange man. Who had leisurely walked up to the orange haired teen when he collapsed to the ground almost immediately.

This person was a tall and lean-built man with pale-skin and shoulder-length white hair. He wore a one sleeved white shirt, along with hakama pants of the same color, both of which had thin black strips going down them. The man also had a pair of black gloves and boots along with a similar colored obi wrapped around his waist. All the while, he also appeared to have strange black bandages around the upper part of his head and even his neck. Though he seemed to allow much of the left side to be seen, the other was fully masked behind the coverings, besides a tuft of his white hair.

But Toshiro didn't care of his appearance as he came hurling down from the now yellow tinted sky and straight toward the man. Whom was pulling his blade from Ichigo's chest after questioning if the teen was alright in a slightly sarcastic tone. But just as the bandaged man did this, the icy captain suddenly appeared before him and kicked him hard in the left side of his head.

This knocked the white-haired man far off to the side as he slammed hard into the closest rock arches, which collapsed upon his impact. To which Toshiro turned to Ichigo as said teen looked up at him in shock; "I hope you learned your lesson and never come back here." was all the icy captain said as he crossed his arms.

Ichigo blinked his eyes for a moment, it being obvious he was briefly confused by both Toshiro's words and appearance. Yet he eventually gained a small smirk on his features, to which he slowly stood himself up while the wound on his chest seemed to be healing all on its own. The icy captain's eyes narrowed a bit to this for a few moments, him just watching the teen quickly head over to the giant skeleton that his sister could be seen near of. Her being inside of a cage chained over the large lava pit, yet her skin looked so pale that it seemed like she was either dead or in a coma. Something of which made her brother only move faster in reaching and releasing her from the prison.

But then Toshiro's golden orbs quickly shifted to the man he attacked, whom suddenly began laughing and stepping out from the rubble that collapsed on him. "How interesting...I never thought I'd see the day when I'd see you again..." the white-haired man started with an amused tone.

"...'Hitsugaya Toshiro...Hell's Dragon'." the man continued as a wide grin spread on his features and he pointed his blade at the icy captain.

But the moment he did this, the white-haired captain's eyes briefly widened before narrowing heavily on the weapon itself. The blade being fully black and had a zigzag design at the center, all the while the hilt had four long and thin points with a purple colored grip.

"Kokuto...I should have figured you would have done something like this after I left." Toshiro said as he began to glare heavily at the man before him.

"Oh? But I had no intention of actually hurting anyone this time...things just went a little south when it became too easy for Ichigo to kill off Shuren and his lackeys." Kakuto stated with a rather annoyed tone at the end.

"Is that so? Then what's that?" the icy captain all but demanded as he pointed toward Nozomi and Ishida, both of whom were off to the far side of the large skeleton unconscious.

"Collateral damage." Kakuto began with a fake innocent voice as he simply gave a shrug before continuing; "Besides...it was Shuren's men who did that to them, I actually helped in their fight against the other Togabito if nothing else."

Toshiro kept his glare on his fellow white-haired man, yet he eventually brought his left ice-covered hand to the katana on the same side. "Whatever your reasoning might be...I'm sure you were really behind any and all of what has transpired here." he stated as his feet slid out slightly in a fighting pose, yet never unsheathed his weapon.

"So I'm just going to have to send you into the deepest part of hell." Toshiro continued as his sclera turned black.

Despite Kakuto seeming to know the icy captain to a certain degree, he merely smirked lightly at this threat. "Is that so?" he questioned with a confident tone and shrug of his shoulders.

This just made Toshiro glare even more at the man before him as he seemed to sense something was slightly off, which prevented him from noticing Ichigo carrying his sister over to them. The orange haired teen muttering Yuzu's name silently as tears rolled down his cheeks and his arms shook in sadness.

'Why is he so calm? He's obviously not more powerful than me, so why is he acting like I'm not even going to attack him?' the white-haired captain thought to himself before his eyes widened and his gaze snapped toward Ichigo just as his body was engulfed in black and red reiatsu.

But despite this, it was the chain on the small girl's chest that made Toshiro's eyes widen, to which his jaw clenched tightly at the sight of complete despair and rage fill Ichigo's very soul in the form of his spirit energy. 'Damn...so I was too late.' he thought as the gigantic amount of black and red reiatsu blazed around the teen like a wildfire.

"YUZU!" was all Ichigo cried out as his voice became hollowfied and he almost instantly became that of his hollow-like form.

Yet even after he transformed, Ichigo still held his sister in one arm as if to refuse ever letting go of her. This making Toshiro's eyes narrow slightly before he just released his katana from his icy grip, to which his mask fragment began to form from what seemed to be white tears coming out of his left eye.

"Welcome back to hell, Hitsugaya." Kakuto chuckled out as he just stood there and watched the now hollowfied Ichigo set his sights on the only two beings close enough for him to attack.

* * *

Btw everyone...I just got the call from the Coast Guard to go in for my interview in a few weeks. Though I don't think I'll need to worry about not finishing this story, I may or may not be able to do everything I initially wanted to do. But we'll see, so it's just something to keep in mind everyone...and also, once I go in for the basic training, there won't be any sort of activity from me for eight weeks. =/ So I'll try to make sure I have some back up stuff ready to go by the time I get out. ^^ Anyway, I hope all enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day/evening/night. ;D


	157. Chapter 157

**Chapter 157:**

Toshiro narrowed his eyes heavily on Ichigo, whom let out a growling breath through his white and red mask. Which was now more of his actual face after his inner hollow took over his body. But as the icy captain stared into the solid gold eyes within the mask's eye holes, he could still see the overwhelming pain flowing through them. Yet he immediately flipped to the side as a sudden crimson cero blasted toward him and Kokuto from between the two horns on 'Ichigo's' head.

Though while the white-haired captain had gotten out of the way of this attack, Kokuto just laughed as he was surrounded in a purple reiatsu before being engulfed in the cero. Once the attack had ended, it revealed a great many chains being connected to the taller white-haired man. But almost half of them started to vanish as they had been broken away by the hollowfied teen's attack. This making Toshiro's eyes narrow heavily before he shunpoed toward Ichigo to attack, yet he stopped himself as he gave a short glance to Yuzu.

'I can't risk her getting hurt...there is always a chance of Hell releasing her due to her pure soul, but any damage she sustains here will be permanent and won't ever heal.' the icy captain thought quickly and he backflipped away from 'Ichigo's' slashing attack with the katana he held in his right hand.

But the hollowfied teen wasn't finished as he charged forward with his blade swinging down at Toshiro once more. Though as the white-haired captain dodged away, the weapon ended up hitting an invisible force while in mid-attack. This revealed another set of chains that were quickly sliced away by the strength of 'Ichigo's' swing.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes a bit more to this for a moment, to which he allowed some of the ice to fall away from his neck guard. Immediately following this, the hollowfied teen turned swiftly to him once more and began charging another cero, to which Toshiro vanished soon after. But just as Kokuto moved in the icy captain's place to take the blast, Toshiro suddenly appeared behind 'Ichigo'. To which he slashed one of the transformed teen's horns off and struck the side of his neck in one quick movement.

This caused the cero to diminish and Ichigo's mask to shatter apart, but just as he started to fall forward, Toshiro brought out one of his icy hands to the teen's chest. As the white-haired captain did this, a strange glowing design appeared on his arms before it was transferred to Ichigo's body. Once the glowing had stopped a large blue glow emitted from the sky and began lifting Ichigo and his sister into the air.

The strange beam of light carried the pair all the way through all the levels of hell and through a gate that opened in the World of the Living. But Toshiro himself stayed behind as he turned to Kokuto as he glared heavily at him; "Looks like you're not leaving any time soon." the icy captain said silently.

"Tch! I'll just go back to Karakura town and take his sister again until he finally releases me of these cursed chains!" Kokuto declared as he charged forward and at Toshiro.

Whom just stood there with a raised brow, to which he just smacked his opponent's blade away as it came toward him. Then as Kokuto used the force of this to spin himself around for another attack, Toshiro suddenly slammed a powerful fist into his stomach. This blow literally ripping the white-haired man in two as his upper body flew of into the distance along with a huge part of the ground that uplifted from the force.

All the while, Kokuto's lower body just fell over in a grotesque show of organs and blood, which had eventually reduced to ash in the wind by hell's air. Yet as Toshiro stood there, he looked down at his own blood covered fist in a bit of shock as he tilted his head up to look at the fading upper body of Kokuto.

'My body didn't just become older...my muscle and body ratio has become more even than before. I'm able to use strengths that I hadn't been able to use previously.' the icy captain thought to himself as his eyes slightly widened.

'I only took some of the ice off to increase my speed so I could catch Kurosaki's inner hollow off guard. Yet I was capable of doing something like 'that' to one of Hell's most powerful beings?' he continued as he closed his eyes and ground his teeth.

'Whatever the case...I need to get Ishida and Kujo out of here and get back to Soul Society. The effect of Muramasa's power will probably make our zanpakuto stay materialized for a while, so we'll need to contain any zanpakuto that happened to kill their masters.' Toshiro contemplated as he shook his head lightly to get rid of the turmoil of his previous thoughts.

'I'll just have to find a way to either increase the weight of my ice...or permanently reduce my strength somehow when I get back.' the white-haired hybrid inwardly spoke, to which he briefly closed his eyes.

"This is truly far too much strength than anyone should be able to wield." he uttered aloud before opening his eyes and taking in a deep breath.

Toshiro then walked toward Uryu and Nozomi as his arms started to glow once more in the strange design, to which he never noticed the presence of someone appearing off to the side of him. But as the icy captain held out his arms toward either of the unconscious beings, his eyes hardened when he shifted his gaze over to the one that arrived. Though his eyes briefly widened when he saw who it was, Toshiro allowed the kido spell to transfer to Uryu and Nozomi, both of which ascended into the sky in a similar fashion as Ichigo had with his sister.

Once the pair were gone, Toshiro turned his full attention to the man to the side of him, to which he raised a brow as if in question of who he was seeing was true. But his suspicions of them being the real deal were confirmed when the man spoke up in a deep sounding voice and overwhelming confidence that wasn't just for show. "Hello again...Hitsugaya Toshiro."

"Yhwach...nice to see you too." was all the icy captain responded with, his gaze turning to a glare as he looked at the Quincy before him.

He was a tall man, whose long face had a broad chin and fairly pronounced cheekbones. Along with his long black hair, which reached his lower back, he had well-kept 'mutton chops' that connected with a mustache that thinned closer to his nose. Yhwack had reddish-brown eyes with thin eyebrows, yet at the moment he was mostly glaring at Toshiro in front of him.

The Quincy's attire consisted of a white, double-breasted trench coat, with large buttoned cuffs and lapels. He also had on white trousers, black trench boots, while over all this, he wore a tattered, ankle-length black cloak, that was held in place by a Quincy cross-shaped pin. But it was the short blade in his right hand that made it obvious he was there for more than simple talks. This weapon having a bird-shaped cross-guard, a black and white blade and had a dadao-type design to it.

"Hmph...but it is not only I who came here to greet you Hitsugaya." Yhwach began to which he pointed to the side with his left hand, his cape waving out a bit upon doing so.

Immediately after his gesture, dozens upon dozens of Quincy began to appear all around the icy captain. Whom just looked around with a slightly raised brow; "Oh? So you gathered your army once again even in the pit of Hell to take me on, huh?" Toshiro questioned in a rhetorical way.

"Not only that...but we shall escape from Hell and march right up to Seireitei and take it by force. The Nine days are approaching within the next year, so you best be prepared." Yhwach stated with a smirk as each of the Quincy took a step toward their enemy.

"So I remember...though I doubt it'll make any difference so long as I keep you down here." Toshiro said as if it were a threat, it being enough to make many of the Quincy to hesitate in their next step toward him.

This bringing the more powerful beings into view, there being six in total, yet among them all there was only one female. Whom was a slender young woman with long, straight black hair, purple colored eyes and a small smirk on her features. Her attire was similar to that of Yhwack's, though her white trench coat was only thigh-length. Along with this, she wore a miniskirt instead of trousers and she had knee-high boots with black stockings. She also had a heart-shaped belt buckle, plus a white cap that featured a black peak and a Quincy cross on its front.

Off to her right was somewhat tall man with medium length, wavy black hair, him having it pulled back with a thick strand of his bangs hanging down in front of his face, which reached near of his mouth. He also had a thin face, with pronounced cheekbones, plus purple markings that ran from the ends of his eyebrows to the corners of his bright green eyes. In addition to his Quincy uniform being fully similar to that of his leader's, he wore an ornamental bracer on his left arm that was fully seen as he had his body turned with that side pointed toward Toshiro.

The next was a tall man who had his long red hair in a long mohawk hairstyle, and his dark red eyes focused fully on the icy captain. He had a pair of earrings in either ear, two of which seemed to resemble nuts and screws. His clothes were the exact same as the other two male Quincy, yet he also wore a pair of black gloves, and had tucked his pants into his boots. He also wore a thin chain around his neck, as well as black armbands around his biceps that were placed over his coat.

Beside him was another man with a slim figure, short black hair, with pointed bangs that hung between his eyes. He had small black eyes that were heavily narrowed, but due to his expression never changing, it was obvious he normally had a focused gaze. There was also a small, vertical scar over the left side of his mouth that was only a few inches in length. He wore the same as the others, him only having a pair of black fingerless gloves to separate him from the rest.

Yet the person next to him was far more unique than any of the others as it was impossible to even tell their gender. They had long, dark hair and nearly black eyes with their pupils only visible due to them being white. Their attire was mostly the same as the others, but they had dark mask that obscure the lower half of the Quincy's face. It having five white spikes running down the center with no visible breathing holes. Though besides this, the being only had dark fingernails that it mostly hidden with its hand clenched tightly.

But it was the last of the more power Quincy that caught Toshiro's main attention as if he remembered them more so than the others. This one was a tall, young man with a thin build, green eyes and long blonde hair, which descended past his shoulders. Though his attire was basically the same as the rest, he had white shoes instead of the usual black boots. Yet it wasn't even the man's appearance that made the icy captain remember him, it was fully calm and collected expression he had on his features that sparked his memory.

"Hmph, it's been a while since I saw all of you." the white-haired captain said as he looked around to each of them.

"Then again I never bothered to really stop and look at most of you since the last thing I remember about any of the Quincy was my hand or blade going through your hearts." he continued on as he gave a light shrug, which caused most of the people around the icy captain to glare heavily at him.

"I never even asked any of your names." Toshiro said as he looked around as if waiting for each of the Quincy to speak up.

"Bazz-B!" the red-haired Quincy called out as he suddenly charged at the icy captain, him bringing his whole hand forward.

"Burner Fist!" he continued upon his fist extending at his opponent, which had produced an enormous amount of fire to blast out at Toshiro.

Said captain just gazed to this with a slightly raised brow, to which he sent a brief glanced to the lower ranked Quincy behind him as he knew that they'd all be obliterated by the blast. This made Toshiro sigh for a moment before he held out his own hand and just as the flames reached him, they froze in the blink of an eye.

But the white-haired captain could not rest as he heard a silent voice behind him; "Cang Du." was all that was said before a huge amount of reishi surrounded Toshiro in the shape of a giant serpent.

"Shé Jìn Zhǎo." Cang Du muttered as his eyes stayed on where his enemy was when he attacked.

But then the reishi blasted away from the icy captain after he simply slashed his hand through the air, this bringing yet another Quincy up against him. Whom of which came forward with a great many reishi-made spikes that shot at Toshiro all at once. Yet the white-haired hybrid swiftly dodged away from each of them even as he heard the very dark voice speak up just inches away from his right side.

"Äs Nödt." was all the masked Quincy said, but was still enough to identify them as a male as Toshiro just shunpoed away from his next attack.

Though once he appeared in his new location off to the side, the icy captain sidestepped expertly to the side as an arrow flew by him. Yet Toshiro then spun around as another Quincy came up to attack him from behind; "Askin Nakk Le Vaar." the man said quickly as he flew by his opponent, it being obvious he was just getting out of the way of something.

This made the white-haired captain looked up slowly with a sigh, him able to feel the slicing of the air just above him before any attack even came. Which he had just side-flipped away from the downward slash the female Quincy sent at him from above, to which this blow to the ground caused a small crater to appear and to kick up a dust cloud that surrounded the woman.

"The name's Bambietta Basterbine." she began as the dust cleared and revealed her with a dao shaped sword, which had a forked tip like a zulfiqar.

"You better remember it...cause it'll be the last name you'll be hearing." Bambietta finished as the rest of the Quincy gathered to her and Toshiro's location.

Said white-haired captain simply raised a brow to her before looking over to the blond man as he seemed to take his time along with Yhwack to come toward him. This made him cross his arms as he narrowed his eyes slightly; "Not quite...I still have yet to hear 'his' name." he stated as his ice-covered hand briefly gestured at the blond.

Whom looked at him silently for a moment before simply nodding his head; "Jugram Haschwalth...I see you do remember me a bit." he said silently as his demeanor still remained fully calm.

Toshiro just smirked lightly and shook his head as he suddenly backflipped away from a slash by Yhwack himself. "I surprise myself...maybe that aging process did something more to me than simply progress my physical age." the white-haired captain began silently as he glanced around.

"Normally I would have taken advantage of all of you while you were in your fit of rage and introducing yourselves. Yet I actually went through the trouble of letting each of you finish." he continued with a shrug as all of the ice on his body suddenly shattered.

This caused all of the Quincy, including Yhwack, to take a step back and even for some of them to start shaking in fear. Yet Toshiro ignored this as he just finished his words and brought both his zanpakuto out; "I guess I'm just getting a bit soft."

"Hmph...we'll see about that." Yhwack started as he looked around and stabbed his blade into the ground before uttering two last words; "Kill him."

The very second he said this, all of the Quincy seemed to shoot a single arrow at the icy captain, to which many jumped into the air in anticipation of Toshiro dodging. But he never moved a single inch, the white-haired hybrid simply stood motionless in place as the arrows collided into him in a bright flash of light. Yet it was this light that allowed Toshiro to knock out each of the lower ranked Quincy in a split second without being seen.

Though after the blinding light died down, each of the Quincy looked around with slightly narrowed eyes at the sight of their numbers now dwindling down to a mere seven people. But it was the fact that all of the lower ranked ones were still breathing that caused each of the officers to turn to the icy captain with an almost suspicious stare.

This made Toshiro look right back at each of them and raise a brow; "What? I don't want to see what my current strength is truly capable of, so I took it as easy as I possibly could with them." was all he responded with as he shrugged.

Yet instantly after he spoke, Toshiro vanished in a shunpo, to which no one had even seen him until they saw Bazz-B's head flying off his shoulders. The action making some of their eyes widen, while others simply charged toward the icy captain. Whom just took on a small smirk as Cang Du came up closest to him with another large reishi-made serpent. But as he came closer, his reishi suddenly disbursed and his whole body was sliced in two from his lower right hip up to the left side of his neck.

As Cang Du's body split apart, his eyes finally turned to one of shock as Toshiro was now behind him with his left katana dripping with the dying Quincy's blood. Though even as Äs flew between the remains of his fallen comrade, the stabbing attack he made with his bare hand was blocked by a sudden kido barrier. This knocked the Quincy backward a bit, yet he came right back at the icy captain, only he came up from the front this time. Yet Toshiro never even moved as he felt an enormous wave of fear flow over his being, it coming from the Quincy before him as said man suddenly brought out a blade from their side. But just as the weapon was about to strike him, the icy captain brought his hand up slightly and snapped his fingers.

This had created a bala blast that struck Äs in his face, which gave Toshiro the opportunity to kick his enemy in the chest before charging forward, him moving too fast for the arrow Askin sent at him to connect. To which Äs' dark eyes widened in shock and fear as the last thing he saw was the white-haired captain's blade slicing his head away, it being right across his eyes so half of the man's brain could be seen from both parts of his head.

After killing this Quincy, Bambietta's eyes widened and her hand trembled as she tried to keep her grip upon her weapon. All the while Askin just stared in shock at this whole display, him not even able to move his body even as Toshiro suddenly appeared before Bambietta, whom flinched and closed her eyes as if not wanting to see her own death all over again. But when no pain hit her, she opened her eyes slowly, to which she saw Yhwack standing in front of her along with Jugram as the only other Quincy remaining to fight was just standing to the side motionless.

"I was wondering how many of your Sternritter I would have to kill before you got involved." Toshiro said silently as he shook his head, him giving a glance at the remaining four Quincy.

"You mustn't care that much if you waited until the last two were left before you finally stood in." he continued before flipping to the side as a huge and powerful arrow came blasting at him with too great of speed to be seen.

Though as Toshiro did this, he dragged one of his katana across the ground briefly, to which he just turned toward his opponents and fully ignored the arrow continuing past him. The arrow itself hitting far off in the distance, yet it still created an enormous explosion that was even larger than the one Ichigo made with his getsuga tensho. But Toshiro still didn't bother to look at this as he kept his eyes on Yhwack with a small smirk making its way on his features. Which had seemed to annoy the eldest Quincy as he took a few steps toward his opponent; "You seem to be a bit different than what you were all those years ago when you killed us along with the Head Captain. So what exactly happened to you that has created this change?" he suddenly asked with a calm tone in his deep voice.

Toshiro raised a brow to him before looking down with a shrug; "I don't know...a sad excuse for a distraction?" was all he said before he suddenly tapped his right blade on the ground, to which a large white cero erupted out of the ground where he cut the earth moments ago.

But in the same moment he did this, Askin had appeared in that exact spot, causing said Quincy to scream loudly as his whole body burned away into ash. Though the blast only last for a brief few seconds, it was still powerful enough to disintegrate Askin's body even fast, which only allowed a short cry in pain before all went silent. This made Yhwack narrow his eyes slightly at the hybrid being before him, to which Jugram seemed to do the same, while Bambietta continued to have a shocked expression on her features.

"I suppose I should have figured that I would have to do things myself." the raven-haired man stated as he took a few steps forward and brought his blade up in a battle ready position.

Toshiro just stared at him with a raised brow before speaking out with another shrug; "Maybe it's because I'm facing an opponent that I'll be able to test nearly my full strength on that I've changed a bit."

Though Yhwack stared at Toshiro with his eyes slightly narrowed, his stance became that of a defensive one after the white-haired captain uncrossed his arms. "Or maybe it's the fact that I'm doing all this without needed the assistance of the Head Captain this time." the icy hybrid continued as he gained an invisible smirk, causing each of the remaining three Quincy to shift back a bit.

"Hmph...no, it's probably the overwhelming and blood-boiling need for battle that I get while I'm in Hell." he finished with a heavily hollowfied voice, to which he suddenly vanished once more.


	158. Chapter 158

**Chapter 158:**

In the same moment Toshiro disappeared, he was suddenly right in front of Yhwack with both his katana sheathed once more on his back. Yet the white-haired captain's opponent didn't have the chance to noticed this as he had instantly taken a powerful punch right into his stomach. This blow knocking the Quincy very far back as the percussion wave alone was enough to keep him from stopping for almost fifty yards.

But even after Yhwack had halted his momentum, he was immediately kicked in his back and straight into the ground before he could even focus his mind on a single thought. Though the moment his body hit the earth, the ash covered surface shattered heavily in a forty-foot radius and caused the Quincy's form to become buried a bit into the ground itself. Once Yhwack had got himself up, his eyes narrowed heavily on the icy captain and easily brushed himself off as if none of the attacks hurt him. Yet the flinches in his eyelids and subtle grinding of his jaw told differently, something of which Toshiro noticed immediately even as Yhwack spoke up.

"Hmph...looks like I misjudged your speed." was all the Quincy said before his enemy rolled his eyes in his immediate response.

"Sure you did." the white-haired captain muttered before he had vanished once more, to which he suddenly appeared above Yhwack.

Said raven-haired man quickly jumped away from Toshiro, but the punch that the icy captain sent into the ground where he had been was devastating. The single blow had blasted a gigantic crater into the earth, it being so large and deep that the last level of Hell could be seen through it in a hundred yard diameter. This final part of Hell was composed of a black landscape, with many irregular columns covered in veins of lava jutting out from the ground.

But then strange black clouds seemed to cover the hole, yet it still left the crater in the ground as the dark billows produced blue lightning flashes within them. All the while, the white-haired hybrid stood just above this in the middle of the air, his arms being crossed and eyes narrowed at Yhwack's now shocked expression.

"Hmph...why don't I give you a chance to show me what you've got before I kill you off?" Toshiro said as he still kept his arms crossed.

The confidence in the icy captain's voice made Yhwack grind his teeth and glare furiously at him, to which he suddenly held out his short blade. This weapon gaining a bright and blinding blue glow before a huge and powerful arrow shot from the tip and hurled at Toshiro faster than he could even shift his eyes. But regardless of this, the icy captain brought out his right hand and pointed two of his fingers at the blast.

Which was immediately absorbed into Toshiro's hand, to which he let his right hand drop to his side and for his left to rise up. Yet even as all of the Quincy looked at this in shock, the moment the white-haired hybrid shunpoed from his spot, Yhwack used his own movement to dodge away. Him getting away from the attack that the icy captain made, which was in the form of his left pointer and middle finger stabbing at his back from above.

Though due to the Quincy leader already being gone, Toshiro's fingers and hand was embedded into the ground. Despite nothing appearing to happen even after this, each of the white-haired captain's opponents backed away quickly. This simply making him give a small smirk in response, to which everything within two hundred feet was engulfed in a huge blast of blue reiatsu. But each of the Quincy managed to be just outside of the explosion, though Bambietta just barely made it as part of her jacket was burned away.

Yet as the three Quincy stared at this blast, they kept their heavily sharpened senses open to detect Toshiro's presence. Though regardless of their efforts, none of them could feel said captain's reiatsu anymore which made them look around and away from the still raging spirit energy. But before they could even begin their search, Toshiro's hand suddenly emerged from the reiatsu inferno and grabbed Yhwack's shoulder.

This caused said Quincy's eyes to widen before he was pulled into the blue blast, to which the white-haired captain stepped out of it. But the moment he did, both Bambietta and Jugram swung their blades at him with great force. Toshiro merely brought his right hand up to catch the blond-haired Quincy's blade, all the while he slashed the female's weapon in half with his left hand.

Bambietta's eyes widened heavily to this, yet she quickly narrowed them and used her Hirenkyaku to get away from her opponent. Yet the icy captain didn't pay much attention to her as he looked up a bit toward Jugram, whom looked at him with a bit of strain in his narrowed eyes.

"Oh? It looks like you finally broke character." was all Toshiro said before gripping the Quincy's blade and shattering it apart in his grasp.

The action seemed to startle Jugram as his eyes widened a bit before he stumbled backward a bit. Yet the white-haired hybrid didn't see this for long as Yhwack burst from the dying blaze of blue reishi right in front of him. But just as the leader of the Quincy was about to attack, he was kicked hard in the chest and sent straight into his blond subordinate by their opponent. This knocking the two back many yards as Toshiro finally allowed himself to turn around when he heard Bambietta utter out; "Quincy Vollstaendig."

After her words, an enormous amount of spirit energy engulfed the woman, to which the icy captain just looked at this with a raised brow. "How annoying." was all he said before he vanished once more.

But as he appeared right behind where Bambietta was, his brow raised a bit when he heard said Quincy chuckling lightly from within the pillar of reiatsu. This made him turn around with his brow still raised, to which he watched as the spirit energy slowly died down.

"Nice try...but this is a Quincy's final evolution, I can take at least one hit from someone even as powerful as y-." the woman began, but was cut off by the sound of her gasping.

To which as the reiatsu around Bambietta fully disappeared, a small billow of dust surrounded the Quincy for a moment. Though from within it, there was a silent thud upon the ground, this sound's source being revealed when the cloud cleared away and revealed Bambietta to be laying there dead. She appeared to have what seemed to be reishi made wings hovering over her back, but they had just disappeared automatically as if they were never there.

Toshiro looked down at her body, which was now being surrounded in a pool of blood, before to his bloodied hand before letting out a sigh. "If I had come here before I aged myself...you probably would have." he uttered silently before tilting his body to the side a bit.

This allowed him to dodge away from a sword slash from Yhwack, whom had swiftly pointed the tip of his blade at his opponent after his first attack missed. The same moment he did this, a huge reishi arrow blasted at Toshiro, whom vanished in a shunpo. Yet the second he appeared to the side, he then knocked away the somehow reformed blade of Jugram. Which had left the icy captain open to be attacked by Yhwack as he appear before Toshiro with his blade coming right for his chest.

But even before the blade would have pierced the hybrid's skin, a huge blue arrow engulfed his entire body and blasted away at the landscape as far as the eye could see. Though even as this blast continued for a few moments, the white-haired captain emerged from it a brief second after it hit him. To which he punched Yhwack directly across his face, sending the Quincy dozens of yards away before he suddenly vanished as he was still going. This made Toshiro raise a brow in question as his eyes quickly looked around, to which he then ducked under a strong spinning kick from behind by Jugram. Said man getting behind him quickly and immediately sending a downward slash at his opponent the second his first attack had failed to connect.

Just as the icy captain was about to dodge, his senses kicked into high gear as everything almost felt like it slowed down around him. This allowing him to not only feel the slicing of Jugram's blade through the air, but also the large blue arrow to his right side. The arrow itself was heading right for the only open area for Toshiro to dodge, Yhwack instantly appearing on his left side with a thrust of his blade to make sure of this. Once the white-haired captain finished observing all this, his senses began to return to normal, which seemed to allow his body to catch up with his mind.

The second this happened, the icy captain gave a small smirk as he front flipped and spun his body through the air. This having Jugram's blade basically follow Toshiro's head all the way down until finally missing him completely after his head was out of reach. All the while, Yhwack's own attack was avoided completely as Toshiro's spin to the right allowed him to roll right over and atop of the flat side of the reishi blade. Though as the icy captain had his body rotate across the Quincy's weapon, he brought his knee up, only for it to connect hard into Yhwack's head. Which had knocked the raven-haired man far off to the side, though it also gave Jugram a perfect opening on Toshiro's back to strike as he was crouched on the ground a bit.

Yet just when the blond had stepped forward to attack, the white-haired captain suddenly spun around and knocked the Quincy's lead leg out from under him. This caused Jugram to fall forward, but he was instantly blasted backward when Toshiro brought himself up and landed a powerful palm right into the man's chest. The blow itself cracking the blond's sternum heavily as his body was violently thrown toward one of the gigantic holes in the ground. But the icy captain didn't watch if he went through as he turned to the side as Yhwack came up behind him, to which he just waited there for the Quincy's attack.

Which came in the form of a dozen large arrows and a downward slash, yet when Toshiro just shunpoed directly before him without even bothering to dodge any of the arrows, Yhwack's eyes widened heavily. But they expanded even further as the white-haired hybrid delivered a forward kick right into his stomach, this knocking the air from the raven-haired man's lungs instantly. Though he never was able to catch his breath as his momentum was stopped abruptly when he was suddenly impaled on Toshiro's original Hyorinmaru.

Yhwack's eyes widened to this as he managed a short gasp, but his lungs filled with blood soon after and he began to drown in his own gore. Yet while Jugram came rushing from the side and toward his leader as if to save him, Toshiro simply snapped his fingers at the blond Quincy. This had sent an incredibly fast and powerful bala directly toward the blond's face, whom was barely able to get out of the way fast enough to dodge. Yet the bala's after blast was enough to make Jugram lose balance, which caused him to fall directly onto Toshiro's other katana, which had been unsheathed immediately after the snap of his fingers.

Upon looking at the two Quincy as they started to bleed heavily through their wounds and mouths, the white-haired captain let out a sigh. "How long are you just going to stand there?" he questioned as the two were suddenly disintegrated into nothing as he fired ceros from both his blades.

Immediately after doing this, Toshiro shifted his gaze up in the air and stared at what appeared to be a second Yhwack. Said Quincy just giving a small smirk as he allowed himself to slowly descended to the ground, yet he had to be careful on where he landed. Them only being a few feet from the two gigantic holes in the earth, which were both created by the icy captain. Whom of which just sheathed his katana, crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes on the true Quincy leader.

"I'm guessing those two I just killed were actually Lloyd twins?" Toshiro questioned with a more stating tone than a questioning one.

Yhwack just smirked lightly and gave a light nod in response; "Indeed...though my initial plan was to have Loyd transform into you, I figured that it would be impossible since you are half hollow." he began with a sigh.

"But I suppose it doesn't matter now...does it?" the Quincy began as he eventually raised a brow at the icy captain.

"Although, I thought I heard you say that you didn't know any of the other Quincy's names." he continued as he brought out his weapon from its sheath at his left side.

Toshiro simply smirked lightly with a shrug; "It was hard not to hear or remember them when they both stated their names so proudly." the icy captain began as he rolled his eyes.

"That is before I sliced both their heads off." he finished in a hollowfied voice, him gaining a dark look in his black and gold orbs.

Yhwack glared slightly at the white-haired hybrid, yet he just returned to his small smirk and gave a brief glance to the side. After seeing this, Toshiro followed his gaze with a raised brow, to which he chuckled and nodded his head lightly in response.

"I see..." the icy captain started as he uncrossed his arms; "...so 'he's' the reason why there haven't been any guardians coming around." he continued as the real Jugram could be seen on a tall dune far out in the distance.

Yet just as the faintest sign of a Kushanada rose up from the ground before the Quincy, it was instantly hit by a fast arrow that caused the being to disintegrate. After seeing this, Toshiro turned to Yhwack and raised a brow; "I'm guessing that he's not going to be your backup this time around, huh?" he asked silently.

The black-haired man allowed his smirk to widen a bit, to which he nodded and brought his sword out in front of him. This blade suddenly turning a bright white and expanding into a long broad sword that had a length as much as the Quincy was tall. Though it was all reishi made, it still held two protrusions jutting out diagonally on either side, this forming the sword's cross-guard.

After doing this, Yhwack gave a wider smirk toward his opponent as he gripped the weapon with both his hands. "I will admit that you are still by far the biggest threat to the Quincy...but I have spent more time here in Hell than you have. So don't think you have the upper hand on me." he stated before he instantly vanished and appear beside Toshiro in the same moment.

"Try me." was all the white-haired captain responded with as he never so much as batted an eyelash as he swung his now unsheathed blade into Yhwack's.

The moment their weapons connected, the ground under them shook violently and the air almost seemed to vibrate around the two fighters. Both of whom just stared into one anothers eyes with hard gazes and gave small smirks in the excitement of their battle. Though it was the hybrid being that spoke up as they pressed their blades together as to overpower the other through raw strength.

"It seems that you did learn how to train your body in order to gain extraordinary strength. And it seems that combining your two reishi swords has allowed you to generate an even greater weapon that doesn't even need that much effort to have a powerful swing." Toshiro said as he looked over the glowing sword his katana was locked with.

After his words, the Quincy had smirked even wider before he and his opponent pushed off one another and landed a few yards apart. But the same instant their feet touched the ground, they vanished once more and began slashing, stabbing and parrying one another's blades the second they collided once more. Their speed itself seeming perfectly matched as both sides appeared to be truly using a great amount of their agility and strength.

Though while Yhwack was using both arms, Toshiro was only using one most of the time, him bringing up his second hand to push the black-haired man's attacks away whenever he got the chance. Yet it didn't take long for the pair to separate again, only to clash their weapons together once more and for the ground to crack under them. After this collision however, a small crack appeared in the Quincy's reishi blade, which made said man's eyes to widen slightly before he vanished quickly.

But a brief moment after he did, the crack disappeared and the weapon was back to normal, to which he let out a breath. "It seems that even after all my training...you somehow have a bit of leeway over me in physical strength." Yhwack said silently as he looked at Toshiro with his now narrowed eyes.

"Of course...since I have a hollow's regeneration abilities, straining my muscles even beyond what is physically impossible is quite easy. Though it is extremely painful in every way, the fact that Hell is such a perfect place to train for my kind...it was just too great of an opportunity to pass up." the icy captain spoke as he brought his other katana from its sheath.

"Hell not only has unlimited beings to fight and kill, but it also has the air filled with Hell's will. I'm sure that you've noticed that beings that were once hollows still retained some of their powers because of it. Here in Hell...a hollow's true nature comes forth and we're able to grow to our fullest potential." Toshiro continued as his black and gold eyes seemed to become even darker.

"And if I was only here for a few years...just imagine how much more powerful I could become if I stayed even longer. I might even be able to break the unbreakable law that no being bound by the chains of Hell can break them." he stated as he held out the zanpakuto that held his Resurreccion's power.

"Of course that only constitutes that I would be willing to stay." was the last thing he said before Yhwack suddenly appeared to the side of him with a swinging blade.

But even as Toshiro blocked this strike with his main Hyorinmaru, his gaze was quickly turned to the thousand large arrows hurling at him from every side. To which the last thing he heard was; "You talk too much." before he was engulfed by the barrage of arrows.

Yhwack then stepped down on the ground far off to the side, him using Hirenkyaku to move away from his opponent the second his attack hit. Though as he turned toward the gigantic explosion that occurred from his reishi arrows, his eyes narrowed slightly so he could be on the lookout for Toshiro. Whom of which seemed not to emerge from the blast even after it started to die down and reveal a huge ash and dust cloud in its place.

Yet while the Quincy continued to look around, his eyes widened heavily when Toshiro came walking calmly out of the debris completely unscathed. But his body had changed to that of his resurreccion form, his huge wings folded behind him and the dragon designed mask slowly generating over his face.

"Hmph...it's a first that I've ever heard that." Toshiro started with as he brought up his only katana into the air.

"I suppose that I'll have to end that right now." he continued before uttering out; "Bankai."

Yet at the same time of him doing this, Yhwack narrowed his eyes heavily and opened his mouth to speak, but a blade stabbed right through his back and out through the top part of his chest. This caused the Quincy's eyes to widen in shock, to which he turned his head at the sight of Toshiro's new form. Him having his four wings folded back a bit before opening them up to their fullest extent, which made the icy captain appear a bit larger than he had before. The top set being created from the Resurreccion, while the bottom pair were made of ice just like in his Bankai.

He also had two tails, one being his dragon-like one made from his hollow powers, while an ice generated tail was positioned just to the side the other as if to show that he was more or less wearing his Bankai over his Resurreccion. But it was his dual tails that mainly helped Toshiro to keep his balance, the sheer size and weight of his four large wings was still something even he wasn't used to yet. Though along with the ice-armor that spread across his body, he also had part of his mask help out in creating a short crown upon his head. This decoration having a small jewel-like crest in the center, which was shaped just like his zanpakuto's guard and appeared to glow a brilliant blue over the white colored ice.

"Sorry...but if you used your Vollstaendig, this fight would drag on for far longer than I'm willing to put into it." the icy captain stated in his hollowfied voice as it sounded more animal-like than before.

But after he said this, Yhwack just turned his head away and gave a small smirk; "Tch...looks like you win again. But mark my words...you will never escape your own Hell. It will plague and eat away at your heart until you are nothing...but a shriveled up corpse begging for death to come." he said as he coughed out blood between each pause.

"And when that day comes...I will be there to laugh in your agony before I end your misery at my leisure." he finished before he took one last breath and died upon Toshiro's blade.

Said hybrid just watched the Quincy's body fade away into ash, to which he turned his gaze to the side as the body of Bambietta had already disappeared long ago. Though he didn't pay any mind to this as he once again shifted his eyes toward Jugram, whom had stop killing the guardians coming at him and just appeared almost right in front of the icy captain.

"I may have respect for you and your abilities, but I share my brothers' and sisters' hatred for you. Just know that you shall fall at the hands of a Quincy." was all the blond man said before he just vanished.

Toshiro raised a brow as he turned toward where Jugram had just been, to which he gave a small smirk and shrug. "We'll see about that." he muttered silently before his Bankai and Resurreccion both disappeared.

As soon as they had, the white-haired captain turned to the side and brought his left hand forward. This tore a portal in the air similar to that of a garganta, only the opening was surrounded in blue fire and it revealed Seireitei on the other side. Though before he walked through, Toshiro paused and looked back at a guardian standing almost right behind him. This simply making the icy captain gain a small smirk as he placed a hand to his hollow hole that had been revealed upon his sword releases.

"I won't be needing this anymore." was all he said as a brief golden glow could be seen within his hollow hole itself.

This glow then appeared to stream through the air and then into the guardian itself, to which it then raised its large hand to attack Toshiro. Whom just smirked a bit wider, then stepped through the portal and closed it before the Kushanada could even come close to him.


	159. Chapter 159

Here is the chapter my awesome friend Tuli-chan made for the contest, which is now closed. ;) I hope you all enjoy and look forward to the next one...which was just an idea, but was a good one nonetheless. ^^

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**Chapter 159:**

-First Division-

Toshiro stood with all of the other captains and many of their zanpakuto, to which the Head Captain shifted his gaze around to everyone. His eyes stopping on his own zanpakuto kneeling beside his chair, yet he then allowed his eyes to close and turn his head forward.

"Though it is rather unorthodox, we must live with our materialized zanpakuto for the time being." the elder man began as he briefly cracked an eye open to look at the staff that made up his katana.

"As I've come to understand it...they will remain this way for a minimum of one week now that Muramasa has been defeated by Captain Kuchiki Byakuya." he continued as he briefly glanced to said shinigami.

"But it isn't only our own zanpakuto that have become like this, there are...as Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri called them: Toju, out there. These zanpakuto without master must be captured and contained. Though the Substitute Shinigami: Kurosaki Ichigo, should be able to handle all of the Toju that enter the World of the Living, we must take care of the ones here. So make sure to be on the look out for them at all times." Yamamoto said as his voice stayed in his usual ordering-like tone.

"Be sure to complete your daily tasks as well and keep an eye on your zanpakuto so that they do not obstruct your responsibilities." the Head captain continued in a stern voice.

"Is that understood?" he called out with force, to which he received a series of 'hai's.

Once they had all agreed, Yamamoto simply slammed his staff to the floor, which signaled that the meeting was now over. But before all of the captains and their zanpakuto could walk out, his eyes opened and looked directly to Toshiro. "Captain Hitsugaya...I wish to speak with both you and your zanpakuto for a moment." he stated with a tone that allowed no negotiation.

To which a moment later, the icy captain was standing in the First Division's office with Hyorinmaru as Yamamoto and Ryujin Jakka stared at both of them with a serious expression. Yet it was the Head Captain that spoke up after a moment of complete silence; "As I have come to understand, you not only helped Captain Kuchiki to free Kuchiki Kouga..." he started as his already hardened gaze increased.

"..but you also went into the realm of Hell to assist Kurosaki Ichigo in the retrieval of his sister." he continued, his voice keeping its disapproving tone.

"Though now it has come to my attention that you are going to continue defying the Soul King by marrying Shihoin Yoruichi." Yamamoto said as he almost had a somewhat surprised voice.

Something of which made Toshiro raise a brow in response to, him rarely ever hearing the Head Captain speak in any form of shock. Though said elder man had continued his words as he leaned forward in his chair a bit; "Is this decision truly made for the correct reasons?"

After his question, the white-haired captain tilted his head down as if in thought before he just shrugged his shoulders. "In the beginning...no." he started as his eyes closed for a moment.

"But the moment I returned from Hell...I came to a bit of a realization. I think I actually..." he continued but never finished as his eyes just closed again.

The old man on the other side of the room stared at the younger captain before he gave a nod of understanding. "Don't lose sight of that." was all Yamamoto said before he sat back in his chair.

This being all Toshiro needed before he just gave a quick bow and shunpoed away with his zanpakuto. Whom of which turned to his master with an almost worried expression; "What about the...others?" was all Hyorinmaru asked as they continued to shunpo all the way back to the Tenth Division.

The icy captain looked to his zanpakuto for a moment with a slightly raised brow; "What do you mean?" he questioned silently.

"The ones that you also care for." Hyorinmaru said, him saying this with his gaze having an understanding look in it.

Toshiro stared back at his zanpakuto for a few moments before he just tilted his head down and shook it lightly; "I don't know."

-An hour later at the Tenth Division office-

Toshiro gave a light nod to Nado as he accepted the new stack of paperwork to be filled out, him working together with Rangiku, Haineko and Hyorinmaru. All of them trying to catch up on all the work the former two neglected ever since the reigai began to attack. Though from time to time, the icy captain glanced to his lieutenant's way, who for once was actually more concentrated on her work than the condition of her nails.

Yet it was the fact that the strawberry blond's zanpakuto was also helping as well that made Toshiro gain small, yet satisfied smirk on his lips. 'I guess it's not too bad that our zanpakuto are stuck in their materialized forms for a whole week.' he began in his mind as he turned back to his own work, Nado walking out of the office and closing the door as he did.

'I wonder if I may actually get that vacation I've been wanting.' he continued as the four kept writing in near silence.

But after a few moments, Toshiro glanced up and over to Rangiku once more as a great many thoughts crossed his mind. 'When should I tell her? I know that she didn't seem very mad over the idea of me actually marrying Yoruichi, but she definitely didn't appear enthused about it either.' he contemplated with a light shake of his head.

'I feel like she wouldn't be angry toward me, but she also wouldn't like the fact that I'd go through with it. Why am I feeling so hesitant about telling her in the first place? I mean it's not we're...' he thought before he froze and blinked a few times.

Yet before Toshiro could think any more on the issue, a Hell Butterfly flew inside of the office through the window and near of him. Sighing silently and shaking his head quickly, Toshiro lifted his icy finger to allow the insect to land softly atop of it. But as Toshiro listened to the message, his expression turned to a light frown and he let out a heavy breath. After dismissing the Hell Butterfly with a gentle wave, he stood up and looked over to the other three in the room.

"Who was that?" Rangiku questioned with a light tilt of her head as she had paused in her work along with the other two.

"Ukitake...and he wants me to see him right away." Toshiro responded as he headed for the door and gestured for Hyorinmaru to follow him.

"Rangiku...Haineko." he started, turning to the pair with crossed arms; "While I'm gone...try to finish as much of the paperwork as possible."

"Awww! No fun," Rangiku whined with a heavy pout at her captain, to which Haineko nodded and pursed her lips.

"Working alone with oba-san, without my darling around? What kind of torture do you plan on putting me through?" the werecat groaned out, her immediately receiving a smack to the back of her head by Rangiku

"What was that for?!" the female zanpakuto demanded with a huff as she rubbed the area she was hit.

"Quit being such a snotty little brat and help me finish this off, so I can go shopping~!" Rangiku answered to the pink cat, who had hissed back to her just like a real cat.

"Like any outfit would fit an oba-san like you!" Haineko retorted as she and her master stared each other down with light growls vibrating in the back of their throats.

Toshiro sighed heavily to this as he merely walked outside of his office before Rangiku's and Haineko's fighting would get too loud for his taste. Hyorinmaru had followed his master silently, but not before sending the two women a short glance. To which as the two walked along the long hallway, neither of them uttered out a single word as the argument's noises came duller the farther they got.

"Master…" Hyorinmaru started, his tone having deep respect toward Toshiro; "...is it really alright to leave them like that?"

"Yeah...they'll eventually get tired of fighting and get back to work." was Toshiro's only reply to his zanpakuto, who had just nodded.

The silence fell around them once again as they continued forward, but then Toshiro gave Hyorinmaru a side glance, for the sign of them to use shunpo. Hyorinmaru gave another nod in response before the two vanished in shunpos that only left behind a brief sound to echo and die in the quiet morning.

The two quickly headed across Toshiro's Division and to the streets of Seireitei, to which they reached the Thirteen Division within moments. Then as they approached at normal speed, Toshiro noticed Kiyone standing at the gate with her arms crossed at gaze in the opposite direction that he and Hyorinmaru were coming from. But the second the third seat felt his reiatsu directly behind her, she quickly turned around and kneeled down.

"Captain Hitsugaya! I'm very glad you could make it! Captain Ukitake is waiting for you in his Ugendo...please follow me!" she called out quickly as she then stood out and began leading Toshiro and his zanpakuto in the correct direction.

The Ugendo itself had literally been built on top of the water, which gave it a nice and peaceful scenery everywhere you would look. This making it seem like the perfect place to rest as Toshiro glanced around at the very calm and mostly still water. As the hybrid and his zanpakuto walked nearer of the small house, they could see Sogyo no Kotowari peeking inside of it from a small window. But the twins soon rushed away as Toshiro reached the long pier that lead toward the Ugendo.

Though not long after they arrived at the end of the pier, Sentaro suddenly came rushing by them and instantly kneeled before the icy captain before he got to the door. "Captain Hitsugaya! I'm very glad you could make it! Captain Ukitake is waiting for you in his Ugendo...please go inside!" the man called out as he crossed the short plank between the pier and the Ugendo itself before opening the door.

Toshiro just went inside silently, him ignoring Kiyone and Sentaro start arguing about them always copying one another. Though he did make a mental apology to Hyorinmaru as he stayed outside to listen to the bickering between the pair of third seats. As he continued through the small house, he took a knee before the bed at the far end. "You wanted to see me Ukitake?" he asked this silently, yet didn't receive any response.

This made the younger captain slightly worried, as he knew that Jushiro's condition was always worse when it was a sudden increase of his illness. Which was what it appeared to be as his fellow white-haired captain seemed to be just fine during the meeting not long ago. But as he watched the thick blanket lift up, it eventually revealed Jushiro with a small smile on his face and a bag of ice on his forehead.

"Oh...Shir-" Jushiro started, yet was quickly cut off by a small coughing fit, which confirmed Toshiro's fears of the captain's condition.

Silently, Toshiro eventually sat himself down with a perfect zen-position near of his fellow white-haired captain. Jushiro looked to him with a small smile as his coughing eventually stopped, yet his breathing was still ragged. Though the icy captain seemed emotionless, each time the brown-eyed man pulled air inside of his lungs, Toshiro held in his own out of concern of letting too much cold air to come into the Ugendo.

"Sorry about that Shiro-chan…" the older man apologized after a moment, to which Toshiro just shook his head lightly in response.

"I know you must be busy, but you're the only one who I can trust." Jushiro continued on as he removed the ice pack from his forehead.

The icy captain raised a brow in response to this, the whole situation seeming like his fellow white-haired captain was giving his last will and testament. Yet Toshiro discarded this idea as he knew that Jushiro would go to Shunsui before he would turn to him. Though this thought came back when Jushiro suddenly reached out and took his cold hand into his somewhat hot one.

"I would ask Kyoraku, but unfortunately he is-" Jushiro began, but was once again cut off by another coughing fit.

Toshiro blinked his eyes for a moment as he merely held his fellow captain's hand back, despite feeling slightly worried about the whole situation. But after a moment of coughing, Jushiro was about to calm down once more and looked at the icy hybrid with slightly duller eyes than normal.

"…busy. And I couldn't think anyone else than my fellow Shiro-chan," the sick man continued silently as if he never stopped, his tone being rather hoarse from coughing.

Toshiro merely nodded, wondering if he should call Retsu to help Jushiro as it seemed that he needed heavy medical care.

"So, that why…could you please take care of Sogyo no Kotowari for the day?" was the sudden question from Jushiro, which made Toshiro's eyes widen slightly.

"Ukitake..." the icy captain nearly groaned out with a sweat drop, him expecting the worst from his fellow white-haired captain in his condition.

"Will you? I can only trust my fellow Shiro-chan…" the older man practically pleaded, his hazy eyes looking the turquoise ones as Toshiro simply sighed with a short nod.

This seemed to make the other captain reassured as he finally let go of Toshiro's hand, to which he then took on a soft smile and laid back down. "Thank you." Jushiro said silently before closing his eyes.

"I'll rest a bit…and leave the rest to you." he continued as he seemed to fall asleep the moment his last word left his lips.

The younger captain looked at the sickly man front of him, him letting out another sigh as he rubbed his eyes and stood up. Then as he silently walked to the door, he gave one last glance to Jushiro, before stepping outside and seeing Kiyone and Sentaro still arguing with one another. All the while, Hyorinmaru was standing just to the side with the twins of Sogyo no Kotowari over either of his shoulders. This scene being quite cute in itself, yet Toshiro's emotionless demeanor never wavered in the slightest as he walked over to the three.

"Is Juu-chan going to be alright?" one of the twin asked while the other one tugged Hyorinmaru's hair lightly.

"Alright?" the other boy echoed out as he looked to Toshiro with a slight tilt of his head.

Whom had closed the door behind him and gave a quick nod to the pair, but he never got the chance to verbally answer as the Fourth Division Captain approached the Ugendo. Though once she came close enough, she looked to each of the people present before giving a small smile; "Ah, Captain Hitsugaya...it seems that you're taking care of Sogyo no Kotowari while Captain Ukitake is resting." Retsu spoke out in an almost motherly-like tone.

Toshiro nodded slightly to her, to which both he and the raven-haired woman shifted their gaze over toward Hyorinmaru with the twins. The latters of which were now fully sitting on the former's shoulders and ruffling his teal colored hair with large grins on their faces.

"I'll go now check him. Please take care of them for now." was all Retsu said before she gave Toshiro a quick nod and headed inside the Ugendo.

Shaking his head slightly with another sigh, Toshiro glanced to his zanpakuto once more with a raised brow. Whom had looked back to his master with an indifferent expression on his face; 'Captain Unohana would have told you, if it would be bad.' Hyorinmaru spoke through their mind connection.

The icy captain merely nodded to his inner words, before giving small smirk to his zanpakuto and muttering out a silent; "Yeah."

But immediately after Hyorinmaru heard this, the twins started to tap the sides of his head and began to demand to play a game. Toshiro shook his head and cleared his throat; "I'll just leave them to you." he all but ordered his zanpakuto.

"Master, I-" Hyorinmaru started with his eyes blinking a few times, but then Sogyo no Kotowari both suddenly jumped away from his shoulders and began rushing down the pier.

The duo looked behind them with child-like laughing following behind Sogyo no Kotowari as they suddenly shunpoed away at great speed. This caused Toshiro to blink a few times in a bit of surprise before he pointed after the two with his icy claw; "After them!" he shouted, knowing the twins could get in trouble if they weren't under a watchful eye.

The teal-haired zanpakuto instantly used shunpo along with his master to follow after the twins, whom where just laughing as they ran down one of the streets of Seireitei. The two icy beings followed the madly giggling twins as they just disappeared in shunpos all over again. Sighing, Toshiro stopped to look around as he knew that so long as Sogyo no Kotowari knew they were coming, they would continuously run away.

It was obvious the twins were playing a strange mix of 'hide-and-seek' along with 'tag', yet it wasn't something that either Hyorinmaru or Toshiro knew how to play. This seeming to become obvious as the pair of white-haired children called out to them from the roof of a nearby building. "Here, here!"

While one of the twins, waved his small hand, the other was just laughing and gesturing for the two to follow them. As Toshiro gave a quick glance Hyorinmaru, he let out a heavy breath and shook his head lightly. 'I think this is going to be much harder than I originally thought.' he said in his mind before they both shunpoed toward the twins.

Both of whom were already gone as they were now on the top of another building, to which Toshiro and Hyorinmaru gave chase. Yet as the twins rushed to the other side of the roof, Toshiro appeared right behind them and reached out to grab their collars. But to the icy captain's surprise, he missed as Sogyo no Kotowari had dropped off the edge of the roof and swung themselves into an open window.

This caused Toshiro to sigh heavily before following after the two, him leaving his zanpakuto to stand there with his mouth open as if to say something. But he never got the chance as the icy captain blinked in shock when he realized that he was in the women's bathhouse and had many of said shinigami within this causing the white-haired captain to turn scarlet red as he quickly rushed right back through the window. Yet he was too late to not be partially seen by the occupants, to which a loud scream was heard and a great many shampoo bottles and water buckets followed after Toshiro.

Despite him thanking every god in existence for not being identified by the women in the bath, he also vowed that he would give the twins a grand punishment when he got them. At the same time, Hyorinmaru walked over to his master as he finally spoke up; "I was about to tell you that you were going into the women's bathhouse master."

His words simply made Toshiro groan and roll his eyes; "I could have used that information before I followed them in." he muttered as he turned to the side and saw Sogyo no Kotowari rushing down another street.

The icy zanpakuto instantly followed the twins until they reached a thin alley, only to stop as he saw the children go inside a small hole in the building. Hyorinmaru immediately searched for a door leading inside, but when he did, it was locked. This lead him to simply send a quick palm into it to break it down, but he used too much force as it hit the cages that the Hell Butterflies were kept in. Which ended up setting all of the small insects free, causing the shinigami that were inside the building to frown deeply at the zanpakuto.

"I was searching for Sogyo no Kotowari." Hyorinmaru said silently as he almost sounded like he was embarrassed, though it was difficult to tell.

Yet there was no sign of the twins and made the shinigami just frown a bit deeper; "My Master will pay that." Hyorinmaru stated with a tone that now sounded almost like an apology, to which he vanished in a shunpo to search for the twins.

The icy dragon didn't stop his going until he sensed his master, whom was currently once again chasing after Sogyo no Kotowari across roof tops. Yet once he caught up, the two eventually stopped in their tracks and looked to one another. Them standing right in front of the Sixth Division's gate, but it was the sounds coming from the other side of it that made them stay right where they were.

"Hey give that back!" the voice of Hebi was heard from the boy half of Zabimaru.

"What in the world are you two even doing here?!" Saru called out as her somewhat masculine voice cracked a bit as she seemed a bit surprised by something.

After a moment, Toshiro let out a breath and opened the doors to see what was going on along with Hyorinmaru. What they saw was the twins of Sogyo no Kotowari were both pulling on a bag that Hebi was trying to hold onto a tightly as possible. All the while Saru was trying to separate everyone, but wasn't able to do so as none of them seemed ready to give up the fight.

"Just let go already!" Saru all but roared out before she lifted her gaze to Toshiro and Hyorinmaru, but mainly to the icy zanpakuto.

Taking a step forward, Hyorinmaru spiked his reiatsu to catch everyone else's attention, causing the twins to release the bag. The teal-haired zanpakuto then shifted his gaze around as if asking what exactly happened, to which he fixed his eyes on the Saru side of Zabimaru.

"We were just about to have some lunc-" the female started when her partner interrupted her by jumping up and onto her head with his sleeved finger pointed at Sogyo no Kotowari.

"When those two kids came an-ouch! What the hell are you doing, fat-ass?" Hebi called out in annoyance as his other half grabbed him by the tail and held him upside down.

"Huh?! Who you're calling fat-ass, you snotty brat?" Saru demanded, her free hand curled into a fist as she basically threatened to hit the red-head.

"Oi! I'm not a 'snotty brat'! You cow!" Hebi declared, to which Saru growled silently before she began to spin her other half around by his tail.

All the while, both Toshiro and Hyorinmaru watched this with light sweat drops as the former let out a polite cough to catch the duo's attention once more. "What about Sogyo no Kotowari?" he asked in a voice which told Zabimaru to answer quickly.

"Those two tried steal my lunch!" Hebi stated as if it were the greatest crime of all, which earned a smack to his head by Saru.

"That wasn't even yours to begin with! You took it from Renji and you better should be ready to give it back!" the female roared to her counterpart who started shout his excuses back to her.

Rubbing his temple, Toshiro sighed heavily as he then glanced Hyorinmaru's way, who pointed the spot where the twins had been. Causing Toshiro to let out a small curse as they were gone once more, to which he and his zanpakuto immediately left, leaving Saru and Hebi to argue alone.

The icy pair had then quickly followed the reiatsu track Sogyo no Kotowari were just now deciding to leave behind. This bringing them all the way to the Sixth Division, where they saw Byakuya who tried his best to hold his emotions in check despite his eyebrow twitching slightly. The cause for this being his entire office being in complete shambles and his walls were now covered in drawings of animals and stick figures.

All the while Senbonzakura was just sleeping contentedly in the sofa as if all the chaos around him never happened. Toshiro just cleared his throat silently and started heading for the door with his own zanpakuto; "I'll make sure to pay for the damage." was all he said as he went.

But as they left, they heard Byakuya mutter a few choice words for the twins that caused all this. Yet when they reached an open door, the icy captain blinked his eyes when he saw the garden of the Sixth Division was completely dyed pink.

"H-How?" was all Toshiro could ask as he didn't even think the pair could have been gone from his sight long enough to have done all this.

Yet when the familiar laughing of Sogyo no Kotowari was heard heading away from the Sixth, he groaned loudly and rubbed his eyes. "I'd rather be back at the office doing paperwork." he muttered silently.

Hyorinmaru looked to his master and just gave a light nod of agreement as they both eventually shunpoed toward the laughing. This leading them all the way to the Ninth, which had caused Toshiro to groan loudly all over again when he heard an explosion. To which once the icy pair reached inside, they saw a whole line of printers completely demolished with large amounts of ink covering the floor.

Immediately after seeing this, a figure emerged from the ink and headed toward them with their arms outstretched. "Captain Hitsugaya~..." the being spoke in a dreary sounding voice as it revealed to be Shuhei.

"The press! The press!" the lieutenant managed to cry out as he continued forward, looking like some kind of monster from a bad horror movie.

"It's doomed! Doomed!" he continued on in despair, him falling to his knees as his anime tears allowed the ink to start running down his face.

Toshiro just gave a short look to his zanpakuto, to which he stepped forward, but still kept his distance from Shuhei. "I'll pay for the damage Hisagi...just tell me which way they went." he said as Hyorinmaru began checking the area for any signs of the twins.

Though as Shuhei's eyes shifted slightly up at Toshiro, he just pointed his finger at the icy captain's own division just across the way. Narrowing his eyes, the white-haired captain quickly shunpoed toward the Tenth, to which Hyorinmaru followed soon after. Yet while they searched with heavily examining and serious gazes, neither of them could find a single thing out of place.

But after feeling the last remnants of their reiatsu going into Toshiro's office, said captain just took in a breath to calm himself. 'Whatever it is…it can be fixed.' was what he thought to himself before he opened the door slowly.

The sight which welcomed him, made Toshiro blink his eyes and become utterly speechless. Rangiku was sitting on one of the couches with both the sleeping forms of Sogyo no Kotowari in either of her arms. The strawberry blond looked gently down at the twins, all the while her own zanpakuto was behind the couch. Her leaning against it as she too stared at the two children with a soft smile and an almost mother-like gaze.

The white-haired captain finally managed to tear away his eyes from this heartwarming imagine after a few moments. To which he quickly looked around his office to see if anything happened, only to nod satisfied when he saw that nothing was out of place. This giving him the chance to notice that it was now late in the afternoon rather than mid-morning like it was when he first went to see Jushiro.

'It seems they got tired before they could do anything here. And it looks like Rangiku and Haineko already finished the paperwork.' Toshiro thought as a small smile curled his lips slightly.

"Ah, captain…welcome back." Rangiku's voice brought Toshiro's attention back to her as she spoke quietly to not wake the sleeping twins.

"These two just appeared out of nowhere, all exhausted." she continued with a light tilt of her head as he looked back down at the pair.

"Cute, isn't it?" Haineko muttered out as Rangiku gave a nod, the werecat gazing up and over to Hyorinmaru as he stood next to Toshiro.

Both the icy master and the icy zanpakuto shared a look before looking the sleeping twins with an expression that showed they wanted to mention what happened before now. Yet neither said a word as Toshiro just nodded his head lightly; "Ah." was all he said before he turned to Hyorinmaru and they walked out of the office.

Though the moment Toshiro closed the door, he let out a groan as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm going to have to pay for a lot of stuff." he muttered silently as they walked outside and were immediately met by a grinning Senna.

"Someone has been naughty today!" the purple haired girl started, her handing her captain a stack of reports that was just a portion of what she had in her grasp.

The moment Toshiro started looking through them, he instantly regretted it as he saw a complaint about an 'incident' within the women's bathhouse. This demanding for every division to pay for more security for the bathhouse itself, due to it no longer being 'safe'. The next report Senna gave his was from Byakuya, who described in great detail of what Jushiro's zanpakuto had done to not only his office, but his garden as well. Then at the very bottom of this report, there was a bill for the damages, which the icy captain could only assume was reduced thanks to Byakuya being generous to him about the fee.

Toshiro sweat dropped slightly, to which he sighed heavily and looked to Senna as he waited for her to hand him the last piece of bad news. But before he could ask about it, Rukia came walking up with Sode no Shirayuki and Jushiro himself. The latter of which appeared to be fully back to normal health as he had a full smile on his features and the color back in his features.

Toshiro blinked his eyes for a moment as he just watched the Thirteen Division's captain approached him with his usual warm smile. "Ah! Shiro-chan! I hope Sogyo no Kotowari didn't bring you any trouble. I just came from Ugendo. Captain Unohana said I'm already enough healthy take the twins' home," the other white-haired captain said happily as Toshiro mechanically nodded.

"I would've asked Shunsui to take care of them, but unfortunately he was having bad hangover." Jushiro continued with a sheepish smile now as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm very sorry I couldn't take them, Captain." Rukia apologized, bowing which made Toshiro wonder if she apologized to Jushiro or him.

"If I hadn't been busy helping Ichigo in the World of the Living with that Toju...I would've looked after them." she continued with another bow.

"It's fine Kuchiki. After all, I knew I could count on my fellow Shiro-chan, because we're both Shiro-chans, ne?" Jushiro said with another warm smile, him turning to Toshiro as he just gave another nod.

Though as the icy captain looked at his fellow captain, he began to consider asking the white-haired shinigami of why he didn't warn him of the danger in looking out for the twin 'devils'. But he was cut off from doing this when said zanpakuto rushed past Toshiro and hugged Jushiro tightly.

"Aaaah! Wait you two!" Rangiku's whine could easily be heard from just outside the office as the strawberry blond gave chase.

Yet she never made it outside when Haineko seemed to believe it to be the perfect time for another sassy remark. "Come on oba-san! You've to be faster to keep up with us youngsters!"

"Why you-!" Rangiku started as a few thuds could be heard within the office and even a crash.

"Now you two, what do you say when someone has taken care of you?" Jushiro asked, motioning the twins to thank Toshiro.

The icy captain merely looked the small children front of him, before he blinked his eyes slightly shocked. The duo had suddenly rushed up to Toshiro and hugged him tightly in a similar fashion as they did with their master. To which the pair had then spoke in unison with wide smiles on their features; "Thank you Onii-chan!"

"Awww! Cute!" both Rangiku and Haineko squealed aloud as they seemed to seize their fight to watch this from the window of the office.

Toshiro just patted the children's heads with his icy hands as he gave them a light nod; "You're welcome." was all he responded with as the twins then went to Hyorinmaru with another hug.

After they had thanked him and went back to Jushiro, the duo went back to their master and jumped onto his shoulders. Immediately afterward, Senna looked back and forth between each of them and grinned widely once more. "They're like mini-Toshiros! Now we have a whole club of Shiro-chans~!" she all but sang out.

Blinking his turquoise eyes, Toshiro looked to Sogyo no Kotowari, who answered his gaze with their light green eyes in an innocent way. Though the icy captain quickly looked away with a sigh, Jushiro chuckled lightly, while Rukia looked between the trio along with her zanpakuto. Whom appeared to smile as she appeared to almost be interested in being apart of a club since she would qualify.

Rangiku was slightly flushing as she thought this idea, but Haineko's small laughing seemed to break the spell that Senna had casted top of them. To which Jushiro decided to speak up after clearing his throat lightly; "I should go. Captain Unohana said I shouldn't push my health. Come on you two," he said as he waved small zanpakuto spirits to follow him.

Both of whom answered with a 'hai~!' before jumping down from their master's shoulders and rushing off toward the Thirteenth. Yet just as Jushiro turned to go with them, he paused and glance to Toshiro with a smile. "Oh, and Shiro-chan."

The icy captain just raised a brow as he was almost afraid of what he might say; "Yeah?"

"I'll bring you some candy for your hard work later on." were Jushiro's last words before he strolled with Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki outside of the Tenth.

Toshiro rubbed his temples with a heavy sigh, him feeling an upcoming headache rising up. But he still never got any rest as a shinigami from Ninth appeared and silently just handed him the report of how much the damages would cost. Immediately after reading this, his eyebrow twitching and gave the shinigami their cue to leave them as fast as possible. Not long after this, the temperature of the area started to lower drastically, making Senna hurry into the office where Rangiku and Haineko already were.

Both of whom where hiding underneath their captain's desk as the whole division was nearly completely covered in ice from Toshiro's reiatsu outburst.

"Master…" Hyorinmaru started silently as he was the only one near of the white-haired hybrid at the moment.

But he quickly went silent as Toshiro gave him look of 'not another word', to which the icy captain just walked calmly to his office. Hyorinmaru himself just remaining outside as he brought his ice-covered hand to his chin and tilted his head down slightly in thought. 'I wonder how I should tell him about me accidentally breaking the door and cages in the Hell Butterfly house.' He thought, but decided to leave the matter for now to better time to tell his master.


	160. Chapter 160

Here is the other extra that was part of the contest...well...it was just the idea of a chapter's theme, but I hope you all enjoy it. ^^ Oh...and btw, I'm going to be gone on Wednesday and Thursday in the first week of December, so there probably won't be a chapter that week. I'm going in for a two day test for the Coast Guard, so there isn't much I'll be able to do in terms of writing. Anyway...onto the chapter~! :D

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**Chapter 160:**

-The next day-

Toshiro raised a brow to the piece of paper his lieutenant had just handed to him, to which he looked to her as he read the title out loud. "Master vs. Zanpakuto Olympics?"

After he questioned this with a tone that told Rangiku that he wanted an explanation, said strawberry blond just took on a grin before speaking up. "Well it is the only chance we'll ever have to do something like this." she said with a voice that seemed like she was stating the obvious.

"Besides...I couldn't call it 'Shinigami vs. Zanpakuto', then you couldn't participate." she claimed before shaking her head.

"And that just would have upset the fans." she continued, crossing her arms in the process and then nodding lightly.

Immediately following her comment, Toshiro raised his brow once more and leaned back in his chair; "And what 'fans' are you referring to?" he asked with a clearing of his throat at the start.

"You wouldn't have gone out sending these fliers around the Seireitei before bringing me one to 'request' permission to hold such an event on the grounds...would you?" he all but ordered out as he place the paper on his desk which clearly stated that the event would take place in the Tenth Division, today.

Rangiku blinked to him as she smiled sheepishly and waved her hands out in front of her; "O-Of course not...I would never do such a thing Captain." she said quickly with a slightly nervous tone.

"Is that so? Then how do you explain all of the squad members sneaking past the window behind me with all of that sports equipment?" Toshiro questioned as he crossed his arms and tapped one of his icy fingers on his arm.

The lieutenant laughed nervously before she shrugged her shoulders; "Coincidence?" she said as if asking him if he would actually buy into her lame excuse.

Toshiro simply rolled his eyes and rubbed them lightly with his ice-covered fingers; "Fine...but you do realize Soul Society is still supposed to be in a state of emergency with the Toju running around. If there is the slightest sign of one, this event is over." she stated with a 'no arguing tone'.

Rangiku just grinned widely before she rushed over to him and hugged his face into her chest; "Aw~! Thank you so much Captain~! You're the best ever~!" she sang out before running off to tell all of the people outside that the event was on.

Though the white-haired captain let out a heavy sigh, he looked to the flier in front of him once more and just shook his head. 'I guess this will get my mind off things for a while.' he thought to himself before raising a brow when he saw a shadow covering the piece of paper.

After seeing this, Toshiro looked up from his desk and to the person in front of him, it being Yoruichi with her brow raised and arms crossed. Despite her seeming to be a bit irritated at the icy captain, said hybrid just let out a sigh and briefly closed his eyes. He then looked to her with an expression that told her to just voice out what was on her mind, which is exactly what she did.

"Why in the world did it take so long for you to tell me about everything that was going on?!" she began in an almost scolding tone as her pupils turned to slits.

"After I got back from giving Kisuke your message in the World of the Living, just about everything was already over! Unohana told me that most of the patients were already healed and that you had just disappeared with Byaka-Bo! Then once I go to find you...you tear up a huge portion of the landscape in an area I happened to like! And to top everything off, I find out you have an underground laboratory that helped you to age three hundred years so your body could handle the training you did almost forty years ago in Hell!" she continued, her taking a step closer to Toshiro's desk as she did.

"Where of which you just came back from to save Ichigo, his sister Yuzu, Uryu and Nozomi! And all the while..." Yoruichi started again as she leaned forward on the white-haired captain's desk, her placing her hands on it to help her stay up.

"...you didn't even invite me~!" she whined out with a sudden pout, though her pupils stayed as slits within her golden eyes.

Toshiro just stared at her for a long while, to which he let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders; "I was in a rush...I didn't have time to stop and 'invite' you to come with me." he said with a light sweat drop.

Yoruichi huffed silently before pushing herself away from her friend's desk, to which she circled around it as she spoke. "Well I guess I can accept your excuse this time...but the next time you better include me more."

The icy captain sighed once more as he just rested his head on his hand after bringing his elbow on the arm rest of his chair. "I'll try." was all he responded with before Yoruichi came right up to him.

But the moment she was close enough, she pulled his chair out slightly and sat sideways in his lap as she leaned back on his other arm rest. Her actions making Toshiro raise a brow in question as it was the first time in a long time since she had done such a thing with him. Yet before he could speak, she did so immediately with a rather quiet tone; "So what are you going to do about the Zero Division?"

Though the white-haired captain looked to her silently for a moment, his mind itself was racing to figure out what he should even say. 'Should I tell her now? Can I tell her now? Would she actually even accept? Am I being presumptuous in thinking that she'd marry me? Could she have just been joking? Is this even an appropriate time to propose in the first place?' were just some of the questioned he asked himself.

Yet just as Toshiro opened his mouth to speak, the only word he got out before Rangiku suddenly came walking into the office once more was; "I..."

But the second the strawberry blond saw the scene of Yoruichi sitting in her captain's lap, she puffed her cheeks out as her jealousy become very apparent to anyone that happened to have been looking for it. Though only the purple-haired woman had been, even Toshiro could see it as well before Rangiku composed herself with a clearing of her throat.

"Actually Captain...we also need a favor from you or Hyorinmaru." she started as she tried to keep her quick glares at Yoruichi to a minimum.

"And what is that?" the icy captain questioned with a serious tone, despite him still having his oldest friend sitting on his lap like they were newlyweds.

"We need you to make some of the courses with your ice." was all Rangiku said as she didn't want to mention the fact that it was over half of the courses that he would have to make.

-An hour later-

Toshiro let out a heavy groan as he stood with a very large gathering of both shinigami and zanpakuto alike. The icy captain's own sword spirit being included on the proper side as both groups were standing toward one another on a circular platform made of solid ice. Though there were tall rows of seats surrounding this stage, hundreds of shinigami had placed themselves in every available spot possible.

All the while, the shinigami present on the platform consisted of Renji, Byakuya, Yumichika, Ikkaku, Momo, Shuhei, Izuru, Sajin, Rukia, Rangiku, Marechiyo, Soifon, Chojiro, Jushiro and Hanataro. To which the group zanpakuto was simply the shinigami's own counterparts, this placing Toshiro and Hyorinmaru at the very end of each of their respectful groups.

Though between the two of them, the former had a rather annoyed expression on his features as he rubbed his eyes. 'Why am I always dragged into this sort of thing?' he questioned in his mind.

But then Shunsui suddenly came walking up onto the platform, him going between the one yard gap between the master's and their zanpakuto. "Hello everyone~! My name is Kyoraku Shunsui...and I'll be your host for the very first Soul Society Olympics~!" he called out on a microphone that suddenly appeared from his sleeve.

Despite his words earning him a cheer from all of the shinigami in the crowd, his lieutenant standing to the side seemed much less enthused. To which as the brown-haired captain continued on, he avoided Nanao's gaze entirely; "I hope you're all as excited as I am, so let's get right down to it! First we'll introduce the judges of this competition!"

After saying this, a spot light suddenly appeared to the side to show a group of people within what appeared to be a white tent. This shelter having two rings on the top that were different colors, them being black and grey as they seemed to be linked together for its design. Though it was the occupants inside the tent that drew the attention; "First up is the Head Captain himself...Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni~! Also known as Yama-Jii!" Shunsui announced as the elder man had just given the crowd a brief wave.

"Next is Unohana Retsu, Captain of the Fourth~!" the pink kimono wearing man continued as said woman just gave her signature smile to everyone.

Though the crowd was still cheering, some of them had stopped upon seeing her smiling as they had a few bad experiences from seeing it. All the while, Shunsui just gestured to the last person in the tent; "Lastly is...Senna~! The Fifth Seat for the Tenth Division~!"

Immediately following his introduction, said purple haired girl pouted with a long whine; "It's not fair~! I wanted to compete~!" she cried out as her tone made it sound as though the world was coming to an end.

"Sorry there...but your zanpakuto wasn't materialized by Muramasa, so I'm afraid you can't." Shunsui said as if stating an old rule.

Despite Senna opening her mouth to argue further, the brown-haired captain just turned swiftly around to each of the beings on the stage with him. "And now without further ado...lets get to the main events~!" Shunsui called out as the crowd cheered loudly.

"The first event is...Football~! Also known as 'Soccer'~!" he continued with a wide grin, but he was quickly hit in the back of the head by Nanao as she turned the microphone off to give him a lecture about his announcing.

-Moments later-

All of the people who had been standing on the stage were now on a long soccer field with Toshiro at the head of the group of shinigami. However, the group that he was leading was now just Renji, Yumichika, Ikkaku, Shuhei, Sajin, Rukia, Rangiku, Soifon, Jushiro and Hanataro. Though despite these being the shinigami's team, the zanpakuto's was made up of; Zabimaru, Kazeshini, Tenken, Hyorinmaru, Haineko, Gegetsuburi, Hozukimaru, Sode no Shirayuki, Senbonzakura and Gonryumaru.

Yet far off to the side was Ashisogi Jizo wearing a referee-like robe as he hovered over to the center with a soccer ball in his small hands. While Toshiro stood at the front of his team, Kazeshini was standing at the front of his own, whom had his usual wide grin across his features. The white-haired captain simply raised a brow to this, yet his eyes quickly narrowed when he saw Hyorinmaru as the goaltender for the other team. This made him glance back at Sajin for him to take the same position before turning to Ashisogi Jizo as he brought the ball up to him and Kazeshini.

'This might actually be an interesting match.' was all Toshiro had thought as he and the whole crowd watched the soccer ball being dropped with an almost slow motion gaze.

Though the moment the ball hit the ground, the baby-faced zanpakuto all but fled the field as once nearly all of the beings on the field charged at the ball, all hell broke loose. Powers were used, arms were broken, legs were bloodied and most of all, goals being scored were nearly a miracle. The game itself was tied two-to-two for five entire overtime halves, yet it finally ended after the ball hit Hanataro's face accidentally when Renji attempted a long-range shot. To which the moment the goal was scored, Shunsui rushed onto the field and began interviewing an unconscious Hanataro. The frail shinigami having his eyes rolled back as the brown-haired captain spun his body around like a rag doll while he asked questions, him trying to stall as long as possible to not be given another speech from his lieutenant.

Yet while this game wasn't based on points from the judges, Senna stood up and raised a '10' poster in her hands as she grinned widely. "Best goal ever~!" she called out in amusement.

"That it was judge Senna...and now on to the next event~!" Shunsui called out after he finally released Hanataro to Isane as said woman was trying to get her fellow fourth division member to the healing center.

"Gymnastics~!" was the last word to echo out through the area before it was suddenly a large padded arena, yet Shunsui himself seemed to disappear as a silent plea of help was ignored by everyone as the competitors came up onto the mats.

All the while, all of the people that were injured were somehow back to their original health, which came as a surprise to everyone but Retsu. Whom of which seemed as though she was just now sitting down after being up, despite her never moving throughout the whole event. Yet no one bothered to question about this as many of the participants of the next sport were eventually greeted by an almost nervous Shunsui.

"Here we have the women's side of the competitors. And on the other end...the...men side." he said with a sheepish smile while looking to the side as Nanao seemed to give an approving nod, her standing with both halves of Katen Kyokotsu.

The female end of the competitors had Rangiku, Soifon and Rukia for the shinigami side, while their respectful zanpakuto next to them on the opposing team. All the while, the 'men' side only consisted of Yumichika and Ruri'iro Kujaku, both of whom seemed to be wearing even more extravagant leotards than the women. But while the sudden appearance of them all wearing these created confusion among the crowd, it caused a bit of embarrassment for Soifon and Rukia while none of the other females seemed affected at all.

Though the moment the competition began, it became very clear to both Yumichika and his zanpakuto that neither of them could compare to any of the women. Regardless of how much effort they put into their outfits, they both knew that the flexibility of not only highly training Onmitsukido members, but an actual werecat was too far for them to compete against. To which they had simply given up before it was even their turn to start, no one bothering to tell them that the males were competing against one another rather than the women.

Yet despite all this, it was Haineko that took the gold as her cat-like reflexes and flexibility were completely unmatched in the judges eyes. Though Senna just continuously gave everyone a perfect score when it was their turn, the true decision rested with Yamamoto and Retsu as they gauged all of them correctly. Soifon and Suzumebachi receiving two '9's' from them, Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki a '6' and a '7', Rangiku an '8' and a '9', while Haineko herself got a fully perfect score from all of them. This bringing the werecat to not only make sure everyone knew that she was the best, but to claim her prize as Hyorinmaru more so than the metal itself.

Which prevented Shunsui from interviewing her as he couldn't get around the icy zanpakuto, all the while Haineko just continuously hugged him. Yet the brown-haired captain seemed to give up as he swiftly spun around and gestured to the side; "Congratulations Haineko for winning the gold, and a great job to Soifon and Suzumebachi on tying for the silver. And of course Rangiku for winning on the Bronze~!"

"Anyway...lets move on to..." Shunsui continued as he seemed to pause for dramatic effects, but was in fact checking to make sure that Nanao wasn't disappointed with his performance thus far.

"...Volleyball~!" he announced as suddenly everyone was now in a large sandy area with a tall net in the center reaching from either side of the course.

Though Toshiro was back onto the 'field', he looked even less enthusiastic about playing than before. But then as he looked to the side, he noticed Yoruichi along with, Ashido, Nemu, Yachiru, Kaien, Kukaku and most of his division members sitting in the stands closest to the sand. This caused him to sweat drop heavily as he immediately realized that they were his 'cheering section'. Which had only made him think to himself; 'Just how long have they been here?' as he rubbed his eyes with a groan.

Yet he didn't have time to think any further as Ashisogi Jizo came hovering over once more, only this time he had a volleyball in his hands. This prompted the icy captain to look around to both of the teams just like before, to which his brow raised a bit in response. Toshiro's team was himself, Rangiku, Soifon, Jushiro, Rukia and Byakuya, the last of which was what caught the white-haired captain by surprise.

'Wow...I didn't expect him to participate in just about any of the events. Though now I'm wondering if this is going to just turn out like the soccer game did.' he continued in his thoughts as he looked to the other team.

Which was made up of Hyorinmaru, Tobiume, Haineko, Wabisuke, Senbonzakura and Hisagomaru; 'Yep...exactly like the last game.' was the last thing Toshiro thought as he sweat dropped heavily and just watched the volleyball being thrown into the air.

The icy captain's fear was fully correct as even thought the game began a different way than the previous one, the aftermath of the start was nearly the same. Moments after the ball had been thrown into the air, the once nice sandy beach-like area immediately became a scene that could have been seen as apocalyptic. The only differences between the two games played were that not only were the player's bodies being harmed, but they now had sand in their wounds, rather than grass or dirt.

Yet while it was once again tied for many matches, the final point was scored when both Hyorinmaru and Toshiro collided and the ball ended up hitting Wabisuke's own blade. This had sent the ball straight into the ground at the silent zanpakuto's feet, him seeming to hang his head in shame. Though it was unclear if this was true as he had his head down almost the entire duration of the game itself. To which Senna raised up her '10' once more, her obviously not knowing that the games that have points through scoring didn't be need her judgement.

"And what a horrible upset that must have been for the Zanpakuto team~! It appears that the Shinigami team has pulled ahead once again with another win~!" Shunsui called out as he appeared on the 'battlefield' with a light sweat drop.

"The Shinigami may have won two of the three Summer-based events...what will happen now that we're heading into the Winter-based events~?! Let's find out now with the Biathlon~!" he continued as the destroyed sandy area was quickly replaced by a snow-covered, ice-made hill.

Which had a row of seated shinigami all the way down the track on the left side, all the while there were also small red targets placed all along the course. Yet at the very top of the hill were all six of the ones competing, each of whom were now wearing skis along with their usual attire.

"Where of which the competitors will ski down the hill and shoot kido spells at targets along the way~!" Shunsui explained, which made many of the people involved sweat drop heavily as he didn't go over any rules for the previous events.

"Of course since zanpakuto can't use kido, they'll simply be firing concentrated balls of reiatsu. But then again...what else is kido in the first place? Am I right?" the brown-haired captain continued as he nudged the air closest to the crowd with his elbow.

Yet no one had made a sound as they all just blinked at the pink kimono-wearing man, Nanao just rubbing her eyes under her glasses along with both of Shunsui's zanpakuto. But Jushiro had stood up from his place near the crowd as he raised his hand with a small smile; "I get it!" the white-haired captain called out as he tried to support his friend's lame joke.

Shunsui just cleared his throat and gestured to the people on the top of the hill; "Anyway...moving right along to the event! Whomever hits the most targets with the best style of skiing is the winner~! You may start whenever you're ready~!" he called out as most of the beings quickly pushed off from the starting point to go down.

The first one down was Toshiro as he seemed to easily glide across the snow, to which he never even bothered to stop to shoot his kido spells while he just increased speed the further he went. The second was Sode no Shirayuki as even though her kimono restricted her leg movements, she propelled herself forward with a strong gust of icy wind. All the while, she fired off blasts of reiatsu in a similar fashion as Toshiro, yet it was with a bit of less accuracy.

Behind them was Saru of Zabimaru, whom had to continuously stop in order to hit one of the targets that the first two left behind. Yet while Hebi was also competing, he was fast asleep at the starting line and just snoring away despite a brief shiver from the cold. Though they were normally connected by a long silver chain, this attachment appeared to be absent, save for it still being present around Saru's waist and Hebi having his collar. But possibly the most entertaining of the ones participating were Renji and Rukia. The former was still on the very first target, while the latter was both cheering him on to succeed and scolding him when he failed, miserably.

"Come on already~! Focus~!" the raven-haired shinigami called out as she didn't bother with the race as she was now caught up in her old habit of teaching Renji.

Said lieutenant having both his hands out before he was engulfed in a large blast of red, to which he was hit in the back of the head by Rukia. "Baka! Again!" she yelled with her arms crossed.

All the while, the end result of was just as anyone would have expected, Toshiro took the gold, Sode no Shirayuki received the silver and Saru the bronze. Yet when Shunsui rushed up to interview Toshiro, said white-haired captain just disappeared before he could be reached. This bringing Nanao right in front of her captain, whom sweat dropped heavily before he was dragged away with a few sobs. But as this happened, another change in scenery occurred into an ice rink, to which the brown-haired announcer just cleared his throat from his slightly hunched position.

"And now...lets start with the ice hockey." Shunsui sniffed out as he was lightly hit over the head with yet another one of Nanao's books, her continuing to lecture him about his 'antics' in his announcing.

After his words, the two teams that would be playing all skated out onto the ice as they somehow got ice skates on their feet within the brief second it took for the area to change. The zanpakuto side having Haineko, Hyorinmaru, Kazeshini, Senbonzakura, Suzumebachi and Sode no Shirayuki, while the shinigami side was just each of their masters.

Though while everyone also had a hockey stick in their hands, Suzumebachi merely had what appeared to be a pencil with a bent tip. This making the small zanpakuto let out a groan as she skated up to the center against Toshiro as he was in the center, once again. But upon seeing the fairy-like woman come up to him, the icy captain just narrowed his eyes slightly as he seemed to know better than to underestimate her speed.

This not going unnoticed as once Ashisogi Jizo came over with the puck and dropped it, the first goals of the game were by Suzumebachi herself. Though this didn't last long as Toshiro and his team came right back with their own goals, which sparked the true game to begin. Yet even as both teams struggled to battle like they had for the other two games they played, they succeeded all too well.

By the time the game was over, it had gone through twenty shootouts, many of the players were either beaten up or were still fighting. To which the last goal finally being scored after Kazeshini blasted the puck right off of his master's forehead and into the goal Rangiku had been protecting. Said strawberry blond being distracted when Haineko refused to stop calling her 'Oba-san', causing them both to start fighting off to the side of the goal itself.

"And it looks like the zanpakuto are pulling themselves right back into this competition with an...interesting goal by Kazeshini~!" Shunsui announced as he stayed off of the ice for fear of falling, and the fact that he was now on the opposite side as his glaring lieutenant.

But just as both teams were skating off the ice, it suddenly transitioned to a snow-covered area that had a half-pipe on both sides of the rounded off ground. Yet even though Toshiro was once again placed with each of the other competitors, his skates were gone and replaced by a snowboard. This making him rub his eyes and groan as he once again heard the cheering from his 'cheering section' in the crowd.

Though before he could turn to Yoruichi and the others, Shunsui came around to him and blocked his view. "It looks like you and Shuhei are the only two for the shinigami's side in this event." the brown-haired man stated as he looked over to the single being across from them.

"While these two young...brave zanpakuto stand against the odds to win one more for their team~!" Shunsui continued as he gestured over to Sogyo no Kotowari with his hand.

The twins in question had walked over to Toshiro and just smiled widely; "Hello again, Onii-chan~!" they called out in unison as they waved to him.

This made the icy captain sweat drop heavily for a moment before he just gave a short wave back before they were suddenly at the top of one of the half-pipes. Immediately following this transition, Shuhei was pushed down the icy, curved wall. Which lead to him almost instantly tumbling to the snow at the bottom and face-planting just before he could get himself up again. His score ending up as a 2.2 in total, despite the points being counted in normal numbers. This only being possible due to Senna scribbling in a '.2' on her '0' board while Yamamoto and Retsu had their usual '1's', but it had showed that the youngest of the three had finally learned what types of events needed her judging.

Though the remainder of the three participants weren't pushed, only Toshiro managed to score perfectly thanks to an interesting spinning move in the air. This one action had defied gravity even more than what had already been done thus far, which made even Yamamoto crack an eye open just to see it. The 'move' was made up of three backflips, four spins to the right and Toshiro holding the side of his snowboard the whole time. But just as the icy captain was unbuckling himself from the snowboard, Shusui began once again with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well...it looks like that's all everyone. With four gold metals of each of their wins...the shinigami have pulled off a total win in these Olympic games. I guess we're not even going to be able to see the last event we had planned." he said with a sigh of disappointment, to which he received a great many 'aws' of their own dismay.

But just as it seemed like everything would finally end, Shusui just grinned widely and shrugged once again. "Alright...just do it anyway?" he more of told than asked as a large wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.

This leading to another area change as it went back to an ice rink, only this time rather than hockey skates, the competitors had on figure skates. Which had made Toshiro groan loudly as he rubbed his eyes; "Why have I been in just about every event?" he questioned aloud.

"Who knows...but this is the last one, so let just have some fun." Rangiku claimed from beside him as she winked.

"And what exactly are we doing here?" the icy captain questioned as many of the other games or events were self-explanatory.

"Apparently we are meant to do some sort of dance on the ice with a partner." Byakuya stated with his usual stern expression as he and Rukia stood side-by-side.

All the while, each of the four's zanpakuto were standing to the side of their masters as they were paired up in a similar fashion. But though Shunsui came out between them to announce for them to begin, almost none of them even moved a muscle. This prompting Byakuya to skate out to the center of the ice, to which Rukia quickly followed behind before they began.

Yet while the raven-haired man's movements on the ice were quite smooth and elegant, Rukia's were a bit wobbly due to her lack of experience on ice skates. Though they scored a '22', their zanpakuto had gone out next and gathered two more points than their masters had thanks to Sode no Shirayuki moving more fluidly and greater skate control. But when Rangiku was going to have her and Toshiro go next, she was cut off when Haineko pulled Hyorinmaru along with a grin.

"Come along Darling~! We must show that Oba-san how it's done~!" the werecat sang as she and the teal-haired zanpakuto made their performance to near perfection.

Them both moving with each other as though they had been skating their whole lives together, to which at the end Haineko brought herself as close to Hyorinmaru as possible and gave him a kiss upon his cheek. "Now I don't care if we won." she whispered with a smile before they skated off the ice.

The two had scored a '28' by the judges, Retsu and Senna giving them a '10' while Yamamoto merely gave an '8'. This bringing Rangiku and Toshiro out into the center of the ice as they briefly looked around, this making the former a bit nervous as she had barely gotten used to the hockey skates. But the white-haired captain just glanced to her and let out a breath; "Just follow my lead." was all he said as their 'dance' begun.

Though it involved many spins, jumping, lifts into the air and even a bit of throwing, the pair practically glided across the ice with so much grace that it could be considered truly beautiful. It seeming to end too soon for the crowd's liking as they seemed completely entranced by the display, yet the conclusion of the performance was too perfect of a picture that it was hard to be disappointed. Rangiku was being held in Toshiro's arms as she leaned back with her strawberry blond locks resting against the cold ice but with some of her bangs hanging in her face to give her a slightly wild look. But upon looking at her like this Toshiro eventually brought her up for them to skate off of the ice, despite Rangiku wanting the moment to last a bit longer between them.

Yet neither of them were able to leave as Shunsui suddenly came over to them after a rug mysteriously rolled out before him; "That was fantastic you two...now lets see what the judges think~!" he called out as he pointed to said three people.

After the 10's rose up in all three of the judges' hands, Rangiku grinned widely and Toshiro had allowed a smirk to curl his lips. 'I guess this whole thing wasn't such a bad idea after all.' he thought as he gave a short glance to his smiling lieutenant.

'I wonder if I could...' Toshiro continued, but trailed off as he just turned away from Rangiku with a hidden smile.

But after a while of Shunsui continuously talking about how great the Olympics were, the icy captain glanced to the side with a raised brow after the area went back to the ice platform. 'How in the world does that keep happening?' he questioned as he crossed his arms.

-Off to the side-

Tessai let out a heavy breath and wiped some sweat from his brow; "Are you sure that the Head Captain approved of me using the forbidden kido spells to stop time and teleport everyone to each location?" he asked after a few deep breaths.

"Of course~...this is a bit of a special event after all." Kisuke claimed with a wide smile.

"And besides...with our agreement with Kurosaki-san, we won't have to worry about any of the Tojus for today." the blond continued as he covered his face with his fan, to which the image of Ichigo being buried by a group of strange beings floated through his mind.

"Yep...all is as it should be." he muttered with a short nod.


	161. Chapter 161

**Chapter 161:**

-Two days later, Tenth Division office-

"Wha-What?!" Rangiku called out in shock as she blinked her eyes and let her jaw practically hang open.

"I'm going to propose to Yoruichi." Toshiro said with a shrug as he seemed far too calm about such a thing, especially with his earlier worries about going through with it.

"B-But...this is so sudden. I-I mean...why now?" the strawberry blond questioned as it sounded more like 'Why her?'

The icy captain just sighed lightly and looked to the side; "Well...I think it's an appropriate time. She's single...I'm single...we've been together since youth...it's just proper." he said with a tone that accidentally let out his extreme nervousness at the end as his voice slightly cracked.

This was caught immediately by Rangiku, to which she sweat dropped lightly and shook her head with a sigh. "Jeez...Hyorinmaru gets dragged away by Haineko for five minutes and suddenly 'this' happens. " she muttered to herself silently.

"Alright...but if you're going to do this, you need to do it properly." Rangiku started as she stood up from her chair and walked over to her still seated captain.

Yet as she came up to the front his desk, she sat herself down on it with her upper body turned mostly to face Toshiro. But she then took on an almost cheerful expression and tone as she started speaking, though none of this reached her almost saddened eyes. The strawberry blond unable to hide the jealousy from being shown through her blue orbs, despite her keeping a happy-like tone when she spoke.

"First: you need to make sure the atmosphere is correct. Set some candles...cover the floor with some flower petals...and make sure you have some classical music playing." Rangiku began as she raised her hand along with a single finger up slightly.

"Second: have a home cooked meal waiting for her when she arrives. I know you have some cooking skills, but just to be sure...take a few quick lessons from Captain Unohana." she continued, her bringing up a second finger into the air as to gesture her points further.

All the while of her saying these things, Toshiro was simply giving nods in response as he was making mental notes of all of these things. But after thinking about all these things, his gaze drifted further and further down at the floor. Yet this didn't stop Rangiku as she kept going and brought up another one of her fingers; "Third: I don't know if you have a ring yet, but make sure that you surprise her with not to make it too obvious of how or when you'll propose."

Not long after her words, the strawberry looked at her captain's somewhat sadden expression, to which she stood up with a tilt of her head slightly in confusion and walked around the desk to him. "What's wrong?" was all she asked with blinking eyes as her fake cheerfulness disappeared.

"It's just that..." Toshiro began, him looking to his lieutenant a bit shocked as he was surprised at himself that he was about to tell her what was on his mind.

Though as a silence engulfed the two, the icy captain looked away for a moment; "Rangiku...I need to tell you something." he started, him just dropping his previous words to start anew.

Upon his statement, the strawberry blond blinked her eyes, then clutched one of her arms with her hand while the other just hung at her side. But as Toshiro continued on, her grip on her own arm tightened briefly as she was both confused and slightly nervous for reasons she didn't know.

"I had said something to both your and Soifon's reigai before they died." after the white-haired captain said this, he took in a short breath and closed his eyes.

"Though I didn't have all of my memories...I could still feel something that let me know what I said to them was true for you and Soifon." Toshiro said, him opening his eyes once more as he looked at his lieutenant.

"Rangiku...I..." he began, but trailed off as he couldn't seem to speak the words aloud.

Yet the strawberry blond never needed him to as she could just tell what he wanted to say, to which her body shook slightly from shock, nervousness and complete joy. Though the moment Toshiro was able to speak the three words he was trying to say, Rangiku instantly pulled him into a tight hug and kiss him hard on the lips.

"I love you." was all it took for the strawberry blond's fear and nervousness to just vanish, only to be replaced by passion.

This completely caught Toshiro off guard as his eyes widened heavily, but he still ended up returning the kiss somewhat as moment between them wouldn't allow him to do anything else. Though after they parted lips, the icy captain silently cleared his throat as he tried to keep his composure. Yet it was a bit harder than it ever had been before as Rangiku started to grin widely and all but squeal to herself.

"Captain and I are gonna become a couple now~! Oh~, I can't wait~!" she sang out, her placing her hands to her blushing face and started to wiggle her body from side to side in her glee.

Toshiro blinked to her for a moment before groaning and rubbing his eyes, but it was these actions that brought Rangiku back to normal. To which she crossed her arms and pouted heavily as he leaned close to him; "Wait a minute! You said this to Captain Soifon's reigai too?! So you love us both?!" she demanded with a tap of her foot as if she were scolding him.

The white-haired captain sweat dropped lightly to her sudden change in demeanor, yet he just cleared his throat lightly and nodded. "Though...you two aren't the only ones." he whispered out quietly as if halfway hoping that she wouldn't hear him.

But this was quickly proved not to be the case as Rangiku gasped to him; "You don't mean Kukaku do you?" she asked with blinking eyes.

Toshiro let out a breath as he was having a hard time actually answering these questions when he had barely even admitted these things to himself, let alone to someone else. Yet he still gave his lieutenant a short nod before turning away; "But while I mean what I said...I have to let those feelings go, to a certain degree, when I marry Yoruichi." he began silently as Rangiku blinked to him in both shock and confusion.

"I don't think it'll be fair for her if I have those types of...emotions toward each of you and her while she and I are married." Toshiro continued as he looked down as if in shame.

After his words, the strawberry blond just looked at him with a slight tilt of her head before she just started to laugh. This caused the icy captain to look at her with a raised brow in his own confusion, but his question of what she was laughing about was quickly answered.

"Oh Captain...you don't have to give up anything. You can feel that way about all of us and no one will judge you on it. I mean...heck, all of us would probably cheer you on to start a harem since you would be allowed as the Head of the Shihoin Clan." Rangiku started as she winked to Toshiro with a wide grin, yet it just made him briefly roll his eyes with a sweat drop.

"Your emotions are yours alone...no one can dictate how you handle them except you. So if you want to marry your childhood love and still hold love for three other woman who you care for deeply..." she continued as she inched toward her captain with another wink at the end.

"...then by all means, go right on ahead. Especially one who happens to be exceptionally radiantly beautiful and charming." she finished as she gave him a light kiss on his cheek, this signaling herself as the described person in the last half of her words.

Toshiro blinked his eyes to her for a few moments as if she just proved to him that the sky was actually red and the grass was pink. Yet he eventually looked down in thought before letting out a silent breath and looked to Rangiku once more. "You seem to have adjusted quickly from hiding your emotions, to showing them quite easily." the white-haired captain said with a raised brow, him referring to the fact that his lieutenant had been the one to move forward in both of the kisses.

Yet his comment merely made Rangiku shrug her shoulders in response; "Well...the only thing that held me back was the fear of being rejected. But now that I know the feeling is mutual...why hold back, right?" she responded with a wider grin than before and another wink.

This just caused Toshiro to roll his eyes briefly once more before looking to the side; "I'm not one for a 'harem', so don't get your hopes up on such things. But I do think that the idea of not having to give up something in order to gain another is far better than the opposite." he muttered silently with a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

Rangiku blinked to him for a moment, then she giggled and just hugged him into her chest with a true smile on her features. "I'm still not gonna give up on you." she whispered quietly as she held her captain with a more tender embrace.

"Not now...not ever." she ended as her smile grew, to which while Toshiro seemed ready to break himself free, he just sat there and allowed her to hug him.

-Moments later, outside the office-

Rangiku stood there with her arms crossed as she let out a heavy sigh; 'I told him that my instructions would have been the perfect way to propose...but no, he always has to do things the boring way.' she thought to herself with a pout.

Yet this expression turned into a small smile as she closed her eyes briefly; 'But then I guess that's what makes it all the more cute when he is put into these types of situations.' she continued in her mind.

'Of course...this will be a first, especially since he's never actually proposed before.' Rangiku mused as she allowed a light giggle to escape her grinning lips.

After a few moments, the strawberry blond looked to the side as she could feel the reiatsu of both her captain and his 'soon-to-be' wife. To which she took on a wide smile while the pair made their way over to her; 'Though...I think my little changes to the atmosphere will give an extra edge to what he's going to do.' she thought quickly as she greeting the two with a short bow and grin.

"I'm sure you both have a lot to talk about...I guess I'll go ahead and take my leave." Rangiku said as she just walked a bit too casually away from them.

Yoruichi immediately raised a brow to this, her being brought there to talk about something very important with Toshiro. Though she just allowed her suspicion to diminish as she knew the blue-eyed lieutenant could be a bit shifty at times just to tease others. But as the icy captain lead his childhood friend inside, the purple-haired woman quickly became suspicious once more as she smelled the scent of many flowers. Something of which she had never detected with any of her senses from her previous visits.

This didn't go unnoticed by Toshiro as he just groaned silently to himself as he glanced around at the walls of the office. Them all being sprayed by some kind of perfume that had the scent of a large amount of different flowers all at once. Yet the white-haired captain merely lead Yoruichi to the sofa and allowed her to sit down directly beside him. Though it was small, the tan woman's intuition of something going on was raised as Toshiro always sat down where he could continuously inch away if needed.

But due to him not going through with this action, it caused Yoruichi to quickly figure out that he was up to something. To which this was confirmed when it took a full five minutes before he even spoke a single word, it happening to be her name.

"Yoruichi..." Toshiro started as he took in a breath, but as he was about to continue on, he paused once more as he could feel the presence of Rangiku and Senna both on the other side of the wall.

"Yes? My name is quite nice to say...but I'm sure that's not all you wanted to tell me." the purple-haired woman said as she raised a brow in question.

"I..." the icy captain began once more as he could feel a cold sweat starting to develop on his brow from nervousness.

'Just calm down...I can do this.' was what Toshiro repeated over and over again in his mind as he ignored the classical music that suddenly began playing from his desk.

Though Yoruichi briefly glanced over the record player with a raised brow, her eyes instantly darted back to her white-haired friend as he spoke up once more. "W-What did you say?" was all she could manage out as she thought she misheard him.

"Will you marry me?" the icy captain repeated as he gulped down, his nervousness now being doubled from having to say his words again.

Though the classical music could be heard through her ears, Yoruichi's whole world seemed to go silent as Toshiro's question continued to echo in her mind over and over again. But in the swiftest of actions, she suddenly tackled him onto the floor and kissed him harder and deeper than she ever had before. To which the moment she parted their lips, she gave her verbal answer to his proposal; "Of course I will~!"

All the while, Toshiro was just stunned by her actions that he couldn't even respond to her kiss or speak after she finally gave him her answer. Yet Yoruichi still never gave him the chance to recover as she just kissed him all over again and hugged him tightly despite them being on the floor.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day~!" the purple-haired woman sang out in joy as she hugged her fiance's head into her chest.

Despite Yoruichi or Toshiro not hearing them, Rangiku and Senna were both cheering to themselves as they had heard everything from the other side of the wall. But after the tan woman finally released her soon to be husband, she helped him get to his feet.

"Of course...you do know about the 'Test of Acceptance' to become my husband, right?" the golden-eyed woman questioned with a slight tilt of her head.

Upon being asked this, Toshiro finally snapped back to reality and looked at Yoruichi with a raised brow. "No...this is the first time I've heard of such a thing." he responded as his mind worked quickly to try and recall if there was even the smallest of incidents that held any such resemblance to those words.

"Eh~? Didn't you ever wonder why no one ever asked me before?" Yoruichi questioned back as she placed her hands on her hips with a small pout on her features.

"You have to fight and beat me in a one-on-one fight using Shunko." she continued with a short shrug of her shoulders.

Toshiro blinked to this for a moment before he gave a nod of understanding; "I see...it would make sense then. But...why?" he asked, him raising his brow once more.

"Well...it's just always been a bit of a tradition. The Shunko has always been a Shihoin secret ever since it was created...the fact that I taught it to you was sort of my way of making you a candidate for becoming my husband." Yoruichi answered as she gave a wink at the end of her words.

"The current Head of the family always teaches one person the technique as a sign of their integration into the family...which is also why no one had a problem of you becoming the temporary leader while I was gone. But the Head always has to fight their candidate in order to deem them worthy enough of being able to pass on the Shihoin legacy." she continued as she gave a soft smile.

"Of course since you're already beyond me...this 'fight' should be over with just one skirmish." the purple-haired woman finished, her winking one last time as Toshiro gave a short nod.

"A-Ah...I suppose so." was all he could utter out as the impact of him actually getting married finally hit him and caused his face to turn slightly red.

-Half an hour later, within the Tenth Division training grounds-

Toshiro stood in the large field along with Yoruichi, both of them having narrowed eyes as they faced one another a few yards apart. Though as the two friends faced each other, the dark-skinned woman spoke up with a silent tone, but was loud enough for the icy captain to hear.

"Show me what you've got." was all she said with a small grin as she brought her right arm up and out to be parallel with the ground.

Toshiro merely gave a nod as he clenched his left hand into a fist, to which Yoruichi did the same. Immediately following this small action, both of them were quickly engulfed in a blinding white kido that cracked and uplifted the ground around them. Despite the white-haired captain's Shunko having a significantly larger amount of kido within it, Yoruichi's seemed a bit more wild as it flew around her.

Even as the orange shirt ripped away from the purple-haired woman's body, Toshiro's clothes remained fully intact despite them flapped around as though he were in a strong wind. Yet neither of them spared any words to one another as they just shifted themselves into a charging-like stance. To which they both flew at one another and met in the center faster than the blink of an eye, but not without uplifting and destroying the ground between them in the process.

The very second their opposite fists connected, a gigantic blast of white kido formed around them and then the entire area within two hundred yards. All of this causing the ground to shake violently as the quake could be felt all across Seireitei and even half of Rukongai itself. As the explosion finally started to die down after a few moments, Rangiku and Senna inched their way toward the 'fight'. Both of them hiding far off to the side simply to watch without having to worry about being caught in the middle of everything. To which by the time they reached close enough to the large crater in the ground, they gave a small smile when the dust cleared. There in the center of the twenty-foot deep hole were Toshiro and Yoruichi with their arms around one another and kissing each other.

"No matter what you do or decide Captain...I'll always stand by your side, because I love you too." Rangiku muttered as she sniffed lightly and whipped away a real tear of joy from her eye.


	162. Chapter 162

**Chapter 162:**

-First Division, the next day-

Toshiro stood with all of the other captains in the meeting room as Yamamoto spoke up in the nearly deaf silence; "I have received word that all of the Toju have been captured and sealed."

"That is correct...I have placed each one within its own special casing to prevent them from ever getting out." Mayuri concurred with a brief nod of his head.

"How do you know if you have them all?" Komamura asked as he raised his brow slightly.

"Are you questioning my resources?" the blue-haired captain demanded as his eyes narrowed on the anamorphic wolf.

"Though it's not completely a solid number, thanks to the scanner Mayuri made...we were able to identify just about how many people had lost their zanpakuto and how many had been killed during the attacks." Toshiro spoke up as he looked to Mayuri with narrowed eyes.

"But even we don't know if we have the exact number of Toju...so we're keeping the scouts on patrol around Seireitei and Rukongai just in case." the icy captain continued as though he were telling Mayuri not to start an argument.

Despite it being obvious said shinigami desired to make his point, the hybrid's narrowed eyes made him stay silent. To which the Head Captain spoke out in an authoritative voice after slamming the end of his staff on the floorboards. "Aside from that problem, we have another that has become the main key as to why I called all of you here."

As he said this, everyone turned toward the eldest man with a slightly questioning gaze, though they didn't wait long to find out what he was referring to. "Kurosaki Ichigo used up the last remnants of his powers just last night against the final Toju...and will become human within the hour." Yamamoto began as his red eyes opened slightly.

"Urahara Kisuke has brought to my attention a possible way to return his powers, but the method of doing so is against the law. So I have brought you here to simply vote of whether or not we shall go through with this plan...or not." he continued as his voice had turned almost cold at his last two words.

This made everyone immediately realize exactly what way the oldest shinigami in Soul Society would vote, to which they all started to glance over to one another. While Soifon, Byakuya, Retsu and Toshiro remained silent, Komamura gave a nod of his large head and even smirked slightly.

"He has done the greatest service to Soul Society than anyone...this would be the least we could do." the anamorphic wolf claimed.

"Tch! He better get all of his powers back or my next fight with him would be pretty boring." Kenpachi stated as he grinned widely.

"Well I don't hold his enthusiasm...Kurosaki Ichigo does make an interesting specimen for an experiment I've been working on." Mayuri said, him rubbing his hands together with his own grin.

"I do believe Ichigo-kun does deserve our help...he's helped us at every point, even when we don't ask it of him." Jushiro said with a smile, to which he gave a short nod to Yamamoto.

"Ditto." was all Shunsui said as he tilted his hat up slightly to look at his sensei at he front.

After all of these shinigami spoke, Retsu finally decided to speak up as well, though it was in a much softer tone than everyone else. "He is a valued asset and friend to us, there is no reason why we shouldn't make an exception for him."

"I don't enjoy even the thought of breaking the law." Soifon began in a firm tone as she sounded like she was ashamed to even be in the room with all of them.

"However...I commend Kurosaki Ichigo's bravery and would have no reason not to go through with this plan." she continued with a brief nod before glancing to the side.

"Even if it was Urahara Kisuke's idea." the petite woman added silently to herself as she nearly growled out the blond's name.

"I must uphold the law no matter what as the Head of the Kuchiki clan." Byakuya said in a rather cold tone as he closed his eyes.

"But to turn my back against an ally such as him...it would be completely dishonorable. So I shall offer my assistance any way that I can." he finished as nearly everyone's gaze eventually turned toward Toshiro.

Whom of which just looked to each of them with a raised brow; "As if you need to ask." was all he said before he just shattered to ice.

Though some of the captains looked to this with a raised brow, most of the others just nodded in acceptance as they all knew where the real Toshiro was. Yet Yamamoto slammed his staff on the floor once more to gain everyone's attention; "Then it is agreed. For this one time...we shall break the laws of Soul Society." he declared as just about all of the captains gave a small smirk in response.

-World of the Living, outside the Kurosaki clinic-

The white-haired captain stood on top of the roof as he watched Ichigo look from side to side, to which the teen eventually turned around to Rukia, Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Nozomi and Senna. All of whom were walking out of the house and met with the orange-haired teen at the curb of the street.

"I guess this is goodbye...Ichigo." Rukia said silently as she gave a small smile at her friend.

Said high-schooler gave a smile in return as he nodded his head lightly; "Looks that way." was all he said, him keeping the sadness away from his expression, but not from his eyes.

To this, Rukia gave a light giggle and crossed her arms; "What's with that sad look on your face? It's not like I still won't be able to see you." she stated as she tapped his chest with the back of her hand.

"Tch...whatever. That doesn't make me happy at all, besides...I didn't have a sad expression." Ichigo muttered out with a faked annoyed tone.

Though the raven-haired shinigami continued to smile for a moment, her head tilted down slightly as her features turned to a sad frown. Yet while to everyone else nothing seemed to happen, Ichigo's vision of Rukia began to fade.

"Give everyone my regards...and make sure all of you come to visit the next chance you get." the orange-haired teen said with a small smile.

"I will." was all Rukia could manage out as despite her knowing she'll be able to see him again, this still felt too much like a true 'goodbye' for her not to be saddened.

"See you around, Rukia." Ichigo whispered silently just as said shinigami looked up to him, to which he watched as the last remnants of her vanish in front of his eyes.

Yet even as this happened, the teen still glanced over toward the rooftop, where of which he then saw the last part of Toshiro disappear. 'Thanks Toshiro.' he lipped to the icy captain before he looked up at the sky with a small smirk on his features.

"I guess I had better head back inside to finish up all the schoolwork that's been piling up as of late." Ichigo said with a light chuckle.

Though as all of the orange-haired teen's friends watched all this, even they couldn't help but be a bit saddened from the whole thing. This prompting Senna to suddenly jump onto Ichigo's back and force him to give her a 'piggy-back ride'; "Ah~! Stop being so dramatic~! They have gigais for a reason~! Like me and Nozomi~!" she called out with a pout.

Ichigo blinked to her as he chuckled lightly and gave a short nod; "I know Senna...but this is a part of my life that I won't be having back, so I want to make sure that I won't have any regrets. And I don't." he said silently as he allowed his purple-haired friend to stay on his back.

All this caused Senna to blink her own eyes before she groaned and huffed; "Mou~! When did you start talking so mature?" she questioned.

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?!" Ichigo questioned as he glanced back to Senna, to which said girl just grinned widely and giggled.

"Nothin~!" was all she sang out before jumping off her friend's back and rushing into the house, but not without Ichigo giving chase.

"Are you sure you'll be okay Kuchiki-san?" Orihime asked as she walked over to Rukia and placed a hand on her shoulder.

The raven-haired shinigami just cleared her throat and nodded her head lightly; "Y-Yeah...of course." she muttered out as she shook her head lightly.

"You don't seem like you're alright." Nozomi spoke out as she stepped forward, but not before glancing over toward the house when they heard Ichigo falling to the floor and Senna laughing.

"It's just...I know this wasn't truly a 'goodbye', but I can't help but feel like our friendship is going to crumble apart." Rukia said silently as she tilted her head down.

"You're just missing the interaction you two used to have." Toshiro spoke up as he jumped down from the roof and landed next to the small group.

"Now that he can't see you...it's like you've lost a friend entirely. But that's not the case at all, there will be plenty of time for you two to talk to one another...it just won't be the exact same as it used to be." he continued as he took a short glance back at the house.

"But for now, we still have things to deal with in Soul Society." the icy captain finished as he turned around and opened a senkaimon.

"Yes Captain Hitsugaya." Rukia responded, despite her obviously wanting to stay for a little bit longer.

But before the two walked through the gateway, Toshiro turned back to Rukia with a raised brow. "Didn't Sode no Shirayuki follow you here?" he questioned as his arms crossed.

"She did...but she said that she wasn't feeling well and returned to her katana form." the raven-haired girl responded as she glanced down at the zanpakuto strapped to her side.

Toshiro raised his brow a bit higher to this as he simply gave a light nod; "I see." was all he said, despite his thoughts having far more to them.

'It looks like the reiatsu Muramasa used to release them is nearly gone. They'll all be returning back to their normal forms by the end of the day.' Toshiro spoke in his mind, to which he just looked around to each of the others around him.

"Make sure that Senna doesn't get into too much trouble." he requested silently as he looked mainly toward Uryu as he knew the Quincy was the most sensible of the group.

Whom of which was silent the whole time and just gave a short nod in response to the white-haired captain's words. Though when he opened his mouth to speak, Orihime suddenly stepped forward before he even got the chance; "Hai~! Toshiro-Nii~!" she called out with a wide smile, her raising her hand up as if accepting a teacher's question in class.

All the while, Chad just gave a silent grunt that sounded like he was agreeing, to which he also gave a thumbs up. Toshiro nodded to his 'younger sister' and the tan teen as he then turned to Nozomi as she just shrugged her shoulders.

"It'll be a challenge...but I think we'll be able to manage." the green-haired girl said, her gaining a small smile at the end as she glanced over to the house as if she had been there her whole life.

The white-haired captain smirked to this and nodded his head once more before leading Rukia through the senkaimon. Though as they went, the purple-eyed shinigami looked to Toshiro and tilted her head slightly in question.

"What made you come all the way out there to see Ichigo if it wasn't a true goodbye?" she asked silently, her walking side-by-side with the icy captain.

Whom of which turned to her with a raised brow before turning away, to which he let out a quiet breath and closed his eyes. "I actually went there to tell Isshin and Masaki that Yoruichi and I are getting married." he said silently.

The moment these words left his lips, Rukia blinked to him in shock and nearly stumbled as they continued to walk through the dangai. "Wh-What?!" she exclaimed as she could do little more than stare at Toshiro.

Said icy captain cleared his throat and turned his head to the side; "I was going to tell Ichigo about it too, but since we can't have the wedding in the World of the Living...I just left it out." he uttered out as his eyes remained close.

"Why not? I know that neither of you actually exist in the human's system, I'm sure there are ways around that." Rukia said with a light shrug as she seemed to get over the initial shock of Toshiro's marriage.

"Central 46 will only view our union as official if it takes place in Soul Society. So I have no choice but to have it there...though it's actually where I'd prefer it to be since it is where she and I first met." Toshiro said silently before quickly clearing his throat as if to keep his past out of the conversation.

"But at the moment, I am merely telling our closest friends about it so they won't be fully shocked when the time comes." he continued with a heavy breath, which caused Rukia to sweat drop.

"You still need to tell Kukaku and Kaien-dono...don't you?" she asked with a brief gulp, to which Toshiro merely nodded in response with a sigh.

Though as Rukia was about to say something to comfort the white-haired captain, she paused in her steps briefly when she heard something behind them. The second the purple-eyed shinigami saw the light from the cleaner, she immediately started running with a call over her shoulder.

"Run Captain Hitsugaya!" was what echoed through the dangai before the sounds were swallowed up by the incoming mass of purple Koryu.

Toshiro let out a groan as he quickly pushed hard off the ground and flew through the Precipice World, him grabbing Rukia by the waist as he came up to her. Despite the rumbling of the Kototsu becoming more distant, the icy captain never slowed his pace down as he continued to fly just a few feet above the ground. But the moment a white light could be seen up ahead, Toshiro suddenly stopped almost directly in front of it.

He then placed Rukia back on her feet and gestured for her to go through the white opening that lead into Soul Society. Yet as the raven-haired girl nodded and walked through, Toshiro gave a quick glance over to the cleaner as it started to get closer once more. To which the icy captain just smirked lightly and walked through the portal at the last second to avoid being taken or killed.

'That has to be the first time in fifty years that I've ever had to try and outrun the cleaner.' Toshiro thought to himself in amusement.

But this was quickly cut short as once he was in Soul Society, he found Rukia kneeling down just a few feet from the senkaimon itself. This making Toshiro immediately take notice of all the captains, lieutenants, their zanpakuto and five other figures standing before him. Three of the other group of people were men with very strange and different fashion senses, though the remaining two were female, their own clothing were extravagant in their own right. Yet it was the very presence of them being there that caused Toshiro's eyes to narrow slightly.

The first was a large, broad individual with a bald head, bushy eyebrows that curled slightly at the end and a long black beard. He wore the standard shinigami uniform beneath a white, long-sleeved haori decorated with the Royal Guard's emblem. Which was the same as the Gotei Thirteen's, only rather than the division number, it had four symbols that looked like winter daphnes. He also wore a large set of red prayer beads around his neck and a pair of single-toothed tengu geta.

This man's name was Hyosube Ichibei, known as the 'Monk of Perception' and was the unproclaimed leader of the Zero Squad. Yet despite this, he simply smiled widely at the sight of Toshiro's arrival, which merely made the shorter captain sweat drop.

The second was a lean-built and very tall man with black hair arranged into an outlandishly large pompadour along with tapered sideburns. Instead of the standard shinigami uniform, he had on a waist-length white jacket that left most of his chest exposed. However, this garment still held the Royal Guard emblem on its back, as well as the alternating circle and diamond pattern of a normal captain's haori along the bottom. His attire was completed by a black hakama, a large yellow sash around his waist and a pair of sandals.

Though he also had a small stick that he seemed to be chewing on, he quickly spit it out upon seeing Toshiro. His name was Kirinji Tenjiro, also known as the 'Hot Spring Demon' and was now giving an annoyed glance at the icy captain in front of him.

The last of the men was a dark-skinned male with thick, black hair that was shaven and dyed green on both sides of his head. He wore a variation of the shinigami's normal shihakusho, which featured a green undergarment, and a shortened hakama that exposes his lower legs. Though he also had on a white, sleeveless puffer jacket, it still held the Royal Guard emblem on its back, as well as the alternating circle and diamond pattern along the bottom. His clothes were completed by gold-framed sunglasses with blue lenses, plus a pair of green slippers that had gold trimming and a shoe-like appearance.

This man's name was Nimaiya Oetsu, or better known as 'God of the Sword', him being the one to have originally created the zanpakuto. But despite this, he just grinned widely upon seeing Toshiro, to which he walked over to him and began giving the younger captain a very complicated hand shake. Though after finishing, he just settled on bumping fists with the icy hybrid, whom accepted the gesture with a short nod.

The first woman of the group was a slender and very youthful woman with fair skin and long, black hair. This being adorned at the back by a large golden ornament, which was in the shape of a crescent moon with numerous small lines radiating outwards. She had on the standard Shinigami uniform beneath a white long-sleeved haori, over which she dons a further white robe fastened at the front near the center of her chest. But on her feet were a simple pair of extremely thick-soled okobo, which gave her a few extra inches over Toshiro as she walked toward him.

Her name was Shutara Senjumaru, or 'Great Weave Guard' as a few mechanical arms came out from her back and started to check over the icy captain's body. Yet she quickly stopped her actions as she offered her real had for Toshiro to take, whom had hesitated, but allowed this greeting for just a brief moment.

The last member was a plump, purple-haired lady with styled swirl-shaped markings on her cheeks and black lips. She had a large silver adornment in her hair and wore the standard Shinigami uniform beneath a white, long-sleeved haori decorated with the Royal Guard's emblem. Her name was Hikifune Kirio, also known as 'Ruler of Grain' and seemed to be the most pleased to see the white-haired captain. But while she seemed to be one of the large among her fellow members, she appeared in front of Toshiro, picked him up and hugged him tightly in a split second.

"Toshiro-kun~! It's so nice to see you again~! How have you been~? Are you eating properly~? I hope you haven't been causing any trouble as of late~!" the purple-haired woman said with a wide smile on her features.

"Captain Hikifune...can you put me down?" Toshiro muttered out as he rolled his eyes lightly from the woman continuing to hug him tightly.

"Oh Toshiro-kun~! I've told you many times...you can just call me Kirio~! Or Onee-chan~! Whichever one you like~!" Kirio sang out as she finally released her self-appointed otouto.

Whom cleared his throat and looked around to each of the members of the Zero Division; "What are all of you even doing here anyway?" he questioned with a raised brow, though the look in his eyes showed he already knew.

"Well...to not 'beat around the bush'...the Soul King would like to speak with you again...in person." Ichibei said with a light shrug and small smirk, him seeming to try and make the fairly large situation a bit less dramatic.

* * *

Now remember...there won't be a chapter next week because I'll be gone on my testing for the Coast Guard. ;) I'll fit in whatever I can to work on it, so it should be ready for the week after. ^^ And fyi...this story is probably only going to be lasting a handful of chapters, I'm hoping to have it done on a round number like 170 or 175. So yeah...it's nearly over as you can guess, which is making me both sad and relieved. I mean we've come so far with this story and to see it end is a really sad time. =/ But it is going to give me more time on other projects, so you'll all have more to look forward to. :) Anyway...till next time everyone, ja ne. ;D


	163. Chapter 163

**Chapter 163:**

-Eight months later-

Toshiro stood on the top of a tall, under construction building, his back facing the setting sun as the last rays managed to illuminate his form. Though his usual appearance seemed the same as ever, there were two things different that had never been seen on him or anyone else in over sixty years. He had golden kenseikan on either side his head and a similar colored scarf around his neck, these only be worn by the Head of the Shihoin clan.

Though these were the only changes in the icy captain, it was still enough to make him give a silent sigh. 'I can tell why Yoruichi's father almost never wore either of these...they feel a bit strange to be wearing on a constant basis. I'm rather surprised Byakuya was able to do it everyday for so long. But then he was born into a noble clan, so he was probably raised to be used to having to wear such things.' he thought to himself as his eyes gazed up at the darkening sky.

But just as the sun disappeared over the horizon, the moon's bright light began to truly show as the first stars of the night started to become visible. Yet while Toshiro watched most of this, he eventually gained a small smirk and spoke out silently. "But it's worth it." he said, continuing off from his earlier thought.

The second these words left his lips, he shifted his gaze over to the side as he saw Tatsuki walking down one of the streets near of the building. Though as she went on, her eyes turned and focused on Mizuiro and Keigo as they were walking on a parallel street as her. But the moment a loud clang could be heard from the building itself, Toshiro's eyes hardened on Tsukishima Shukuro's figure. Said man was very thin and almost frail in appearance, though his somewhat long raven hair, solid brown eyes and rather dark aura told differently.

Yet it was the fact that he pushed an entire steel beam off the edge of a high up ledge that made the white-haired captain's eyes narrow. Despite Toshiro watching Tatsuki push her two friends out of the way from the 'attack', he had immediately appeared to the side of the brown-eyed man.

"You're cutting it a bit close Tsukishima." the icy captain muttered as he crossed his arms while he spoke.

Though said man had turned to the hybrid beside him, he merely gave a light shrug in response as he smirked. "Sorry...I didn't expect it to fall so quickly." was all he said as he turned away and started walking.

"You had better watch yourself Tsukishima...these are friends and allies of mine. Even if this is your plan, I don't intend to let you go too far with it." Toshiro stated firmly with a cold tone.

"As you wish." Shukuro muttered out, his voice seeming to be completely indifferent despite the white-haired captain's warning, to which he just vanished with a small green glow under his feet.

This made Toshiro glance to the side with narrowed eyes, yet he eventually turned his gaze down to the teenagers on the ground. "I'll make sure that he doesn't overdo it." he said silently as if to make a vow to each of them.

But not long after he spoke, Tatsuki blinked her eyes and glanced over where the icy captain had been moments ago. Yet Toshiro was nowhere to be found, him shunpoing instantly after his words, to which he came upon his lieutenant just as she shunpoed to the same roof as him.

"Did you make sure Ginjo understands what he's going to do?" Toshiro questioned with a tone that showed that he had no doubt Rangiku had done just that.

This being confirmed as the strawberry-blond nodded her head in response with a grin; "Of course~! Though it was a bit hard to talk over Riruka's complaints about me being better looking than her...I still got the message through." she said with an almost proud grin midway through her words.

Toshiro merely rolled his eyes briefly to her before he eventually nodded to her; "Alright...now that all the Fullbringers know what to do, we just need Kisuke to complete the katana." he said silently, him glancing to the side with a sigh.

This prompted Rangiku to walk over to him, rest her arm on his shoulder and lean against him slightly. "Mou...stop worrying about it Captain, everything is alright and you're finally set to stay here for as long as you want." she said with an encouraging tone and wink.

"I know." the white-haired captain began as he let out another sigh; "I just feel like 'him' being there was some kind of warning." he finished, him briefly closing his eyes.

"Mou~!" the blue-eyed lieutenant whined out as she hugged her captain lightly; "You worry too much...there is no need to be nervous about anything. You're finally gonna have your happily-ever-after...and your much needed vacation." she continued, her winking playfully at the end.

The icy captain raised his brow to her for a brief moment before letting out a sigh and crossing his arms. "I suppose...though I doubt the latter will last for very long." he said silently as he allowed a small smirk to curl his lips.

Though Rangiku wanted to make a comment about how 'cute' he looked when his smirk became visible on his features, she stopped herself as she simply gave a shrug. "Well...one is better than none, right?" she asked with a wide smile.

Toshiro raised his brow a bit higher upon her words, to which he cleared his throat before speaking up. "I would have many more if it wasn't for the fact that I usually have to do half of your monthly paperwork...on a weekly basis." he claimed as he tapped his icy foot on the roof of the building.

But by the time the second tap connected against the surface under him, Rangiku was suddenly gone. This making the white-haired captain's eyebrow twitch a few times before he called out her last name in frustration. "MASTUMOTO!"

-Across town-

Ichigo glanced to the side with blinking eyes as he felt a brief chill in the air, to which he slowly raised a brow. 'Was it just my imagination...or did I just hear Toshiro?' he thought to himself.

But he eventually turned away with a shrug as he continued on his way down the street; 'Oh well...just so long as he doesn't bring Senna over like last week.' he continued in his mind, him gaining a brief sweat drop.

Yet as he continued on his way, he never noticed Uryu on a parallel street glance over to him through an intersecting alleyway. Said Quincy narrowed his eyes rather heavily on the orange-haired teen, to which he eventually started walking through the alley and toward the former Substitute Shinigami. Though he reached the end rather quickly, by the time he emerged from the pathway, Ichigo was already gone from his line of sight.

Despite Uryu able to feel his 'semi-friend's' presence nearby, the Quincy didn't bother to quicken his pace as he seemed to follow his fellow teen. "That reiatsu...could it be?" he muttered to himself as he continued on his way.

'He completely lost his reiatsu months ago...I couldn't feel a single trace of it that day. But then how is it I can still feel the slightest bit of spirit energy radiating from him?' Uryu thought silently as he eventually saw Ichigo's form far out in front of him after turning left at a nearby curb.

'Though it's not exactly like his usual shinigami powers...it seems somewhat similar, yet not at all. How can that be?' he questioned in his mind as he could all but see a strange reiatsu covering Ichigo's body.

"Has his spirit energy actually returned somehow?" he asked aloud as he fixed his glasses with a light push on the frame.

"Would you like to know?" a voice spoke out from behind the Quincy, to which he slowly glanced back over his shoulder as he recognized the voice as Yoruichi.

"But didn't his shinigami powers completely disappear? How can he have even the slightest trace of reiatsu? And why is it that it took so long for it to develop to the point of being sensed by anyone." Uryu questioned as he stopped in his steps to speak with the purple-haired woman.

Though upon him fully turning to her after speaking, he raised a brow at the sight of a strange golden hair ornament holding up her ponytail rather than her usual red string and brown bobble. Yet his brief staring didn't stop Yoruichi from answering his questions.

"For the most part...yes they did. Well according to Kisuke...he still retained an extremely small portion of reiatsu." the tan-skinned woman stated as she crossed her arms under her chest.

"Which means that it simply grew slowly over time until it was able to be sensed by beings with a decent amount of reiatsu." Uryu concluded, him seeming to have assumed correctly as Yoruichi nodded lightly.

Yet a moment after his words, the golden-eyed shinigami gave a huff to him as she tapped her foot impatiently on the concrete under her. "I was going to explain that you know." she said as her crossed arms tightened somewhat.

Uryu glanced to the side quickly, yet it wasn't clear if he did this to avoid Yoruichi's gaze or to sense what little spirit energy he could from Ichigo as he went further away. But then the quincy turned back to the tan woman as he raised his brow in a questioned manner; "Actually...what exactly are you doing out here anyway? I doubt you merely came here to tell me this information." Uryu asked as he fixed his glasses to the bridge of his nose once more.

Yoruichi raised her own brow to him for a moment before she merely shrugged her shoulders lightly and spoke out; "I'm here with Kukaku and Kaien actually." she started with a small grin, causing the teen before her to sweat drop heavily.

"They were curious about the World of the Living since Kukaku herself has never been here before and wanted to check it out. And Kaien...he just sort of got dragged along by Kukaku since she wanted someone to carry the bags." she continued with an amused smirk to the side as if she was recalling the event of the raven-haired man being dragged away by his sister.

The quincy let out a silent sigh to this, to which he just cleared his throat and spoke up in a quiet tone as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. "When did Karakura town become a tourist attraction?" was all he asked as he just stared at the purple-haired woman.

Whom just blinked almost innocently to him before shrugging her shoulders in response; "Well thanks to the peaceful times that have come around...there hasn't been much need for any type of action by the higher ranked shinigami of the Gotei 13. So it stands to reason that everyone would want to relax every so often...it just happens that Karakura town is pretty much the closest when it comes to going through the dangai." she explained quickly, to which she just ended it in a light nod as if everything she mentioned was fully logical.

Yet while Uryu wanted to roll his eyes, he just cleared his throat once more and nodded his head as to signal that he heard all he needed to. "Well just make sure that Kaien isn't seen too close near Kurosaki...it could cause problems." was all he said before he turned away.

"Well...he and Kukaku are going over there to give him an explanation about how he'll get his powers back. But I suppose I could always ask Kukaku not to visit him so soon." Yoruichi muttered as she looked up before grinning mischievously.

"Looks like you'll have to be the one she'll be visiting." she finished as she watched the quincy shiver slightly from the thought of having both Kukaku and Kaien in his house.

"On second thought...maybe Kurosaki would be okay with it, I'm sure he could just say that they're identical cousins. He does need to know after all." Uryu said quickly before he started to walk away with a 'Please excuse me'.

This merely made Yoruichi grin wider than before and eventually start laughing lightly; "They just make it too easy." she muttered to herself as she glanced over her shoulder to see Kukaku walking out of a nearby store, to which she was followed by Kaien as he had almost a hundred or so bags in each arm.

"Why do I have to carry these in the first place?" the raven-haired shinigami grumbled out in annoyance as he was slightly hunched over from the weight of the bags.

"Oh quit your complaining...you're the older brother so you're suppose to be chivalrous to your younger sister." Kukaku claimed as she just walked on with her arms crossed, her gigai having both its arms functioning perfectly.

"But you actually have more raw strength than I do." Kaien stated with a raised brow as he straightened his back to stand properly.

"Would you like to see first hand?" Kukaku nearly barked out in a growl as she raised a clenched fist at her brother.

Whom just sweat dropped and sighed heavily; "What ever happened to my 'almost' sweet little sister who used to call me 'Onii-chan'?" he asked silently under his breath.

"Tch! Well what happened to my 'almost' kind older brother who used to carry me around on his back when I got tired?" the raven-haired woman questioned back with a huff.

"Come now you two...we have plenty more places to go." Yoruichi said as she walked between the two and clapped her hands lightly to drown out the sound of their near growling toward each other.

After saying this, the siblings glanced to her and eventually gave a nod and a short sigh, to which they started walking down the street. Though they were immediately followed by Toshiro and Rangiku, both of whom were the only ones not wearing a gigai. Yet no one bothered to say anything to the pair as the form of the two spoke up in a near whisper; "Things are going out just as planned, just try to make sure to keep his quincy powers from surfacing while you're there. It'll make things difficult if they surface before we're able to return his shinigami power."

As soon as Toshiro had said this, he turned around to leave, but was stopped when Rangiku brought an arm around his neck. "Come on Captain~! Don't be so serious. Since things are going well...we should go have a drink somewhere~!" the strawberry blond all but sang out to him.

Though the icy captain moved to get away, Yoruichi casually side-stepped closer to him and gave a wink. This made Toshiro roll his eyes and sigh heavily; "Fine...but I'm not going to be drinking anything." he muttered silently as he briefly looked to the side.

Where of which Ryuken was standing with a cigarette in between his fingers and a cloud of smoke blowing out of his mouth. To which the quincy just let out a silent breath of annoyance as he just watched the group walk down the street. "Hmph...self righteous shinigami. Kurosaki Ichigo would be perfectly fine if he were to become a true Quincy. He'd be able to see spirits and hollows again just fine and with Masaki as his teacher, he could become quite powerful." the white-haired man muttered to himself.

But after saying this he just let out a silent huff and tossed his cigarette to the side; "But then Kurosaki Ichigo would be put to greater use as a shinigami than a useless quincy." he finished before turning away and walking in the opposite direction as the others.

Yet he didn't make it past three steps before he stopped upon seeing Isshin a few yards directly in front of him. Said raven-haired man had his arms crossed and a small smirk on his features, which just made the quincy stare at him with a hidden annoyance.

"What do you want this time Isshin?" he muttered silently as he placed his hands in his pockets and resumed walking forward.

Though Isshin had followed in beside him, he didn't speak up right away as if what he had to talk about wasn't something he wanted to. "It's about the new division that Toshiro founded along with Coyote Starrk." he began with a silent breath.

"I heard that Central 46 denied them the authority to create a whole other division for the Gotei 13." Ryuken said with a slightly raised brow as he glanced to his 'friend'.

"They originally did...but after his marriage, his words hold almost as much weight in Soul Society than any of them. So in the end they had to give him what he wanted." Isshin stated with a light chuckle as to show his dislike for the members of Central 46.

"Plus now that most of the 'Visored' have been placed back into their original ranks and squads, they all sort of ganged up on Central 46 and wouldn't let them deny it a second time. Though Ichimaru Gin being the Captain of the Third again didn't seem to hold any voice in the matter...he still seemed to try." he continued with a short shrug as he let out a sigh.

"I kinda wish I could go back...but I have two lovely daughters and an amazing wife that I just could never leave! Even if they offered me all the money in the world~!" the raven-haired man called out, to which he received a few stares from a few people passing by.

"So? What does any of that have to do with me?" the quincy questioned to get Isshin back on track, his tone seeming impatient despite him not having any sort emotion on his features.

"Well...after forming a new division for all of his arrancar allies to join and become part of the Gotei 13, he wants to place a true leader and powerful captain as its commander. So..." Isshin began in a serious tone, though he quickly looked up in heavy thought.

"...he asked Yoruichi to deliver a certain message to you. Though she just passed it on to Kukaku, who then passed it to Ganju, who passed it to Kaien, who passed it back to Kukaku, who beat him up and told Rukia...who then told Inoue Orihime, who told my son and finally got to me so I could tell you." he continued, causing Ryuken to roll his eyes in response.

"And what is this message?" the quincy asked as he seemed extremely unimpressed by everything that took place for the information to finally get to him.

"Well...upon thinking of captains to command the new division, he decided to gather all of the candidates together for a test in order to figure out which one is best suited. And one of them...is you." Isshin finished with a small smirk, to which he paused in his steps when he noticed Ryuken had stopped and took on a slightly shocked expression upon his features.


	164. Chapter 164

**Chapter 164:**

-Later the next day, Kurosaki clinic-

"Wh-What?" Ichigo questioned as his eyes widened in shock as if he couldn't believe what he was just told.

Kukaku simply sighed and crossed her arms; "I'm not going to repeat that whole thing again. You're getting your powers back...end of story." was all she responded with as she just turned to Isshin off to the side.

"Geez...you could have raised him to be a bit better at hearing." the raven-haired woman muttered to her relative.

Whom was about to retort to her comment, yet he wasn't able to as Kukaku just continued with a shrug of her shoulders. "But then with the way you were when you were younger...I shouldn't be surprised." she said, to which she huffed and glanced toward Kaien.

Said shinigami seemed to be explaining his sister's previous words a bit better for his 'look-alike'; "Kisuke has been spending the last eight months trying to find a way to get your shinigami powers back. Though we would have told you sooner, it wasn't until a few days ago that we got confirmation that he would be able to do it without fail. He didn't want to get your hope up in case he didn't succeed after all."

Though Ichigo gave a nod in response, he glanced to Kukaku for a moment before back to Kaien. "So what's the catch exactly? I'm sure that it hasn't taken Urahara-san this long just to make something that would get my powers back." the orange-haired teen asked as he placed a single hand to his hip.

This made each of the current and past Shiba give a small smirk in response to him, to which Kukaku muttered out a silent comment. "Guess he still has a fairly sharp mind."

"Well I certainly didn't get it from him." Ichigo said with a gesture toward his father and a light roll of his eyes.

Whom hunched over with his head hung down as he let out a fake sniff of sadness, but this went fully unnoticed by everyone as Kukaku spoke up once more.

"Kisuke had to factor in your ever-growing spirit energy that is radiating from your Quincy side. But since your Shinigami powers are nearly opposite from that power, he had to figure out a way to push your Quincy reiatsu back enough for the whole thing to work. Otherwise, your body would be completely torn apart from the two sides of your power and you'd die on the spot." as the raven-haired woman said this, Ichigo blinked his eyes in a bit of shock before nodding his head lightly.

"So I'm guessing he discovered a way to keep my Quincy power at bay?" the teen questioned as he seemed to be asking what the solution was, rather than his actual inquiry.

"Of course...he figured out that since you have Hollow powers mixed in with your Shinigami, you'd be able to achieve a Fullbring." Kukaku said with her own nod as she took on a small smirk.

"Fullbring? What's that?" Ichigo questioned, him blinking his eyes a few times in confusion as he had never even heard of such a thing.

Yet while Kukaku seemed like was going to answer, she suddenly huffed and rolled her eyes; "Tch! I'm not here to explain such simple things. Go ask Ginjo if you want to know...but in the mean time, all you need to know is that you're gonna get your powers back and you should be on the look out for a guy named Tsukishima." she said quickly before heading toward the door.

"Now if you don't mind...I'm gonna get back to my shopping before heading to Soul Society since I'm sure my maggot brother is causing trouble as usual." Kukaku continued with a tone that showed that if Ichigo tried to question further she'd make him regret it.

Though Kaien let out a heavy breath, he glanced to his 'look-alike' and gave a short shrug; "Don't worry...Ginjo will find you, just sit back and wait." is all he said as he picked up only half the bags he had before.

"Alright...you're definitely carrying the other half this time, I'm not going to have a stroke just because you enjoy shopping way too much." the black-haired lieutenant stated.

Despite Kukaku let out a growl at her brother, she huffed and picked up the other bags without a word until they reached the door. "Pansy." she muttered under her breath as she and Kaien walked out.

But even as they left, their 'name calling' could be heard all the way until they reached well out of sight from the clinic's windows. Yet this only prompted Ichigo to turn to his father and raise a brow; "When you told me about your past as a shinigami captain, I thought you might have had a bit of a serious side. Though your comment about actually being a Shiba and changing your last name on a whim was proof enough to show me otherwise." the teen started with a sigh.

"But I really have to wonder just how in the world did you ever introduce mom to the rest of your family?" Ichigo continued as his brow raised a bit more and a bit of sweat drop developed.

Isshin blinked to his son for a moment before he just laughed and placed his hands on his hips; "It was quite easy. She actually fits in with the Shiba quite well!" he stated in a rather proud tone.

Immediately after he said this, Ichigo blinked a few times to his father with a questioning expression. But before he could actually inquire about anything, Masaki came walking through the door with her two daughters.

"Darling...did your niece and nephew come to visit?" the brown-haired woman asked as she and Yuzu went into the kitchen area.

"Indeed they did...they just came over to say 'Hi' and let us know they were in town." was all Isshin responded with as if he were speaking some sort of code.

Which Karin caught onto immediately as she walked into the living room near of Ichigo; "Do you really have to talk like that? It's not like we don't know what's going on anymore." the raven-haired girl stated as she crossed her arms.

Though she spoke with a serious tone, Isshin just sniffed and went to hug her; "My cute daughters~! They're growing up so fast~!" he called out in a fake saddened way.

Yet before he could reach Karin, he received a fist to the face from her as she groaned with a roll of her eyes. "Geez, you're still the same no matter how old you get." she muttered out, her then going to the kitchen as well.

"I guess she does fit in fairly well." Ichigo muttered silently as he kept his eyes on his mother the whole time.

Whom seemed very calm and almost oblivious to Isshin's antics, it seeming as though seeing such a scene was fully natural to her. Though no one noticed that just outside the clinic, four people stood across the street with their eyes narrowed on the family inside. This small group being made up of Toshiro, Rangiku, Yoruichi and Ginjo Kugo.

The last of whom was a tall and lean-built man with fair skin, brown eyes, and shoulder-length dark hair that he kept combed back. He wore dark trousers, black shoes, a white sleeveless shirt and a dark jacket, which had a fur-covered collar. Along with all this, he also had on a thin chain necklace that held an X-shaped pendant attached to it.

Yet as he glanced toward Toshiro next to him, he raised a brow, uncrossed his arms and placed his hands to his hips. "Eh~? You want me to train him to be a master Fullbringer?" he questioned in an almost complaining tone as he huffed.

"And you have to do it in a week." Toshiro added as he didn't bother to look at Kugo, whom took on a slightly shocked expression when he glanced to the icy captain.

"You realize how dangerous that is, don't you?" the black-haired man questioned in a serious tone as his eyes slightly narrowed, yet simply received a nod in response.

This caused Kugo to let out a silent breath and turn back toward the clinic; "Is it really that important?" he asked silently as he uncrossed his arms and placed his hands in his pants' pockets.

"Yes...if the Quincy side of his powers becomes too dominant, there will be no way for him to regain any other power and will never allow him to reach his full potential." Toshiro said silently, to which the man beside him raised a brow.

Though it was small, Kugo could tell that there was something in his voice that showed there was something else going on with Ichigo's Quincy powers than what he was letting on. But he merely let out another breath and nodded his head lightly; "Consider it done." was all he said, him closing his eyes briefly in the process.

Yet as Toshiro gave a short nod back and turned to walk away, he was stopped when Kugo said his next words to the icy captain. "By the way...what's with the kenseiken and the scarf?"

The white-haired hybrid glanced back at the man and then let out a sigh with a shrug; "What else?" he questioned back as if to show the answer should have been obvious.

This made Kugo gave a light chuckle and smirk in response as he glanced toward Yoruichi and Rangiku; "So which one is it?" he asked with a raised a brow.

Toshiro merely blinked at him for a moment, him being somewhat confused about why the brown-eyed man inquired about something that still should have been quite clear to anyone and everyone. But just as he was about to comment about this, he was interrupted by Kugo when he went over to Rangiku and gave a light nod.

"I knew it would be you...you two have almost always been together, it only makes sense." the raven-haired man said with a smirk of praise toward the strawberry blond.

Though Rangiku wanted to correct him, she became distracted by the thought of her being married to her captain and paused mentally. This making Kugo nod once more as he believed that he assumed correctly, to which Yoruichi just sighed and cleared her throat before speaking up quickly.

"Actually...it's me...I'm Hitsugaya Yoruichi." she claimed, her placing her hands upon her hips and raising a brow at the brown-eyed man when he blinked in response.

"Eh~? So you two tied the knot?" Kugo questioned as if not surprised, yet seemingly a bit disappointed.

"I guess I'll owe Giriko that 10,000 yen." he continued with a sigh and a light shrug, to which he glanced over to Toshiro as said captain had his brow raised in question.

"All of us made a bet of who you would get married to first. I bet on Rangiku, Jackie bet on that Soifon, Yukio figured it would be that Momo girl, then Riruka had believed you'd choose Nemu." the raven-haired man explained as he tilted his head up in thought.

"Of course Giriko had to bet with Yoruichi and win, but then I guess since he's the only one of us that had ever been married...he'd know the best." Kugo said as he sighed heavily and turned to the side.

Toshiro just growled silently under his breath as he listened to all this; "When did the relationships I have with people become something to place bets on?" he muttered out silently before he just turned away and started walking.

"I'll check on your progress in three days." were the icy captain's leaving words, him not bothering to glance back to see Kugo's light wave of farewell.

This simply made Yoruichi let out a light laugh of both amusement and victory, to which she just followed after her husband with a small grin on her features. All the while, Rangiku was still stuck in her small dream world of envisioning her marriage with Toshiro, yet she soon snapped out of it when she noticed said hybrid was getting farther away from her.

"AH! Captain~! Wait for me~!" she called out as she rushed after Toshiro, leaving Kugo all alone on the street with his hands now in his jacket pockets.

As the raven-haired man glanced over to see the last view of the three leaving, he eventually turned his gaze to Ichigo as he saw him through one of the windows. "Hmm...a week, huh?" he muttered out silently before the orange-haired teen suddenly glanced toward him.

Yet by the time Ichigo had looked out the window, Kugo was already gone, causing the teen to raised a slightly suspicious brow. 'I could have sworn I saw someone there.' he thought to himself.

-Across town-

Orihime walked to her apartment complex, yet had no idea that she was being followed by a young teenager. Whom of which had a shaved head, but with a short mohawk in the middle to reveal his black colored hair. He also had grey eyes, short brows and slightly pursed lips as if he were ready to speak at any moment, though he never did. His attire was made up of a black, high school uniform, the jacket of which was left open to show the red shirt underneath. All the while, his right hand was wrapped in bandages in order to conceal his knuckles.

But even though the orange-haired girl didn't notice him, she still glanced behind her for a brief moment before continuing on her way. To which the teen following her kept up his tailing of her, yet he had to stop for a second when he thought he felt another presence nearby. Though when he didn't see anything he merely disregarded it and continued forward.

The second Orihime had reached her door however, the male teen seemed to decide that now would be his time to act and came out from around the corner. As he did this, he leapt up into the air so he could punch the girl from above. But the moment Orihime turned around, he was suddenly knocked back and to the ground by seemingly an invisible force. This just made the orange-haired teen blink her eyes in confusion and tilt her head inquisitively at the boy.

"Um...are you alright?" she asked with her usual gentle voice as she took a short step forward as if to check and make sure the other teen was even alive.

"O-Of course I am!" he called out as he stood himself back up, yet he wasn't facing Orihime until his next words left his lips.

"My name is Shishigawara Moe...and I'm gonna have to ask you to die!" he yelled, but the second he turn to look at the girl before him, he fell back to the concrete walkway.

Yet this time around, Orihime could see a bit of blood coming out of the boy's nose, which only made her a bit more curious as to who he was and why he was there. "W-Well...Sushigawara-kun, I'm Inoue Orihime...nice to meet you." she said silently with a light bow, her not guessing Moe's thoughts about her whatsoever.

'This is too much! I'm supposed to kill her and prove my worth to Tsukishima-san! But she's too hot! I can't even look at her directly!' the raven-haired teen screamed in his mind as he all but covered his eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Orihime continued as she slightly kneeled down to check on the teen's condition.

"He's quite alright." a voice spoke out from behind her, causing both the teens to look to the source of the voice.

But upon seeing Shukuro sitting on the railing nearby, Orihime's eyes heavily narrowed and she swiftly turned to face him. All the while, Moe just stood himself up and gulped down quickly; "Ts-Tsukishima-san! I-I was just about to kill her for you!" he called out quickly as he brought his hands up into fists.

"Oh~? And whoever told you to do that?" Shukuro questioned in an all too calm manner as he just smirked lightly.

"W-Well...you...I thought..." was all the raven-haired teen managed out as he nearly trembled at the man who stood before him.

"My my...this won't do at all." the brown-eyed man said with a sigh as he pushed off the railing and landed his feet silently upon the ground.

Shukuro then pulled out a book from his pocket, which had a small bookmark within its pages that showed he was more than halfway finished reading. But he immediately pulled the small marker and brought it to the side as it began to glow a bright green. Yet soon after this, the bookmark suddenly transformed into a long katana with a tsuba that looked similar to the string attached to the bookmark.

"Looks like I'll have to punish this disobedient boy before I head home." the raven-haired man said calmly as he raised his blade toward where Moe was standing.

But not long after he did, Orihime stepped in between them with one of her hands near of the hair pins attached to her jacket. "I won't let you hurt anyone. Even if he did disobey whatever you may have said, there is no cause for such a thing." she claimed with a fairly forceful voice.

"Oh? Is that so? But this is no concern of yours, so why don't you just head inside and let me take care of the rest?" Shukuro said as his smirk slightly widened as he wasn't the least bit intimidated by the girl.

"The moment you came here to hurt someone...it became my concern." Orihime stated as she kept her eyes narrowed on the man, though it was somewhat easy to see the slight nervousness in her eyes.

"My my...looks like I'll just have to do something about that." the brown-eyed man said with the slightest sign of a shrug before he just vanished.

Though as Orihime's eyes widened in response, no attack ever came as Shukuro's blade had stopped just above her shoulder. This made her quickly turn around with a shocked expression as she saw a familiar figure standing there holding Shukuro's wrist tightly.

"U-Ulquiorra?" she whispered out silently, yet in a bit of both shock and relief.

* * *

Btw everyone, since it's that time of the year again, I'll be taking a break for the holidays. ;) So the next update will be on the second week of January. ^^ I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. :D Till the next time everyone~! Ja Ne~!


	165. Chapter 165

Welcome back everyone. ;) I hope you all had some awesome holidays~! ^^ Anyways...on with the story, I hope you'll find it worth the wait. :D

* * *

**Chapter 165:**

"U-Ulquiorra?" Orihime whispered out silently as she stared at the pale arrancar before her.

Whom of which kept his tight grip around Shukuro's wrist as he narrowed his eyes on the fullbringer; "Hitsugaya-sama ordered for me to protect this woman and a select few others until this mission of yours is complete." Ulquiorra said silently in his usual emotionless voice.

"So until then..." he continued as his grip tightened rather painfully on Shukuro's wrist; "...stay out of my sight." he finished as he seemed to gently push the human back.

Yet despite how light the shove was to the arrancar, the fullbringer slid back a few feet before he stopped himself. This seeming to entice Moe to attack as it was his mentor being pushed around; "How dare you do that to Tsukishima-san!" the teen called out, him jumping forward with a punch aimed at Ulquiorra's head.

But this attack never landed as Ulquiorra had sent a swift and very light kick to the side of Moe's head. The blow knocking the teen out and sending his limp body over the side of the railing nearby and at the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Yet before his body hit, it was stopped by a yellow colored shield that Orihime used to cushion his fall.

All the while, Shukuro narrowed his eyes heavily to all this, him being aware that he couldn't win against this opponent. Though despite this, he still ended up attacking Ulquiorra from behind with quick thrust at the arrancar's back. The fullbringer's normally calm expression was now replaced by one that held a slight mix of anger in it as he stared at his target.

Yet Ulquiorra easily stepped away from the attack, turned himself to the side slightly and pointed his index finger at the brown-eyed man's face without even bothering to look. Shukuro had tilted his head to the side to avoid the small cero the arrancar fired a split second later, which had pierced through the town and burned a small hole through every building that was in the way. Immediately after his attack, Ulquiorra had vanished from sight, which caused the fullbringer's eyes widen when he swiftly turned around and was met by a kick to his face.

"You have been warned." was all the pale arrancar said as Shukuro was sent backward, into and over the railing behind the brown-eyed man.

Immediately following this, the fullbringer's body fell almost straight down toward the adjacent sidewalk as the one Moe had been placed on by Orihime. Though as the brow-haired man dropped toward the concrete, the high school girl sent a shield down to catch him before he would be injured. But when the teen's Santen Kesshun didn't catch anything, she ran over to the railing and blinked in slight shock when she didn't see anyone there. This caused her to swiftly look over to where Moe had been, yet he too was no longer there, to which Orihime just looked back to Ulquiorra.

"Who were those two?" the teen questioned with her large eyes blinking in an inquisitive manner as she walked up to the arrancar.

"Tsukishima Shukuro and Shishigawara Moe. They're Fullbringers working with Hitsugaya-sama on a mission to return Kurosaki Ichigo's powers." Ulquiorra responded as he placed the only hand he had used into his pocket, his other hand never leaving the opposite compartment of his hakama.

Immediately following this, Orihime blinked her eyes even more than before, to which she eventually took on a wide smile. "That's awesome! Kurosaki-kun has seemed so down lately...this will be just the thing to get him back to his old self!" she exclaimed happily as she looked at Ulquiorra thankfully as if it were all his idea.

Yet the raven-haired arrancar just stared at her as if he were just a stone statue, to which Orihime's smile turned to a sheepish one as she clasps her hands together behind her back. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, Ulquiorra." she said in a rather cheerful voice as she eventually gave a normal smile.

"Eight months, two weeks and three days." was all the pale arrancar said as he continued to stay completely motionless in front of the teen.

"E-Eh~?! You counted?" Orihime questioned in shock as she blinked once more.

"No...Lilynette Gingerbuck has been stating the amount of time that has passed since Aizen Sosuke's defeat. Due to that day being the last point that we met, it's only appropriate that I inform you of the specific time between our last meeting." Ulquiorra responded in his usual emotionless tone.

This simply made the orange-haired teen smile lightly and giggle; "Still as precise as ever I see." she said with a slight wider smile after her words.

"I have not changed at all since I had been born as a Vasto Lorde in Hueco Mundo." was all Orihime received from the arrancar.

"True...but then that's not a bad thing I suppose." the teen muttered mostly to herself as she glanced to the side as if thinking about something from the past.

Ulquiorra stared at her silently as if questioning Orihime on her comment, but she just quickly turned to her apartment door and walked up to it. Though the faint blush on the teen's cheeks didn't go unnoticed by Ulquiorra, he didn't understand the concept of embarrassment and merely dismissed it as the orange-haired teen spoke up quickly.

"Would you like to come in for a while? I could make you some bean paste stew with lots of vegetables and cheese~!" she all but sang with a wide smile on her features as she unlocked the door and turned back to the pale man.

"No. I must report back to Hitsugaya-sama about Tsukishima Shukuro's most recent actions." was all the arrancar said as he turned away and started walking to the railing to his right.

"W-Well okay...I guess that's fair." Orihime said with a small smile and nod of her head, her obviously feeling a bit sad, but was so used to hiding it that even Ulquiorra didn't catch on.

"I guess I'll see you later Ulquiorra." she finished as she gave a light wave as said ex-espada flipped over the railing, only to disappear in a sonido.

This made Orihime smile's waver before it disappeared fully when she turned to her door and walked inside her apartment. But after a moment, a smirk curled her lips when she tilted her head up in thought; "At least he's been doing well." she muttered to herself silently.

-Kurosaki clinic-

"W-What?!" Isshin demanded as his eyes were wide with both shock and a bit of frustration as he stared at Toshiro across the table.

The two were sitting on the sofas near of the television along with Masaki, whom was next to her husband as he continued to all but glare at the icy captain before him. But while Toshiro was silent for a while, his raven-haired friend never calmed down for even a second.

"I'm afraid there isn't much alternative. If this plan with your son fails...then we need a fail-safe in order to make sure this doesn't happen." Toshiro said as he briefly closed his eyes as even he didn't want to consider doing what they were discussing.

"Would it be permanent?" Masaki asked as she seemed to be much more calm than Isshin, yet on the inside her soul was burning just like her husband's.

"I don't know." was all the white-haired captain responded as he tilted his head down.

"Since only Karin seems to have such advanced spiritual awareness...she is the only one that poses a threat to this whole plan to make sure Yhwach does not return." he continued as he crossed his arms across his chest and let out a silent breath.

"You said he will use the power of five Quincy to open the gates of Hell and release himself from his chains...but why now? And why five?" Isshin asked as he leaned forward with narrowed eyes.

"From what I figured out...it seems that even in Hell, Yhwach is still able to use his powers to their fullest extent. Which is why he was able to use Auswählen nine years ago." Toshiro began, him looking down as if knowing both of the two were thinking of the day Masaki had died.

"And from the information I gathered, the prophesied day that the Quincy would return to destroy the world...is in a week from today." he continued, causing both Masaki's and Isshin's eyes widen heavily in shock.

"As for the number...the Quincy cross has five points to it, which is more of a representation of their power than most people realize." the white-haired captain started as he glanced to Masaki as she seemed to already understand what he was going to say.

"The minimum number of anything to a Quincy is five. So it's more of an assumption than anything else...but if what my source said of Yhwach needing Quincy is true, it would have to be at least five for him to return." Toshiro said as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes as to allow the pair to think about everything he spoke.

Though the room was silent for a few moments, Masaki had been the one to speak up as she took Isshin's hand into her own; "So Karin...our daughter...will have to be purged of her quincy powers for the sake of a 'fail-safe'?"

"I know it's not something that you want to happen to your daughter. But I'm afraid that Uryu, Ryuken and you cannot undergo this process." Toshiro started as he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward slightly.

"Even though your powers were revived due to your memories returning, it doesn't change the fact that they still came from him. Which means that no matter what any of us do...there will be no way to prevent this from happening if your son fails." the icy captain continued, him tilting his head down to look at the floor.

"Why the sudden loss of hope in Ichigo?" Isshin questioned as he raised a skeptical brow at his long time friend.

"It's not that I don't have faith in him...I just don't want to place this burden on his shoulders alone." Toshiro said as he leaned back in the sofa.

"This is something that could potentially turn Soul Society into the next level of Hell...so I would prefer to prevent it any and every way possible." he finished as he looked between the two in front of him for a moment.

"Who was it that gave you all this information? You spoke of a 'source', but who are they?" Masaki questioned as she kept her hand laced with her husband's.

Toshiro closed his eyes for a long while after she asked this, it seeming as though he wasn't sure he wanted to answer it or not. "It was someone I sent there myself...a while back." he responded in a way that made it obvious he wanted to avoid the actual 'who?' part of the question.

"But whatever the case...even if the Head Captain or I can defeat Yhwach upon his return, it would come at a great cost. So the best way to make sure it doesn't happen is to eliminate one of the five powers that he plans to use." the icy captain continued quickly as he glanced to the side as if Karin herself was in that direction.

"But even if it works...you said that she may never regain those powers again and her shinigami potential will be greatly decreased as a recoil." Isshin stated as he looked over to Masaki as if asking her if there was a right answer to all this.

"I know...and that is the last thing I want to do to her." Toshiro said, him glancing down as he closed his eyes as if in guilt.

"But since Masaki, Uryu and Ryuken each have too well-developed powers to have them taken away, your son being a special case and Yuzu barely even able to see spirits...the only one that can become the 'fail-safe' is Karin." he finished as he kept his eyes shut to hide his shame.

Though Masaki and Isshin wanted to continue debating about what to do, they both knew that nothing else could be done. This making them look to each other once more, to which the two held their own conversation through mere stares.

"Alright..." Masaki began as the parents turned to Toshiro; "...but only if she's willing to go through with it."

The white-haired captain cracked his eyes open to her before he gave a light nod and small smirk; "We're asking her to save hundreds of lives...being a Kurosaki means she'll jump on board without a second thought." he muttered silently as both Isshin and Masaki chuckled and nodded in response.

-Hueco Mundo-

Tia stood in seemingly the middle of nowhere of the vast desert that made up the home of the hollows, yet she wasn't alone. Around her were the remaining ex-espada, save for Ulquiorra, each of their fraccion, the primera espada, Rudbornn, Yin and Yang. All of them forming a small circle as all of them had their attention focused on Coyote as he let out a heavy sigh.

"From what Toshiro said...we need to form an army of hollows. And we need to have it completed within a week." the brown-haired arrancar said as he looked around to everyone as if not wanting to give out actual orders.

"Oi!" Lilynette called out as she kicked her other half in his behind, to which she growled at him in annoyance.

"You're basically the leader of this group! At least try to act like it!" she exclaimed in a huff as Coyote groaned and rubbed the side of his head.

"It's such a pain...but I guess I don't have a choice." he began once more as he looked around to everyone.

All of whom were looking at him with a slightly expecting expression, or simply an annoyed one. But they all ended up sweat dropping to some degree as he just turned to Tia and spoke up; "So I'll leave the rest to you."

Though the blond raised her brown at her fellow arrancar, she just let out a sigh through her mask fragment and crossed her arms under her chest. "We'll split up into five teams and spread out to cover as much ground as possible." she began, most of the beings around her seeming to pay attention.

"The first team will be myself, Apacci, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun. The second, Nelliel, Pesche and Dondochakka. Third is Grimmjow, Dordoni and Gantenbainne. Forth will have Starrk, Lilynette and Rudbornn. And the last will be Cirucci, Yin and Yang." Tia continued as each of the arrancar had shot glances toward each of their teammates.

"I want team five to rendezvous with Ulquiorra when he returns. If all goes well...there shouldn't be any problems in gathering our army." the second ex-Tres espada finished before having her attention drawn directly to Grimmjow as he huffed heavily.

"Why in the hell are we even doing this? I mean sure we agreed to be allies for Soul Society...but why are we bringing an army of hollows that may or may not ever be put into action? What's the reason?" the blue-haired arrancar demanded in an annoyed tone.

"If this Yhwach manages to escape from Hell, it means that whatever world he breaks through from, it will have thousands and possibly millions of souls fleeing from their prison. If that happens, that world will end up becoming another Hell that will eventually spread throughout each world until not only Soul Society, but Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living will be consumed." Tia stated, her gaze hardening as she tightened her arms in their crossed pose.

"_That_ is why we're doing this. To prevent the possible destruction of all three worlds." she finished as the silent desert seemed to become even more so, there not even being a gust of wind.

Though her words were quite serious, Grimmjow just let out a 'Tch' and glanced to the side as he crossed his arms. "I still don't see why I have to travel with them." he said in another growl as he turned toward Dordoni and Gantenbainne.

Both of whom turned to the blue-haired espada with raised brows, yet it was the former of the two that spoke. "Well, we aren't exactly thrilled either...Jovenzuelo. But we're going to have to work together in order for this to work." Dordoni said as he placed his hands to his hips.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes on the raven-haired man for a moment before he just spit off to the side and started walking. "Whatever...let's just get this over with." he muttered out in annoyance as he continued on his way.

Yet no one else had moved until Tia gave a nod for them to start their mission, to which many of them vanished in sonidos. Save for the blond herself as she had her head turned to the right and looking toward the remains of Las Noches. This making each of her fraccion quickly return one after another as they soon realized that she was not with them.

"Harribel-sama?" Apacci said with a slight tilt of her head, to which said green-eyed arrancar turned to the three around her.

"Sorry...I was just thinking about the possibility of another war starting." Tia muttered as she glanced over to the large fortress of Las Noches in the distance.

"Though we didn't participate in the battle here...there was so much devastation that occurred inside that place." she continued, her closing her eyes and turning her back to the enormous building.

"And the fight we were engaged in...we nearly lost to only one man." the ex-espada said in a low tone as she didn't want to show her concern.

"I truly hope that everything works out and we never have to use an army." the blond-haired woman said in a whisper as each of her subordinates looked at her in worry.

"Let's go." was the last thing Tia said before she disappeared in a sonido, to which her fraccion had quickly done the same after calling after their self-proclaimed leader to wait up.


	166. Chapter 166

Chapter 166:

-Midnight, a few days later-

Toshiro came walking into a somewhat small mansion on the far side of Karakura town, to which he immediately noticed a group of people inside the first room he entered. Though they all turned to him as he arrived, the icy captain didn't pay any attention to most of them as he went toward Yukio Hans Vorarlberna. Whom had shoulder length, spiky blond hair that covered his right eye, which along with his left were a brilliant shade of green. His attire was made up of a black cap, a long coat, pants and boots of the same color plus a pair of white gloves.

"What's his status?" Toshiro questioned to the teen with a slightly raised brow.

"Though he fought with Tsukishima just yesterday...he's doing fairly well against Ginjo." was the response he was given by the blond.

"I see. So did Tsukishima follow my orders and used only fifty percent of his power?" the white-haired captain asked, him crossing his arms in the process.

"As far as I could tell...yes. Though it became a bit complicated due to Ginjo making too much of a scene, everything went exactly as you designed it." Yukio said with a short nod.

"Hmph! I still think you should have given me a bigger part!" a female voice spoke up from off to the side, her voice sounding rather agitated.

This girl was a young, slender teen with magenta eyes and long hair of matching color, which was styled into two pig-tails with a strand of hair hanging down on the right side of her face. She wore a dark dress that had a white striped part to cover her chest, plus a black ribbon at the top of the fabric. The teen also wore a white-colored hat that had two extensions in the back, this making it appear like rabbit ears. She completed her outfit with a pair of thigh-length black boots that hugged her thin legs.

"I can't help it when you have a history to just go running off for seemingly no reason." Toshiro said with a shrug as he glanced over to the girl, whose name was Dokugamine Riruka.

"Huh~? I don't do that! I bet you gave my parts to Jackie because she has a better figure than I do! Tch! She pisses me off." Riruka growled out.

This simply making Toshiro sigh and roll his eyes; "You really don't have to be so insecure about yourself."

Immediately following his comment, the magenta-haired girl began to blush and stutter out incoherent words about 'that not being true'. Yet the icy captain didn't pay too much attention to her as he glanced over to the other two people in the room.

The first being Kutsuzawa Giriko, who was a tall, middle-aged man whom had short dark hair, brown eyes and a thick mustache. He wore a shirt and dark waistcoat and a bow tie, him almost appearing like a bartender from an old western. However he had a black leather-like strap covering his right eye and part of his face, which made him turn himself fully in order to look at Toshiro.

The second was Jackie Tristan, a tall dark-skinned woman with straight, chin-length raven hair, brown eyes and full lips. She had on a simple outfit consisted of a dark brown long-sleeved, low cut shirt with form-fitting trousers and dark knee length boots.

"So I'm guessing you managed to push him to his limit and allowed for him to gain greater control over his Fullbring?" the white-haired captain questioned as he looked to Jackie with a raised brow.

"Indeed...though I wasn't sure what I should be more afraid of." the tan-skinned woman began with a sigh, her sitting down on a nearby sofa.

"The fact that Ichigo's Fullbring seemed so powerful it was like it was going out of control...or the fact that you were able to predict what would happen so well it was as if you gave me a 'play-by-play' from what you had already seen." she finished with a slightly raised brow of her own as she seemed a bit suspicious.

Toshiro just gave a small smirk in response as he glanced over to Yukio as the game console in his hands was letting out noises similar to that of a battle being fought. "Well, when it comes to Kurosaki...it's hard not to predict him to a 'tee' since he's hardly changed since the moment I met him." he said silently as his eyes briefly closed.

"Though even I must admit that you can be a bit frightening in terms of predicting such things." Giriko said as he opened his pocket watch briefly before closing it.

This made the white-haired captain just shrugging his shoulders before crossing his arms and turning his attention back to the game console. "I'm guessing you already sent out for Orihime so she could heal his injuries?" he questioned to seemingly all of the people in the room.

"Of course...Chad is on his way to get her." Yukio said without even looking at the icy captain as he kept his eyes on the screen of his game.

Though upon closer inspection, within the game itself, Ichigo and Ginjo could be seem swinging their own respectful weapons at one another as to win the fight. "Hmph...his power's growth is as remarkable as ever." Toshiro muttered silently as he watched the orange-haired teen continuously attack his opponent.

Though Ichigo's own appearance was slightly different than usual, him now having a strange black, fiery-like energy radiating off of him. All the while, the power itself took the form of a shihakusho, which made Toshiro give a faint smirk. 'It looks like he's getting closer to perfecting his Fullbring. Perhaps making Karin the failsafe won't be need.' he thought as he closed his eyes and gave a slight wider smirk.

"I hope so." he whispered to himself, to which Riruka finally stopped her stuttering and stomped up toward him.

"Hey! Listen when I'm speaking to you!" she stated with a huff, causing Toshiro to just open his eyes and raise a brow to her.

"I would if I understood what you were trying to say." was all he responded with as the teen girl growled once more as a blush covered her cheeks.

"Why you..." she began, her raising her hands up into fists as she seemed she wanted to hit Toshiro.

"You're lucky you're cute or I'd make you pay for that comment!" she exclaimed before rushing out the door quickly as her blush now covered her whole face.

After she had left the room, the icy captain simply sighed and closed his eyes; "Still the same as ever I see." he muttered silently as each of the others merely gave a nod in response.

"Ah...it looks like he's reached his limit." Yukio started as the screen of his game console showed Ichigo kneeling down on the floor of the arena with blood coming out of various wounds on his body.

"That 'Inoue Orihime' had better get here fast." the blond finished as he glanced over to Toshiro as if to see if or what he would say.

"Don't worry...she's nearly here. He'll last." was all the white-haired captain stated as he crossed his arms and leaned back against a nearby wall, him being just a few feet from the door he came through.

Which had swung open a few moments later, revealing Inoue, Chad and Ulquiorra, the last of whom stayed back after turning toward Toshiro. "I have fulfilled my duties here...I will return to Hueco Mundo." the pale arrancar said silently as he headed back through the door after the icy captain gave a light nod.

Yet he was stopped as Orihime turned to him and spoke up quickly; "You're going to leave already? But you just came back for a visit after not showing yourself for almost three days." she said with a light pout.

Ulquiorra glanced back to her with a blank expression, to which he briefly closed his eyes and turned away. "I have another mission I must complete, your human pleasantries will have to wait until the next time we meet...so long as I am not on an assignment at the time." he said, him having his back turned to everyone before he continued out of the house.

"Alright...I'll see you then~!" Orihime called out with a small smile, her not seeming as sad about his leaving than the previous time as Ulquiorra sonidoed away into the night.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting...but you're needed inside." Yukio said, gaining the orange-haired girl's attention as he pointed to his game console.

This made her blink her large eyes in confusion, yet she looked around in amazement when a black box began to surround her. To which as it slowly dissipated in a pixilated manner, Orihime's eyes widened in shock when she saw Ichigo still on the floor gasping for air and bleeding somewhat heavily. There being a small puddle of his blood under him as the other teen immediately rushed to his side.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime cried out as she brought her hair pins up from her shirt's collar and surrounded Ichigo in her Soten Kisshun.

Yet even as the wounds on the teen's body healed, Orihime had turned her attention over toward Ginjo off to the side. Whom of which was sitting patiently with his legs folded indian-style, along with a large blade stabbed into the floor in front of him.

"Ah...you must be Inoue Orihime...I'm Ginjo Kugo, Ichigo's trainer." the raven-haired man said with a small smirk.

"H-Hi...nice to meet you." the burnt orange-haired girl said as she gave a light bow before immediately turning to Ichigo after he muttered her name.

"Kurosaki-kun!" she called in a concerned tone as though she were questioning him on his condition through saying his name.

Ichigo simply giving her a small smirk and nod as he stood himself up slowly; "Thanks Inoue...you really saved me again." he said with a slightly wider smirk at the end of his words.

After his words, Orihime blushed lightly and covered her cheeks slightly with her hands as she looked away; "N-Not at all." she stuttered out shyly before shifting her gaze to Ginjo after he stood up as well.

"So Ichigo...are you ready to continue?" the dark-haired man questioned as he brought his large blade out of the floor and readied it in front of him.

"Yeah...as ready as I'll ever be." was the response he received from the male orange-haired teen.

"Wait Kurosaki-kun! You shouldn't start fighting again until I've finished healing you!" Orihime stated quickly as her shield never lowered to let her friend out.

"But I need to trai-" Ichigo began, but was cut off when Orihime interrupted him with her own words.

"I know you want to become stronger and regain your shinigami powers...but you're not going to continue fighting unless I tell you you're well enough to do so." she said rather firmly, which shocked both Ichigo and Ginjo.

Yet while she seemed to be calm on the outside, she was panicking and fully nervous on the inside. 'Oh no...I sounded mean just now! I hope Kurosaki-kun doesn't hate me now! Please don't hate me! Pleasedon'thatemePleasedon'thatemePleasedon'thateme~!' were just some of her thoughts while she continued to heal Ichigo.

Whom gave a small smirk and nod in response as his Fullbring seemed to disappear and he crossed his arms. "I understand. You're the boss." was all he said as his tone seemed to be almost proud of his fellow orange-haired friend.

As he spoke this, Orihime herself blinked her eyes a few times before giving a smile and returning nod. "I'll make sure to do my best to help you since I know you will do the same to become stronger." she said, her widening her smile in the process.

Once Ichigo was fully healed and giving his friend's approval, he stepped toward Ginjo with his Fullbring reactivating. "Now I'm ready." was all he said before the two charged at one another.

Yet it was only a few moments into their fight when another figure digitalized within the game, this person revealing to be Ichigo's inner hollow with heavily narrowed eyes. The sudden appearance from the pure white being surprising everyone that was there as he immediately gained their attention.

"W-What?! What are you doing here?! How are you here?!" Ichigo all but demanded in shock, as his fight against Ginjo had instantly stopped.

Said raven-haired man blinked his eyes between the two Ichigos, yet his brown orbs seemed to show he knew only some of what was going on. All the while, Orihime was just shifted her gaze from one Ichigo to the next as she was fully confused about what to think. But it didn't take long for all of them to grasp the situation when the hollow spoke up with a wide grin.

"I'm here to kill you...'King'." he began as he stepped forward and drew the large blade from his back.

"But this time...I don't plan to go easy on you so you can learn a new trick or become a better fighter like that old man had me do." he continued as his black pupil became a bit smaller against the gold of his iris.

"I'm going to make sure to kill you...and every last person you care about!" Hollow Ichigo finished as his grin widened even more.

Though Ichigo's eyes became even larger to his counterpart's words, they narrowed quickly as he took a step forward. "I wanna know how the hell you're able to even be here! You merged with Zangetsu and vanished along with my shinigami powers!" the orange-haired teen claimed as he clenched his hands into fists.

"I was born as only half of your power, so I was able to form my own body after the rest of your powers withered away. It might have taken me a couple months, but my body was able to be formed in the spot where you last used my powers. And now that I'm free...I'm going to devour everything in sight!" the hollow declared with a chuckle and a finger pointing at Ichigo.

"Starting with you and everything you're connected to." he continued, him giving a slow glance over to Orihime off to the side.

Whom seemed quite frightened as she had heard about what Ichigo's inner hollow was capable of, especially during the fight against Ulquiorra. "So how about it babe? How would you like to be next on my list of people to kill?" the white being questioned as he took on a psychotic grin as he started walking over to the teen girl.

Whose eyes had widened heavily in shock and fear, to which Ichigo immediately came between them and glared at his former source of hollow power. "Don't you dare! And what do you mean 'next'?" he questioned as his reiatsu-made blade was brought out in front of him.

"Oh? You couldn't hear? I just slaughtered all of those weaklings in the outside world, save for the blond brat so he could bring me in here." Hollow Ichigo claimed as his grin widened along with Ichigo's eyes.

"I figured that since I can break out of this place with just my reiatsu if I choose, plus kill you with as little mess as possible...it's a 'win-win' situation." the hollow continued as he laughed.

This made Ichigo's eyes widen even more before narrowing heavily; "You son of a bitch!" the teen yelled out in his rage as he charged at his new opponent.

But before he could even swing his weapon, Hollow Ichigo had slashed him across the eyes and effectively blinded him completely. This caused Ichigo to scream in pain as he clutched his face, which now had blood dripping from his wound. Yet due to his momentum, he ended up falling to the floor and right at the hollow's feet.

"Hmph...I knew this would be easy at your current level, but come on 'King'! This is too easy!" the white 'copy' of Ichigo called out as he kneed the teen across the face when he tried to get himself up.

All the while, the hollow glanced over to Orihime as a large, glowing green cell surrounded her, it being fully digitalized and fully muted out her voice no matter how much she called out. This sudden phenomenon being what made Ginjo pause his own attack toward the hollow. Him knowing that Yukio did this himself, which meant that he wasn't doing anything against his will. To which he simply turned his attention toward Hollow Ichigo and narrowed his eyes as if to see something that wasn't very clear.

"You bastard! You've never pulled this kind of thing before! How much lower can you go in your dirty way of fighting!" Ichigo insulted as he started to stand himself up once again after spitting out a bit of blood.

"Don't give me that kiddy shit!" was all the hollow said before he kicked the teen across his face and sent him tumbling across the floor almost forty feet.

"I already told you that I was going to kill you...who cares how I fight, you're too weak to beat me anyway!" the white-haired hollow stated as he placed his blade on his back, to which it was wrapped in black cloth.

"But since I did mention that I would kill everyone you cared about first...I guess I should start with that hot babe over there. Too bad you won't be able to see her die, I'd love to see the expression on your face when I slice her pretty little head clear off her shoulders." he continued with another dark laugh of amusement.

"Don't you dare..." Ichigo growled out silently as even though his eyes' sight was gone, his perception of reiatsu seemed to have begun to return and allowed him to make out his opponent's form.

"...I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he screamed out as the orange-haired teen got right back to his feet, though his body now had a bit of pure white reiatsu flowing around it.

Though the hollow didn't turn around right away, a small smirk curled his lips as when he did face Ichigo, he was faced with a large amount of black and white spirit energy. But when Ichigo's blade swung down on his enemy, Hollow Ichigo's form shattered away and revealed Toshiro with his icy hand being raised up.

Once Ichigo's attack landed, a huge amount of reiatsu blasted around the two, but it was contained in a perfect cylinder as it slowly began to dissipate. To which when it did, it showed Toshiro simply standing there without a single scratch and Ichigo on his knees and wearing a strange outfit. This consisting of a white armor that covered his chest, arms, shoulders, and feet, with a stripe running across his face and a black bodysuit underneath.

The substitute shinigami badge he had been holding, had now grown a medium-sized, black, machete-like blade, with a silver edge and round hilt. This also having a simple white cloth-wrapping, and flat base as the badge itself became the guard while the weapon itself was in a sheath on his back.

But the icy captain didn't seem to pay the teen's outward appearance much mind as he could tell, even without actual sight, Ichigo was looking right at him. "T-Toshiro...?" he whispered out in a bit of shock.

"Welcome back...Kurosaki." was the white-haired captain's response as he gave a small smile.


	167. Chapter 167

**Chapter 167:**

-The next morning-

"So my hollow powers did disappear along with my shinigami." Ichigo said silently as he gave a light nod of his head.

"Well...not exactly. But I merely made that part up about him forming his own body so that you could somewhat believe that he had indeed found a way to return." Toshiro said as he and the orange-haired teen were sitting in digitized chairs, them still being within the game world of Yukio's console.

"What do you mean 'not exactly'?" the brown-eyed high-schooler questioned with a raised brow, to which he leaned forward slightly in interest.

The icy captain let out a silent breath as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes; "You still have a faint trace of your original power within your soul. Both your shinigami and your hollow powers are inside you, but it's too small of an amount for your zanpakuto to take form." he began with a reporting tone.

"However...using the method of bringing out your Fullbring power, it will slowly pull and develop your shinigami powers back for you to wield once more." Toshiro finished as he slowly opened his eyes.

Ichigo blinked a few times to his words before nodding his head and gave a small grin; "Alright...well what am I waiting for? I'll get back to my training!" he declared as he quickly rushed over to the side where Ginjo was speaking with Chad about the training the large teen would be undergoing.

"Why were you lying to Kurosaki-kun, Toshiro-Nii?" Orihime whispered out, her walking up to him with a box of donuts in her hands.

This having just been given to her by Riruka as she had mentioned that she had never seen Toshiro eat before. To which she gave the box to her for this very reason, her saying that it was simply to see the 'unknown'. However, after the orange-haired girl had come up to the icy captain and spoke, he turned to her with a raised brow.

"What do you mean?" Toshiro asked back as he just stared at her blankly as to not give any indication that he was in fact lying.

"I may not know you too well yet Toshiro-Nii...but I've spent my whole life learning how people act when they're not being honest or are simply saying things the other person wants to hear." Orihime began as she sat down in the chair Ichigo had just been in and placed the box on the table between her and Toshiro.

Whom had raised his brow a bit more before narrowing his eyes slightly, but he never spoke a word as he waited for the orange-haired girl to speak. Her doing just that as she tilted her head down as if in deep thought about something; "And though you're extremely hard to read...I can still tell by the look in your eyes when you opened them that you were just making up what you said to Kurosaki-kun. But it seemed to be mixed in with some truth, which is why I'm wondering what part was true...and which was false?"

Toshiro stared at her for a long while before he let out a heavy sigh; "The fact that he does have a small amount of reiatsu from his shinigami and hollow powers was the true part. But the rest was made up because if I tell him what's really going to happen...he'll push himself too hard and possibly ruin everything by his rushing." he started in a whisper as he glanced over toward Ichigo as he fought against Ginjo far off to the side.

The former of whom was swinging his short blade toward the experienced Fullbringer as their feet stayed planted in place the entire time. Yet while they attacked and parried one another's blades, Chad suddenly came down from above to attack them both with a powerful reiatsu-enduced fist. This causing the pair to split away from each other and jump in opposite directions to prevent from being hit by the attack or resulting explosion. Though the three were nearly one hundred yards away, the shock wave of the tan teen's punch caused the floor to tremble around Toshiro and Orihime. Said soft spoken girl tilting her head at the icy captain as she leaned forward to look at him a bit better, her eyes never leaving his despite what was happening just to the side.

"What is going to happen?" she questioned with blinking eyes as she appeared rather worried about his possible answer.

"Well...I'm using his Fullbring power to push back his 'not-so-dormant' Quincy powers, which have been slowly developing inside him after the loss of his shinigami and hollow power. Once he's reached a certain level, I'll have to drain his Fullbring from his body and immediately insert enough shinigami reiatsu into him so that his powers can return." Toshiro explained, him uncrossing his arms and placing an elbow to the table and resting his chin on his ice-covered hand.

As he said all this, Orihime's eyes widened more and more, yet she looked down in thought as she tried to understand all of this. "But...why? Why is it so bad for him to have quincy powers? Ishida-kun is very nice, reliable and always very helpful. What's so bad about Kurosaki-kun having quinc-?" but she was cut off from saying anything further when another, but more powerful shock wave hit them.

This made her turn her attention over to the three fighting, to which her eyes widened a bit as she saw Chad using his shielded right arm to block what seemed to have been a slash that was fused with an imitated Getsuga Tensho. But before Ginjo's flanking slash reached Ichigo, he suddenly vanished in a very fast movement, which he continuously used all around the two he was training with. Yet while Ginjo and Chad seemed to be able to block the orange-haired teen's random attacks, they were just barely able to do so in the nick of time as their eyes could barely follow him. But even as Orihime watched this, she was brought out of her daze from watching them as Toshiro spoke up in a silent, but very serious voice.

"It will allow the return of the very first Quincy and bring about great devastation before he can be defeated." was all the white-haired captain had to say before his 'imouto' looked back to the floor in thought.

Though a few minutes passed between them, neither one had even given a glance toward the fight still raging to the side. Despite there being a great many explosions, battle cries and even groans of pain whenever someone had been hit by an attack. Orihime being too deep in thought to even move and Toshiro could simply tell what was going on simply through sensing their reiatsu.

Yet after an extra brief moments, the teen girl eventually gave a small smile and looked to the white-haired captain; "Well...you've always done everything for the greater good, so I trust you Toshiro-Nii." she stated with a confident nod of her head.

The icy captain blinked his eyes briefly before he smirked in response; "Thanks Orihime...I'll make sure not to disappoint you." he said with a short nod of his own before glancing to the side.

Where of which he noticed Riruka 'trying' to hide from him behind what seemed to be a short, pixelated hedge line that surrounded most of the table. This being Yukio's idea to make the area seem more 'homey', which failed completely since there wasn't an actual house. Yet Toshiro let out a breath, opened the box of donuts and began to eat one slowly. All the while, he could hear a silent squealing coming from the bush as Riruka was watching him through the small leaves of the bush in front of her.

"Are you sure you didn't want any Riruka-chan?" Orihime asked as she looked over to where she could see said teen.

Whom wasn't crouched down enough to be unnoticed by anyone, yet she still popped her head up with a huff and called back to the orange-haired girl. "Of course! It's not like I'm hungry or anything!"

Though soon after her words, a growl could be heard emanating from her stomach, causing Riruka to blush deeply and stand herself up. "Okay...maybe just a few." she muttered as she simply stepped over the hedge.

Toshiro gave a small smirk in response to this, to which he eventually took a short glance over to Chad and Ginjo as they both charged at Ichigo. Whom had side stepped away from the former and parried the blade of the latter, to which he then sent his own attacks at them. But the icy captain didn't bother to continue watching as he turned his head back to the box of donuts, causing him to blink when he saw that most of them were already gone. Yet as he looked between Riruka and Orihime, the former merely pointed at the latter with an accusing finger. This made the orange-haired girl pout with large and tear-filled eyes at him; "But they're so good~!" she whined out as she took another donut into her hand.

The icy captain chuckled silently to her before tilting his head up at the ceiling of the world; "Yukio...take me back. I have something I need to take care of." he said silently, yet he knew the blond could hear him.

This being confirmed when a large screen appeared in the air over everyone's head, which quickly showed Yukio's head in it as though there was a camera in the screen of his game console. "Understood." was all the blond said before the image vanished and Toshiro began being surrounded in black pixels.

"I'll be back when all of you come out." the white-haired captain side with a light nod to Orihime and Riruka, yet he gave a final glance toward Ichigo as he had used a real Getsuga Tensho against the two he was fighting against.

Though as Toshiro disappeared from the game and came into the real world, he blinked and sweat dropped when he saw Yoruichi sitting on the sofa nearby. Said tan-skinned woman looked over to him with a raised brow as she seemed a bit too calm for her husband's liking. His fear being confirmed when she spoke up in a slightly suspicious way, plus had crossed both her arms and legs in the process. "So...you plan on leaving me out on all the fun again...do you?"

"I was actually just on my way to tell you, Yoruichi." Toshiro said as he cleared his throat lightly, him telling the truth, but not all of it.

"Oh? After almost two whole days? I've been shopping with Kukaku, Rangiku and even Soifon for so long I'm seeing price tags in the back of my eyelids now." the purple-haired woman said with a light groan and pout.

"Well they kind of needed you while shopping, and since you and I both know if I told you anything during that time...none of the shopping would have gotten done." Toshiro said with a short nod as they both knew this to be true.

Yoruichi huffed to him as she stood up and walked up in very close proximity to the icy captain as she raised her brow. "Well...it's still not fair. Though I guess now..." she began as she glanced to the side before back to him.

"...you don't really have to worry about telling me." she continued with a small smirk; "Masaki already filled me in on everything you were planning on doing for Ichigo and Karin."

Toshiro let out a breath to this as he nodded once more, yet he looked back to her quickly as she spoke up once more. Her having another pout on her features as she leaned in close to his face until they were just inches apart; "However...I'm still rather hurt that it took you so long to finally decide to tell me what you were up to. I am your wife after all."

Though Toshiro let out a silent groan in response, he only moved his head back slightly and glanced to the side; "Alright...I'm sorry, Yoruichi." he said in a near whisper.

"_I'm sorry, Yoruichi_...and~?" she echoed back before adding the last word with her leaning even closer to the icy captain.

Whom shifted his eyes to his wife as she was obviously looking for the words he had only spoke to her once before; "I..." was all that Yoruichi could hear as Toshiro said the last part too quietly.

"You~?" the purple-haired woman sang out in her question as she leaned in even more as she was making Toshiro nearly bend his back backward a foot away from where it was suppose to be while standing.

"I...am going to be late." the icy captain said quickly as he still kept his gaze away from his wife, whom pouted a bit more and huffed lightly.

"Jeez...you're truly a 'tsundere'." she muttered to herself before sighing and heading to the door as Toshiro himself did after saying his words.

"Well...you're forgiven this time, but I expect a true apology next time." the dark-skinned woman said as the two left the small mansion and began walking down the street.

Toshiro let out a heavy sigh of his own as he simply gave a nod; "Alright...deal." he said silently as though he was neutral about agreeing to her condition.

Yet before they even made it half a block, Yoruichi gained a devious grin, which caused the white-haired captain to sweat drop at what she was thinking about. But he didn't wait long as she quickly spoke up with a full pouting expression; "But cheating on me with someone who's still in elementary school is truly hurtful."

As she said this, Toshiro groaned and growled with his eyes closing tightly; "You already know that it's not like that." he muttered out as the golden-eyed woman began to laugh.

"I know...but your reactions are so cute I just can't help but tease you with this kind of stuff. Besides...she's not the only younger woman you've set your eyes on, right?" the tan-skinned woman stated as her devious grin reappeared.

"Who are you talking about now?" Toshiro questioned with a sigh, him not being interested in the answer as he simply didn't want her teasing to increase with his refusal to 'play along'.

Yoruichi grinned a bit wider as she suddenly gained a false expression of shock, her even placing a hand to her mouth as she gasped. "How cruel...you have Hinamori...remember? Not to mention Nemu also seems to have a crush on you." she all but called out to the world as though she witnessed a tragedy.

This causing Toshiro to rub his eyes with a groan, him shaking his head in the process; "I knew I shouldn't have asked." he muttered silently before looking to Yoruichi when she spoke up in a more normal tone.

"Although...I am a bit disappointed in you for not helping Nemu to explore those feelings." the purple-haired woman said with a huff.

Toshiro sighed heavily in response to this before he turned away, despite Yoruichi continuing on with a light nudge to his arm; "Well she does need help with those types of things...and who better than the 'harem-maker' himself to teach her." she said with a wink and a laugh when Toshiro's cheeks gained a bit of redness in them.

Yet the icy captain quickly recovered and cleared his throat; "A-Anyway...I have to go speak with Karin about her decision and then to Tsukishima about making one last attack on Kurosaki, so I can gauge just how much of an effect his Fullbring will have on his shinigami powers." he said quickly.

"Eh~? But aren't his Fullbring powers supposed to be fully drained from him?" Yoruichi asked, her finally ending her long teasing toward her husband as she raised a brow.

"Yes...but even as we speak, his Fullbring is manipulating his last remaining shinigami and hollow reiatsu to the extent that it might even change the way his Shikai and Bankai appear." Toshiro explained as he headed for the door.

Yoruichi crossed her arms and looked up briefly, yet she still slowly followed after the white-haired captain. "I see...so why not just test his strength yourself instead of having someone else fight him?" the tan-skinned woman questioned.

Toshiro glanced back to her as they exited the small mansion and headed down the empty street; "Because if it's against me, Kurosaki will be emotionally conflicted about wanting to attack me. Plus it will help him to get used to fighting in a desperate situation once again, which is something every warrior needs." he said silently, him turning his head forward midway through his words.

"If you say so." Yoruichi began with a shrug as both she and Toshiro jumped to the top of a nearby building; "Just be sure not to flirt with his sister too much."

Immediately following her comment, the purple-haired woman began to laugh as she shunpoed away. This making Toshiro's eye brow twitch and a low growl to come out of his lungs; "Yoruichi..." he muttered out through his teeth.

"Will you quit saying that!" the icy captain called out as he gave chase to his still laughing wife.

-Later on at midnight-

Toshiro sat in the Urahara shop with the blond owner, Tessai, Yoruichi, Shukuro and Ryuken. The last of whom was being looked at by each of the others as he seemingly had some information to tell them about. Yet none of them would wait very long as the white-haired quincy spoke up in his usual uncaring tone.

"Since there are only two days remaining until Yhwack's return, it stands to reason that Kurosaki Ichigo will need to either have his powers returned now, or we finalize the decision to take away Kurosaki Karin's quincy reiatsu." he stated firmly as his eyes narrowed from behind his glasses.

"But no matter which we choose, there will always be a possibility that one of them can fail." Yoruichi said as she leaned her elbows on the table before each of them.

"Even if we take precautions with both of them, there is no full guarantee that either one will succeed...then we're back to square one." Tessai added with a nod of agreement to his golden-eyed friend.

"We have to at least try, there is no way that even an army of hollows and shinigami will be able to contain all of the creatures and beings of Hell." Kisuke said, him waving a hand through the air as to further his point.

"I agree...though I think that we also have to have another fail-safe in case the other one doesn't work." Shukuro spoke up as he looked around to each of the others.

"I understand that we cannot kill anyone to make sure we succeed, but our time is running short and we still don't truly have an actual way to stop Yhwack." he continued, to which his eyes eventually went directly toward Toshiro.

"I won't kill anyone to make this plan work...we must make one of our plans work...regardless of how little chance they have of working." the icy captain stated firmly as many of the people around him nodded in agreement.

"It's only a twenty-five percent chance of failure for Kurosaki Ichigo, while a sixty percent chance for Kurosaki Karin. So we just need to roll the dice for both and hope one lands in our favor." Kisuke said with a light shrug as his eyes were hidden by the shadow of his hat.

"Well I don't know about any of you...but I don't like those odds." Shukuro began as he began to stand up, but was stopped by Yoruichi as she pulled him back down.

"It doesn't matter Tsukishima...if we kill even just one person, even if it is for the sake of hundreds of others...we lose our very humanity." the tan-skinned woman declared with narrowed eyes on the Fullbringer.

"No matter how close we are to this type of situation...we must not reduce ourselves into sacrifice." Tessai said with an agreeing nod.

Though Shukuro let out a heavy sigh, he gave a nod in response as he shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Very well then...though I still believe we need to consider all options to make sure half of Karakura town won't be destroyed by Yhwack." he said quietly before becoming fully silent.

"I suppose we just have to take the gamble and hope something works...and if it doesn't we'll personally make sure that nothing happens to this town." Toshiro stated with a determined tone and expression.

His words made Yoruichi, Kisuke, Tessai and Ryuken give light nods in response, to which Shukuro just gave a light chuckle. "Yeah...all of you can have fun, while the rest of us stand no chance of being able to defend ourselves against such an onslaught." he all but muttered out.

"Yare yare, ye of little faith, eh?" a voice spoke out from behind the Fullbringer, to which all of them turned to look at the source of the voice, Ichimaru Gin.


	168. Chapter 168

**Chapter 168:**

"Yare yare, ye of little faith, eh?" Gin said silently from off to the side, his usual wide grin was clear on his features as he walked up toward the group.

But even as he came toward them, no one had given much more than a brief glance, causing the silver-haired man to chuckle. "How cruel...an' here I came ta give ya an update from Soul Society an' Hueco Mundo." he said as his hands were placed in his opposite sleeves in front of his chest.

After his words, Toshiro turned to him with a raised brow as he leaned an elbow on the table in front of him. "Oh? And why is it that Rangiku isn't here to tell me this?" he all but demanded in an almost dangerous tone.

"I think we both know the answer to that one, don't we?" was all Gin said as he tilted his head slightly, him faking an innocent expression as the two seemed to 'stare' each other down.

Yet this was soon broken up as Yoruichi cleared her throat and spoke up; "And what exactly do you have to report?"

"Well..." the silver-haired shinigami began as he turned his head to the side; "...the Head Captain is havin' lots o' fun makin' all the necessary preparations for a portal bein' created between Hell an' Soul Society...or Hueco Mundo...or the World of the Livin'." he continued with a rather amused grin.

"Includin' Byakuya bein' placed in charge of gatherin' up every available shinigami and trainin' 'em for the possible war." Gin stated as he shifted his closed eyes toward Toshiro, making it obvious this action was probably recommended by the icy captain.

"Then ta top it all off...Unohana has become a true 'slave-driva' now that she's got permission to recruit anyone and everyone into her classes for usin' healin' kido and treatin' wounds." he said with a light chuckle.

Despite most of the news simply receiving nods in response, the last one earned a light or heavy sweat drop from nearly everyone. But this didn't stop Gin as he merely kept going, his tone making him seem like he was finding everything somewhat funny.

"Then over on the Hueco Mundo side o' everythin'...they got somethin' around five thousand hollows on our side now. About half are around Menos Grande level or above." he continued as he opened his light blue eyes at the end, them immediately focusing on Toshiro.

"Though...I doubt that even that many will stand a chance." Gin finished, his accent seeming to nearly disappear as he had a very serious gaze and tone.

This made the icy captain's own eyes to narrow before shifting down at the table before him in thought. All the while, Kisuke hid his expression under the shadows of his hat, Yoruichi simply closed her eyes to think and Tessai tilted his head up and placed his thumb and pointer finger to his chin. But across from them were Ryuken and Shukuro, both of whom were looking down before lifting their eyes to Toshiro.

Whom of which was still silent in thought, which spurred the only quincy there to speak up. "Well...we're going to have casualties no matter what if this war starts. So perhaps we should concentrate more on getting our strong fighters even stronger." He began as his eyes narrowed after adjusting his glasses slightly.

"It'll be worthless gathering more and more weak if they can do little more than be 'meat-shields' for the rest of us." he finished as he then crossed his arms.

"Though it would be effective to do such a thing...we still need fighters to keep the smaller opponents at bay." Yoruichi started as she looked to the quincy with a hard gaze.

"There wouldn't be just Quincy following Yhwack through the portal." she stated as she gave a glance at Toshiro, whom was still fully silent in thought.

"Even though we should take preparations for the possibility that this will happen, we have yet to even try our plans to prevent it." Kisuke spoke up as he tilted his hat back slightly so his eyes could be seen once more.

"Maybe we should focus a bit more on what's in front of us right now so that we don't lose sight of what we're really trying to do...stop the war from happening." the blond continued as he shifted his eyes from person to person.

Though Yoruichi, Tessai and even Ryuken gave a short nod, Shukuro raised a brow and spoke up in a calm voice as he decided to voice out his own opinion. "Sorry...but I'd rather be ready for a war than to make a half attempt to do so and pay more attention to a pair of 'fail-safes' that aren't even likely to work."

"So are ya thinkin'?" Gin questioned as he interrupted Tessai from countering the Fullbringer's words.

After he had spoken, everyone's eyes shifted to Toshiro, whom finally let out a breath and glanced to Kisuke with a nod. "We're going to have to continue with our preparations for war, but we also need to give a bit more focus on getting things ready for Kurosaki and Karin." he all but ordered as most of the people around him gave a nod.

"I'm still not one hundred percent on this...but since we'll win no matter what, I suppose it doesn't matter." Shukuro muttered in his usual calm tone, despite the obvious non-agreement in his eyes as he glance to the side.

"I do hope that at least one of them works...otherwise you're almost going to wish you hadn't wiped us out all those years ago." Ryuken stated as even though his tone held a bit of bitterness, it wasn't clear as to which side he was bitter toward.

"Well...I'm sure that luck will be on our side...at least just this one time." Kisuke said with a small, yet sheepish smile as he gave the quincy a short nod.

"Do you think this will work?" Yoruichi asked as she whispered to her husband, whom merely shrugging his shoulder to her.

"I have no idea...but no matter what happens, we need to be ready." was all the icy captain responded with as Gin came over to his other side.

"Oh...an' as a side note...their 'request' has been approved." the silver-haired man said silently to Toshiro, whom blinked to him before groaning heavily.

"Great...just great." the white-haired captain muttered in a sarcastic tone, no one else hearing Gin's words and therefore raised a brow in question as to what he was talking about.

-The next afternoon-

Toshiro stood in the middle of the air along with Yoruichi and Gin, each of them being so high that they were all hidden within a large cloud floating through the sky. Yet while being inside of the enormous gathering of vapor, they were moving along with it, without even needing to act. Though on top of staying hidden from visual sight, the three also suppressed their reiatsu as to not be noticed even by the spiritually aware.

But despite all this, the silver-haired shinigami leaned forward slightly to bring part of his upper body out of the clouds. "Geez...when is this whole thin' supposed ta start? The only reason why I came here was to watch the show." Gin muttered with a light sigh as he straightened his body.

"You didn't even have to 'tag along' you know." Toshiro said silently with a sigh of his own and a roll of his eyes.

"But then I'd have to go through training or have another boring mission." Gin responded as his grin turned to a light pout.

Yoruichi raised a brow to the silver-haired man before glancing toward her husband; "You know...even if he isn't the most pleasant person to be around, I can understand his reasoning." she said with a brief shrug.

Despite Toshiro turning to her with his own raised brow, he turned back to Gin with another roll of his eyes. "Whatever...just don't screw things up just to make them more interesting." was all he said as he looked down at the large forest down below, them moving toward a mansion in the middle of the woodland.

"Would I do something so cruel and malevolent while a war is in the balance, along with hundreds or even thousands of lives on the line?" the blue-eyed man asked with an innocent tilt of his head.

Despite neither of the other two spoke, the expressions of suspicion had given Gin all that he needed to understand their response. Which made the silver-haired shinigami to huff and turn to the side; "How mean...and all I do is help you people." he muttered loud enough for the pair to hear him.

"Well...we have good cause." Yoruichi stated with a shrug as she crossed her arms under her chest, to which she shifted most of her weight to her right leg.

"But I've never done something 'that' cold." Gin said with a shrug of his shoulders as he looked up as if he were thinking about his own words.

"True...but even if you wouldn't do something that could possibly bring about the war, you'd still do something potentially reckless for your own entertainment." Toshiro said as he crossed his arms and took on a similar pose as his wife.

Though Gin seemed to want to say more, he paused his words as he looked at the two with an almost pleased grin on his features. "You two already seem like you've been married for years...but I guess that's what happens when you marry someone you've spent almost your whole life with, huh?" he asked rhetorically with his smile widening.

Yet as Toshiro raised his brow in question, Yoruichi just took on a smirk as she turned to her white-haired husband. "Indeed it is." she halfway whispered out as her expression turned to a smile.

The icy captain blinked to her for a brief moment before he cleared his throat and turned away. "A-Anyway...we're here." he said quickly as the cloud around them seemed to hover directly over the mansion in the middle of the forest.

But not long after they stopped, all three of them could see two figures moving through a long path leading up to the mansion itself. Them easily being identified as Ichigo and Ginjo, to which they both seemed a bit out of breath as though they had been running a long distance.

"Geez...does Tsukishima have to live so far away?" Yoruichi muttered with a raised brow and silent huff of fake exhaustion.

"What exactly did you tell all of them to get Ichigo-kun so worked up?" Gin asked with a rather amused tone upon mention the orange-haired teen.

Toshiro glanced over to him with slightly narrowed eyes before turning toward the two on the ground as they headed inside the mansion. "I created the usual 'kidnapped family members and friends' situation." the white-haired captain began as he stepped out of the cloud.

"Even though it's a bit cruel toward Kurosaki...it's simply convenient to have both our fail-safes in one place for when we need to accomplish our mission." he finished as the other two stepped out of the cloud as well.

"Hmm...I suppose that'll work as good as anything, but what did we need the cloud for?" Gin questioned as he turned his head to Toshiro and gesture to the cumulus behind them with his thumb.

"I already told you...even though Kurosaki isn't the best with sensing reiatsu, he can still be quite aware of his surroundings a lot of the time. And if we're seen, then this whole thing is over, so we simply need to stay out of sight." the icy captain explained with a sigh as to prove he had received that question more than once along the way.

"That makes sense...but you're a big time inventor, haven't you gotten some type of device to make us all invisible?" Yoruichi asked with a light pout.

This making Toshiro groan and roll his eyes in response; "No I haven't...but it doesn't mean I've tried." he muttered silently with a huff as though he didn't like talking about how many failed experiments he's had.

After noticing this tone in his voice, both Yoruichi and Gin smirked and chuckled lightly, to which the former winked at her husband. "Don't worry...you'll get it right one day." was all she said, her making her teasing very obvious.

But when Toshiro was about to respond, he shifted his gaze back to the mansion as part of the roof was blasted away. This caused the three to take a step back and into the cover of the cloud, them watching what was happening down below through the haze of the vapor.

-At ground level-

"Give Yuzu and Karin back!" Ichigo screamed out in anger as he sent a spinning circle of black and red reiatsu at Shukuro.

Said raven-haired man quickly moved out of the way of this attack, but he instantly vanished in a fast movement in order to escape Ginjo's slash from behind. But despite getting away from both of their assaults, Shukuro had to quickly block a stab from Ichigo. The orange-haired teen himself getting behind the Fullbringer almost the same instant he appeared, to which he also laced in his reiatsu into his swing. This causing Shukuro to be knocked back after guarding himself, yet he only went a few yards through the air before he was hit by a powerful slash from Ginjo. Despite the thin man bringing his blade over to block, the force was still enough to blast him to the side and into a tree.

"Ichigo! I'll get your family and the others out of here! Keep Tsukishima distracted!" Ginjo called out to the teen as he pushed off the air and went back inside the mansion.

The orange-haired teen merely nodded his head in response to the man, to which his eyes focused fully on Shukuro as he slowly walked out from behind the tree he hit. Upon seeing the Fullbringer nearly unscathed, Ichigo's eyes narrowed heavily before he lowered himself to the ground. But the second his feet touched the ground, Shukuro appeared to his side and swung his blade easily at the teen. Whom immediately ducked under the attack before sending his own slash at his opponent's chest, but it never landed as the Fullbringer grabbed his blade with his bare hand.

"Is this all you have?" Shukuro asked with a calm, yet mocking tone in his voice as he smirked lightly.

"Not even close!" Ichigo exclaimed as he instantly vanished and began using the same movement to create after-images of himself all around the raven-haired man.

Yet this didn't seem to faze Shukuro as he simply raised a brow in question, him shifting his gaze from side to side as if he were able to tell which of the after-images was his true target. This being confirmed the moment the real Ichigo had suddenly come up from behind him and swung his weapon down toward his head, but was quickly blocked by Shukuro's own blade.

"Looks like your speed didn't help you much...perhaps you should call Ginjo back out? You two seemed to fair better while teamed together." the black-haired man said as his smirk widened slightly as though he were amused at the teen.

This made Ichigo grind his teeth and narrow his eyes as he pushed against his enemy's katana; "Don't underestimate me." he growled out as a blue reiatsu seemed to surround his blade.

"I won't let myself be beaten by someone who threatened my family and friends!" the teen continued as he pushed Shukuro back with sheer strength before kicking him hard in the side.

The blow itself being increased from Ichigo's used Kangen Hikari to increase its speed and strength, to which the Fullbringer was blasted backward and back into the forest. Though he broke an entire tree in half from this attack, Shukuro had emerged from the thickets within a split second as he charged right back at Ichigo. Said teen quickly parrying the follow up thrust toward his chest that his opponent made, to which he went to punch Shukuro, but the raven-haired man was already gone.

"My my...you have certainly improved from the last time. But unfortunately you're still too weak to truly face me head on...I trained with Hitsugaya himself after all." Shukuro began with a small smirk as he appeared a few yards away, which made the teen's eyes widen.

"So no matter how good you've become with your Fullbring...I'll be able to defeat you no matter what." he continued as he kept walking forward.

"What do you mean Toshiro trained you?" Ichigo demanded as he briefly hesitated in bringing his blade out in front of him.

"Exactly that...he trained not only me...but Ginjo as well, and even most of the other members of the Xcution." Shukuro said with a raised brow.

"Don't tell me he never told you that Ginjo is actually the original Substitute Shinigami whom deflected from Soul Society." he continued, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen heavily and glance toward the mansion.

"He's only using you to ensure his revenge on Soul Society for doing what they did to him...and what they've been currently doing to you." the Fullbringer stated with a slightly wider smirk.

"You do remember receiving that badge to signify your title as a Substitute Shinigami, don't you?" Shukuro questioned with a slight tilt of his head as the teen looked down at the badge currently serving as his weapon's guard.

"That is one of Hitsugaya's own inventions...something of which he used to spy on both you and Ginjo in order to manipulate you. As a matter of fact...he was the one who originally formed the idea of a 'Substitute Shinigami'. Of course, it was Ukitake Jushiro who allowed the project to pass since they had collaborated about the whole thing for their own selfish gains." the raven-haired man continued on as he watched Ichigo's expression turn to one of pure shock.

"Meaning that they've both been controlling you ever since you left Soul Society the first time." Shukuro explained with a calm smirk on his features as he stopped in his steps.

"I-Impossible...how can that be? Then...that means..." the teen muttered out as he stared at the Fullbringer only a few feet away from him now.

"Yes...just about every fight you've ever been in since that first day has been monitored by those two. Hitsugaya used you to defeat enemies that he himself could dispose of in mere seconds...all to monitor and control your progression." the black-haired man stated as he took a few steps forward to shorten the gap between the two fighters.

"The Bount Invasion...was all a simple test for you that truly dictated whether or not you would be worthy of being the new Substitute Shinigami. The incident with the Kasumioji clan...simply to test your powers against opponents that could grown increasingly stronger. And even with the fight you had against the arrancar in Hueco Mundo...he specifically orders a certain espada to kill you, had he not?" Shukuro asked as he could tell the many realizations in the teen's mind were pushing him to his mental limit.

"The one you thought you could trust most has been using you and controlling you since the very beginning...and all you ever desired was to impress him. What dramatic irony." he said with a light chuckle at the end.

"Though...it would certainly make for a good twist in a book." he finished just as his eyes widened at the sight and pressure of Ichigo's reiatsu flair up to great heights.

"Shut up." was all Ichigo said as he brought his blade up into the air as black and red reiatsu surrounded it.

"Getsuga...Tensho!" the teen exclaimed as he swung his arms down to blast a huge arch of spirit energy toward a wide-eyed Shukuro.

This attack being a true Getsuga Tensho, yet it was instantly disbursed when a blade pierced into the teen's back. The weapon belonging to Ginjo as he looked down at the teen in almost pity, while Ichigo himself glanced back at the man with a shocked expression. But to his greater surprise, Toshiro was standing directly next to the Fullbringer; "I-It can't be..." was all Ichigo could muster out, his voice barely carrying through the late afternoon air.

* * *

Well...it's been a little while since I've had an author's note, but first off; Kangen Hikari is translated to Bringer Light, which is a Fullbringer's ability when they move very fast or even fly in the air. ;) It can be used in various ways, one of which I mentioned with Ichigo's attack. :) And lastly, I may or may not have to delay a few of my next chapters...I will still write them of course, but my great friend Tuli-chan, whom is truly amazing as she always finds time in her busy schedule to help edit my chapters ever since the beginning. So I've decided to work on her schedule for a while since she's in training for a new job right now and I don't want to add to her stress list. I love her too much for that...she is my very first and best cyber friend ever. ;D Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter...I know that the story seemed to start moving rather slowly ever since this arc started, but trust me...it's even slower in the manga and anime. =/ So just be patient for a bit longer and the final few chapters will be here quite soon. ^^ Till next time everyone~! Ja Ne~!


	169. Chapter 169

**Chapter 169:**

As Ichigo stood there with a shocked expression glued upon his features, he fell to his knees as they gave out under the pure mental strain that he was going through. Him questioning almost the last two years of his life as he stared at Toshiro, whom until that point he considered a friend. Yet now he wasn't so sure as Ginjo's blade was still pierced into his back by the icy captain's orders. The sword of which had tilted down from the weight of the teen dropping down, the raven-haired man having to bend his wrist slightly to compensate to this.

"W-Why?" was all Ichigo could manage out as he just stared at the two behind him.

"What do you mean? This was always the plan." Toshiro said, him raising a brow at the beginning as he crossed his arms.

Immediately following his words, Ichigo suddenly looked down at himself as his Fullbring was literally drained away from his body and into the sword imbedded in his back. This making his already widened eyes become even larger as he started to feel weaker and weaker with every passing second. To which by the time his powers were fully pulled away, Ginjo's now glowing blade was removed from his body.

Despite the sword embedding into the teen's skin quite deeply, after it had been removed, the wound itself healed almost instantly. Yet the loss of his powers also caused Ichigo's sight of Toshiro disappear and only leave Ginjo as he placed his weapon on his shoulder.

"Hmph...I didn't expect him to make such a pitiful expression." the raven-haired man muttered with a huff and raised brow.

"Nor me." Shukaku said as he walked right past the teen, whom turned his head around as he just stayed in place on the ground.

"Well I hope it's soon." Ginjo said silently, him sighing lightly as he was obviously responding to something Toshiro must have mentioned.

Yet Ichigo wasn't interested in this anymore as he just kneeled there in defeat; 'If Toshiro is really against me...what can I do? I could never compete with him before...how could I do it now?' he thought to himself.

But after a brief moment of nearly complete silence with only the gentle breeze blowing by producing any noise, Ichigo once again felt as though a blade pierced through him. Only this time it was through his chest and out through his back, to which he just tilted his had down and closed his eyes.

"I guess you must have gotten tired of me...huh, Toshiro?" he whispered out as he seemed to be accepting death.

"Baka...you should be able to see us right now." a familiar voice spoke out, which caused the teen to snap his head up and his eyes open.

There, directly in front of him was not just Rukia with a glowing blue blade in her hands, but also Senna and Nozomi on either side of her. The former of the three now had a lieutenant's badge on her left arm, plus fingerless white tekko that extended up to her elbows. Yet neither of the other two looked any different from the last time he saw them, something of which he hardly paid attention to as he was seeing them in their shinigami forms.

"Jeez...I didn't expect you to give up so easily...even if it is Captain Hitsugaya." Senna said with a raised brow and light pout.

"B-But...I...he..." was all Ichigo could manage out before glancing back at the white-haired captain, whom was looking away with a light sigh escaping his lips.

"You're just too gullible for your own good. Even if he did do all of what Tsukishima mentioned, you should have remembered that if he didn't let you go through everything you have...you would never have become so powerful in the past. Or as powerful as you will become now." Rukia stated with a huff and frown.

Though before the orange-haired teen could say anything back, a huge blast of reiatsu filled Ichigo's soul and instantly separated it from his body. Which had simply dropped to the ground with a faint thud as his soul was filled with a huge amount of spirit energy, this bringing his now restored shinigami form forward, but it was somewhat different from it ever had been before.

The red strap across his chest was now thicker and held more links holding together. He also had four black vertical lines on his forearms, along with similar colored tattoo-like bands crossing over his chest, wrists, and ankles. There was even a black armor-like collar that covered part of his neck, which had white ends and lay flat against his skin.

Lastly was his zanpakuto, the hilt was now a sliver color with black wrappings, and had a short chain at its base. The blade itself had become slightly reshaped, it now curving inwards at the backside of the tip, giving it a trench knife-type look. But it was the change of expression that most of the people around him noticed as Ichigo now had a very confident look on his features that everyone knew from before he lost his powers.

"Sorry." Ichigo said silently as he turned himself around to face Toshiro, whom looked to him with a raised brow.

"I actually doubted you just then." he continued as he stabbed his blade into the ground as it had previously been on his shoulder.

"I should have known better, but I let Tsukishima twist my image of you into something you weren't...so, I'm sorry." the teen finished as he looked directly into the icy captain's eyes.

Toshiro himself stared back at the teen for a few seconds before he waved an icy hand and shook his head. "It's quite alright...all of this went over very smoothly and your powers have returned." he said with a small smirk as Yoruichi appeared beside him.

After the icy captain said this, Ichigo merely gave him a light nod and smirk in response. But before he could say anything, Senna had suddenly jumped on his back and started pulling on his hair a bit. "You should be! You thought my brilliant Captain was evil! Even if he fits the part!" the purple-haired teen called out in a near whine.

"Oi!" Ichigo growled out as he tried to shake the teen off of him, but was smacked by Rukia with the side of the glowing katana in her hand.

"Quit complaining will you." was all the lieutenant said as she let out a huff.

"Hmph...some things never change." Nozomi muttered as she gave a small smirk to the scene.

All the while, Yoruichi simply chuckled to this before turning to her husband and whispering in his ear; "I can't sense any Quincy reiatsu coming from him." is all she said as she brought herself away from him slightly.

"Ah...and since it was growing at a specific rate before this, there shouldn't be enough reiatsu for Yhwack to bring himself back." Toshiro muttered back to her as he glanced over to her before back to the orange-haired teen.

Whom was now chasing Senna around in a circle as the purple-haired teen had taken in zanpakuto, to which he had managed to catch up to her with the help of Rukia tripping him. The teen's momentum increasing upon the lieutenant's actions and allowing him to knock his weapon from Senna's hand, but he also went tumbling to the ground with his blade in hand. Though as he let out a groan of both annoyance and a bit of pain, he stood himself up almost directly in front of Toshiro and Yoruichi with blinking eyes. But as he looked at the two for a moment, he tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion; "By the way..." he began as his brow raised slightly.

"...are you two married yet?" he finished as he pointed his right pointer figure from one to the other.

Yet while Toshiro groaned and sighed heavily in response to this, Yoruichi giggled to herself before nodding her head to the teen. "Indeed we are Ichigo...the Shihoin clan has become the Hitsugaya clan." the tan woman claimed with a grin.

The icy captain let out a sigh and rolled his eyes lightly; "Technically I've become 'Shihoin Toshiro' since the Four Great Noble clans don't change their name." he started with another, yet heavier sigh.

"But she insists on calling herself 'Hitsugaya Yoruichi'." he continued silently, him shifting his gaze to the side as said woman hugged him from behind.

"Because~...it sounds so much better~!" Yoruichi all but sang out as he grinning even wider, to which she winked to her husband and looked to the teen before them.

"Plus I've been secretly dreaming of everyone calling me that for a long time." she whispered with a teasing tone and smirk as Toshiro's cheeks flushed lightly.

Yet the icy captain quickly recovered and groaned silently, him closing his eyes as his left eyebrow twitched slightly. "Yoruichi..." he growled out in an annoyed tone, to which the area started to get rather cold.

This made everyone sweat drop as Yoruichi had shunpoed away laughing as the rest were backing away slowly to keep away from his wrath. But it was too late as a small blast of his reiatsu sent a cold chill through their bodies, to which they all took off running. All the while, Gin was still standing in the air with his usual grin upon his features as he let out a breath.

"Yare yare...I do hope that the others don't give him so much trouble." the silver-haired man muttered in amusement.

-Two hours later, at the Kurosaki clinic-

Toshiro was sitting with Yoruichi, Isshin and Masaki in the living room as the last rays of sun light were stretching their way through the windows of the room. Yet just as the remnants of the red-orange light faded away to make way for the night, the door opened and the familiar voice of Karin was heard.

"I'm home~!" she called out with a light sigh as though she were tired, which was proven correct as she came into the living room wearing her jersey for soccer.

But she didn't bother to tell anyone of how her practice of the sport had been as she knew something was up the moment she saw Toshiro sitting there waiting. Despite her parents also being seen, the raven-haired girl simply walked over to a free seat in front of the icy captain and Yoruichi before sitting down.

"So am I safe to assume 'that' is going to be done now?" Karin asked with a raised brow in question as she tilted her head slightly.

Though she only received a nod in response from Toshiro, she just let out a silent sigh as she shrugged her shoulders. "Well...even though I'll certainly miss being able to see spirits and shinigami, I guess if it's to save the world...I'll do it." she stated with a calm tone along with a small smirk at the end.

This made Isshin sniff lightly and wipe away a tear from his eye; "My baby girl is growing up so fast." he muttered silently, to which Karin just rolled her eyes.

All the while, Masaki had gulped down hard as she could feel her throat tightening from both sadness and pride for her daughter. Yoruichi simply smiled widely and nodded her head as though she knew exactly what Karin was going to say.

"She's definitely your child...and his younger sister." the tan-skinned woman whispered, yet it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Yet Toshiro was just staring at the young girl with a slightly raised brow before he simply gave a nod. "Alright...lets get this over with so we're not cutting it too close in terms of when Yhwack is meant to return." he said as he looked around to everyone as they returned his nod.

Immediately following his words, Kisuke came walking into the room with a cube-shaped device, which was silver and black in color. Though as they all looked to the blond shop owner, he had simply smiled lightly and placed the machine on top of the table in front of everyone.

"Alright...I finished the last remaining touches and it's now ready for use. It should be able to pull out just the right amount of quincy reiatsu from her without affecting her soul. And though it's a small possibility...it might also leave behind just enough for it to redevelop given enough time." Kisuke said with a light nod of his head, him giving his invention a light tap on the top.

As Isshin and Masaki gave short nods in response to his words, neither of them seemed to truly believe it fully as they didn't want to get their hopes up. Yet as Karin had stood herself up and looked to the device, she gave a small smirk and shrug of her shoulders.

"Well...so long as it helps keep that Yhwack away and doesn't turn me into some kind of weird monster, I don't care what else it does." she stated with a short nod, but then gave a suspicious glance to Kisuke as if asking if it would do something weird to her.

Whom had given her a small smirk of his own as if to assure her that everything would be fine, to which the raven-haired girl turned back to the device and let out a somewhat nervous breath. But Kisuke just smiled and pointed to a small hole in one of the sides of the cube as he spoke to her; "Just place your hand near of this and it'll be over in a few seconds." he instructed with short nod.

Though as the teen reached out, the front door was suddenly opened and Ichigo came running into the room as he seemed almost out of breath. The orange-haired teen was now back in his human body, but he had immediately blocked Karin from bringing her hand any further toward the machine.

"Hold on a second! Why are you guys doing this?!" Ichigo demanded, him obviously hearing about the whole plan.

This making Toshiro curse Gin in his mind as he knew the silver-haired man was the only other person that knew about his plan to do this here and now. But before anyone else could speak up, Karin had suddenly pushed her brother to the side a bit as she narrowed her eyes on him.

"They're not doing anything Ichi-Nii, I'm doing part to save the world...same as you." she stated with a shrug, her reaching her hand out once more so Ichigo couldn't argue any further.

Yet he didn't seem to want to comply as he shook his head quickly to her and spoke up once again; "I don't care! I already succeeded in what I was meant to do, so there isn't any reason for you to go through with this!" he declared as he stepped between his sister and the machine, this making her step back a bit as she tilted her head up to look at him.

"It's a fail-safe Ichi-Nii." Karin began as she placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I understand that you want to protect everyone, but knowing you and your power...it'll be unpredictable if everything worked out in the end. So I'm going to take my own steps in making sure that things work out, okay?" she continued with a quick huff.

Despite Ichigo wanting to keep insisting for her not to go through with it, he paused at the look in her eyes. It being the same one he, himself always held when he was determined to fight against even the smallest odds to save his friends and family. To which he simply stepped out of the way with a small nod, him looking around to everyone in the room as they remained silent the whole time.

Isshin just gave his son a small nodding smirk, this basically telling the teen he made the right choice since Karin was probably a single step away from forcing him to step aside. Masaki gave a similar look, only she still held worry for her daughter's safety for what was going to happen next. As there was a rare, but still possible chance of the device malfunctioning, then drain all of Karin's reiatsu and possibly her soul itself.

All the while, Yoruichi simply looked to Kisuke as the two shared a brief nod of their heads. Them appearing to know Ichigo would eventually accept what was going to happen, even if he had made a valiant effort by rushing all the way of there. Yet to the side of them was Toshiro, whom had never let his eyes drift away from Karin as he simply watched her step forward and place her hand to the small hole.

The second she had, a silent humming could be heard from the machine as it began to give off a faint white glow. Despite nothing happening physically, everyone could feel Karin's already faint reiatsu fade to nearly nothing. But as it did, the sight of Toshiro and even Yoruichi slowly vanished in the raven-haired girl's vision. This causing her to glance down briefly before looking to Kisuke, whom had given her a short nod and waved his hand slightly.

Karin took this as the sign to bring her hand away, yet her body felt rather weak so she was somewhat slow to move. Though after she had, the blond shop owner smirked to her with another nod; "Success." he began, him tilting his hat up slightly.

"Your Quincy powers have been removed to a safe point and will be able to regenerate at their normal rate." he continued as he glanced over to Toshiro as he smirked a bit wider.

Said white-haired captain let out a sigh of relief, to which he glanced to Karin and despite her not being able to see him anymore, he gave her a small smile. But once Yoruichi saw this, she giggled lightly and poked his side; "Don't be falling for another 'tomboy'." she teased with a wink.

Toshiro simply raised brow to her before letting out a huff; "Hmph...you're a different kind of 'tomboy' Yoruichi." he stated as Isshin, Kisuke and even Ichigo all nodded in agreement.

"How mean." the purple-haired woman said with a heavy pout, to which she glanced around at everyone.

All the while, Karin was looking to the others with a raised brow as she could tell she was missing something, but wasn't sure if she wanted to know. But despite the rather light atmosphere in the room, Toshiro's and Kisuke's thoughts were focused on one thing.

'Have we succeeded? Or were we too late?'


	170. Chapter 170

**Chapter 170:**

-The next morning, in Hueco Mundo-

A huge valley of hollows stood idly by under the crescent moon light of their world as they all kept their gaze up at the night sky. Directly in the center of this gathering however, Toshiro was with each of the former Espada. All of whom were glancing from one another to the never changing moon high above them as they all seemed to just wait.

"What time is it that this was supposed to happen?" Grimmjow muttered with a sigh as if he were hoping for something to occur.

"In exactly four minutes." was all Toshiro responded with as his own gaze was nearly fixed on the sky like many of the hollows around him.

"Well, how will we even know what world he'll emerge from if we're all here?" the blue-haired arrancar muttered with a raised brow as he kicked at the dirt in annoyance.

"That's why we set up the garganta over there." Tia began as she pointed over toward the strange portal off to the side.

"If he comes out in any other world, Yin will come through there to tell us if he is in Soul Society, or Yang will come through if he's in the World of the Living." she continued silently as she tilted her head up at the sky with narrowed eyes.

"The shinigami placed their own armies in both Soul Society and the World of the Living. So regardless of where or if he comes through, we'll know about it within at least thirty seconds since Yin and Yang will use their fullest speed to deliver the message." the blond finished, her shifting her eyes over toward Toshiro for a brief moment before back up at the moon.

"Okay...so how do we know that if he gets out, he'll be right here? There are millions of other places in Hueco Mundo he could come out." Grimmjow stated with a shrug as he cracked his neck to relieve the strain of looking up for so long.

"This area has the most reishi gathering closest to Las Noches...if he was going to invade, he would want to be as well prepared as possible." Coyote answered as he stretched out his arms and let out a tired groan.

"Fine...but this is seriously getting boring." the blue-haired espada muttered out as he sat down on the sand.

"Well...thanks to you, the wait is over." Toshiro began, to which everyone looked over to him with a questioning expression.

"It's officially nine in the morning." the icy captain stated as he and everyone looked up at the sky with a hard gaze.

But after nothing happening for five minutes, they then shifted their gaze over to the garganta with an almost expecting look. Yet for another three minutes, there was no one emerging through the dark portal, to which Toshiro let out a breath of relief and uncrossed his arms.

"It looks like we succeeded after all." the icy captain said silently with a short nod of satisfaction.

After his words, many of the arrancar let out their own sighs of solace, save for Grimmjow, whom simply let out a 'tch' noise. Said man having an expression of annoyance as he stood himself up; "Hmph...well this was a waste of time. You better have Kurosaki ready for our rematch or I'll just have to go get him myself." he declared in an aggravated tone as he started walking away.

"Well I'm glad that nothing is going to happen, but what exactly are we going to tell all of these hollows? They only cooperated with us because we promised a war between us and the Quincy." Coyote whispered as he glanced around to all of the hollows looking around at one another.

"Well for now...just tell them we're on standby. Don't say that the fight won't happen since they'll probably start one with us or between themselves." Toshiro said silently as he shunpoed away.

Though while Coyote stayed behind to relay the icy captain's message, Tia had followed after him along with a silent Ulquiorra. But after Toshiro had stopped in front of the garganta he placed, he glanced back to the pair with him.

"Make sure that everything stays quiet over here, I want to try and avoid a large scale fight between all the hollows we've gathered. And if I'm not back in ten minutes...send everything you've got to Soul Society" he said in a serious tone along with a short nod at the two before walking through the dark portal.

Yet while he calmly walked through the dark dimension, he let out a silent breath and gave a small smirk. "It shouldn't come to that...cause it really looks like we did make it just in time." he muttered to himself silently as it took him only two minutes to reach his destination.

But as he came out of the darkness of the garganta and into the shining sun in Soul Society, his smile instantly faded and turned to an expression of horror. What lay before him was complete detestation, destroyed buildings, scorched roads and rubble, plus an immense heat that quickly started to melt the ice on his body. Despite some of it remaining, the ice itself was far thinner than usual and was also letting off a silent hissing sound as it continuously melted and froze.

"Zanka no Tachi..." was all the white-haired captain could whisper, him being one of the very few to have felt the Head Captain's Bankai before.

Though immediately after muttering this, he quickly looked to the sky and saw a huge fiery portal that showed Hell's open gate on the other side. All the while, millions upon billions of dark souls poured out of the large doors, along with the Kushanada still trying to catch them. Yet it was the lone figure standing in the middle of the air with a large grin on his features that caught the white-haired captain's attention.

Yhwack glanced down toward Toshiro with slight tilt of his head, him barely even seeming to care about the Head Captain as said elder man had appeared behind him. But just as Yamamoto slashed at the Quincy, said raven-haired man just vanished from sight without a single scratch. Though this didn't account for everything within a hundred yards of the Head Captain's swing as it was all reduced to literally nothing.

Despite missing in his attack, Yamamoto had simply vanished once more as he gave chase to the Quincy whom was single-handedly responsible for destroying so much of the Seireitei. But Toshiro's mind wasn't totally focused on fighting just yet, him still attempting to try and figure out how it could have happened.

'I was sure nothing went wrong in the process for both Kurosaki and Karin, so how is it that he is here. Though I accounted for him to appear, I still don't understand how...or why it didn't happen at the set time it was meant to.' Toshiro thought to himself as he tilted his head down slightly, multiple blasts of heat hitting him as the two leaders of the opposite race continued to battle.

'Ryuken said that it would happen at the ninth hour, of the ninth day when Yhwack was supposed to take the world for his own.' he continued, him briefly closing his eyes.

"A bit confused are we?" Yhwach asked as he was suddenly behind the icy captain, yet they both had their backs to one another.

"About a few different things as a matter of fact." the icy captain began coldly as he glanced to the side as if catch a glimpse of the Quincy he was speaking toward.

"First...why is it that you came here late? From what I can tell in looking at everything you've done here, it was made a mere minute before I arrived." Toshiro questioned as his head shifted forward once more.

"Hmph...well I assume that you were told by another Quincy about the 'Ninth hour'. But unfortunately...there was just a little extra to it that I've kept to myself to give myself a small window of time of when you would have dropped your guard." Yhwack stated with his smirk remaining constant as though he had already won the war.

"Nine minutes..." Toshiro whispered in a great amount of annoyance as if he should have prepared for such a thing as it was so simple, yet extremely important.

"Exactly...and as for the other question I'm sure you'll ask, about 'how I managed to come here in the first place'?" the raven-haired man began, both him and Toshiro not seeming to care about the fact that the area around them was becoming hotter and hotter.

"Kurosaki Ichigo's powers in general are extremely unpredictable, so I'm sure even you knew his Quincy side wouldn't stay contained for long. I've been watching a number of memories here in Hell, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem. Although, Kurosaki Karin was quite essential to my plan...and it nearly broke my heart when I felt her Quincy powers all but vanish." Yhwack continued as his smirk had stayed constant on his face.

But after his words, the two glanced over to the side as they saw the source of all the heat around them. Yamamoto was slowly making his way toward them with a huge, roaring fire surrounding him like a shinigami's shihakusho. Though due to his slow speed, it was obvious he was actually allowing the two to speak before killing the Quincy and possibly Toshiro along with him if he didn't get out of the way.

"Tch, I suppose I'll just have to give you a short version since it seems our talk has to end." Yhwack said with a light sigh and small smirk.

"Didn't you ever find it strange that for the last few days...Kurosaki Yuzu seemed to be looking more directly at you?" he continued as his smirk developed into a grin as Toshiro's eyes widened.

Yet the Quincy's verbal victory was shortened as he quickly had to dodge away from the Head Captain's next attack which once again, reduced everything to nothing. Though while Toshiro had to also shunpo away, Yhwack still managed to get behind him with a quick slash of his own blade. To which the icy captain immediately ducked under the attack and glanced back at his opponent with a glare.

'He knows he has a better chance of surviving longer if he stays close to me. He thinks that the Head Captain will hesitate just long enough in striking him if I'm in the way.' Toshiro thought quickly before he shunpoed away once more, only to be followed by Yhwack.

"If that's how you wanna play it." the white-haired captain muttered under his breath before he spun himself around and unsheathed both his blades at the same time.

"Hmph...using Bankai, are we?" the Quincy questioned as he once again appeared behind Toshiro, his tone sounding as though something was going according to a plan of his.

"Not quite." the icy captain began as he took on a small smirk of his own before holding out the katana in his left hand; "Sekai o Toketsu, Kyoguren Hyorinmaru: Kori Getsuryu."

Immediately following his Resurreccion's release, a large blast of reiatsu pushed Yhwack backward and almost right into the blade of Yamamoto. Despite getting away at the last second, the Head Captain still pursued the Quincy quickly. Whom of which seemed to become bored with his game of chase with the elder man as he suddenly halted in the air and readied his weapon.

"Well now...this was a bit unexpected." Yhwack said as he glanced between the Head Captain and a more hollow-like Toshiro as he emerged from the white reiatsu in his resurreccion form.

"I had hoped for you to use Bankai so that I could fight against Yamamoto more easily, but since your Resurreccion is more controlled thanks to you being more of an arrancar...it looks like I'll be asking for a bit of 'assistance'." he continued, his small smirk reforming on his features as he glanced around at all of the shinigami down below as they fought off most of the dark souls from Hell.

But most of this was for naught as the Kushanada would nearly crush them in order to get to the escaping prisoners. Yet even these large guardians of Hell were quickly dealt with by the sudden appearance of both the Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei 13 along with the elites of the Quincy army. Though quickly after the two sides had dealt with the Kushanada, they quickly found themselves facing one another.

Soifon had found herself up against Bambietta in the Second Division, though while the former had a fully serious expression, the latter was giving a light smirk at the shorter woman. Shunsui just let out a breath as he looked to his opponent from under hit hat, it being a widely grinning Bazz-B as he burned down the arch leading into the Eighth. Kensei huffed silently and crossed his arms as he watched Askin walked through the Ninth Division gates, said Quincy coming closer to him with a confident smirk on his features. Byakuya appeared at the top of his office before shifting his gaze to the side and narrowed his eyes on Äs, whom had come up near of him a very menacing aura around his body. All the while, Gin was just grinning widely at the stern and very serious Cang Du as said Quincy seemed almost annoyed to be facing the silver-haired shinigami.

"Well this is no fun." Gin began with a light sigh and shrug of his shoulders; "Why do I get stuck with a serious one?" he said with his smile briefly turning into a frown.

"And why do I get stuck with a creepy one?" Cang Du muttered to himself silently with a shake of his head as he glanced to the side as if hoping someone would switch opponents with him.

But far off in the Third Division, Rojuro was facing a tall man with dark skin, long black hair, which was arranged into five fanned-out spikes. He also had unusual teeth that alternated between black and white across his gum line. The rest of his face was covered by a smooth mask that had a reflective surface that didn't allow anything or anyone to see through it. His attire was a variation of the usual Quincy uniform, though he had the right side of his hooded-cloak bunched atop his shoulder. Despite having a small shirt beneath this, his abdomen and rather thin arms were still left bare. Aside from all this, he also had a ring on each of his fingers, a bracelet on either wrist along with a pair of white, high-waist pants and boots. This Quincy's name was NaNaNa Najahkoop, and he just seemed to be staring at the shinigami with a blank expression. Or at least as blank as what Rojuro himself could see.

"How am I even supposed to know what he's even thinking? What a poor melody this is." the visored whispered with a light sigh as the Quincy still remained fully still and silent.

"Very poor indeed." Rojuro continued with a heavy sigh and readied himself to fight.

Though off in the Fifth Division, Shinji raised a brow in response to his enemy, it being a tall individual who wore a helmet that concealed its entire head and its single glowing eye. At its front, the helmet itself had a peak at the center with two slits on either side for it to see out of. This being also had a white, high collar cloak, under of which it had many extendable, tendril-like appendages. It had a broad upper torso and wore armor plating on its shoulders, upper back and torso, along with its forearms and hips. Their name was BG9, it appearing to be some kind of android or cyborg due to its lack of humanistic features.

"I...um...I don't even know where to begin." was all Shinji could think to say as he groaned and rubbed the side of his head.

"If Hiyori were here...I bet she would have some insults to throw at this guy...thing...whatever it is." he muttered out with a light sweat drop, BG9 just narrowing its glowing and only visible eye.

Nearly on the opposite side of the Seireitei at the Eleventh was Kenpachi, whom was all but ignoring his opponent as they continued on about 'justice'. This person being a very large and muscular man, whom had a luchador mask along with the usual Quincy uniform. Though the mask itself covered most of his head and face, his chin, mustache and nose were exposed to allow him to breath. The cloth had a star pattern upon the forehead and thick markings around the eyes, nose and cheeks. He also seemed to have a wrestler champion's belt with a large round buckle rather than the standard one worn by the rest of the Quincy, yet it still held the same insignia. This man's name was Mask De Masculine and he was a self proclaimed 'hero of justice'.

"Tch! Why do I have to get such a loud mouthed one?" the eye-patch wearing shinigami muttered to himself in annoyance, him looking to the side as he saw Yachiru chasing around the short man who had arrived with the Quincy.

"Oi! Tell that brat of yours to leave my fan alone!" Mask called out as he pointed a finger at the pink-haired girl after she had knocked the short man down.

"Huh~? Why should I? She ain't hurtin' no one, so just shut up and deal with it!" Kenpachi countered as he brought his blade away from his shoulder.

"How dare you! I will punish you villain! And then teach your brat some manners of how to behave in front of a hero of justice~!" Mask called out as he brought a fist up as if to claim victory already.

"What a bore." was all Kenpachi said as he rolled his visible eye and glared at the Quincy; "And don't you even think of calling her a 'brat' again."

All the while, near of the Thirteenth Division, Kaien tilted his head to the side with a slightly raised brow as he looked at the Quincy in front of him in a bit of confusion. Before him was a slender man with blond, and rather well cropped hair. But it was the strange, leopard-like markings on the right side of his face that made the lieutenant give his expression. Though the Quincy wore full-framed glasses, they did little to hide the spots that were clearly distracting his opponent. The man's attire was the same as most of the other Quincy, yet he also had a leopard print shirt along with a calf-length trench coat beneath the hooded cloak. Shaz Domino was his name; "And apparently fashion is not his game." the raven-haired shinigami muttered silently with a sweat drop.

"What was that?" Shaz demanded with a near growl as Kaien just cleared his throat lightly and shook his head in response.

"Oh nothing." the raven-haired shinigami began, to which he then muttered a quick after thought to himself; "Just that you look like an idiot with tattoos like that."

Jushiro was only a few dozen yards away from his first lieutenant, but his focus was fully on the strange man a mere three yards away. This Quincy's head was largely shaved, with a crop of black hair on top that was styled to the right side of his face. He had round spectacles, a variant of the typical uniform with white trousers, black boots and a white top fastened by a black belt with decorative buckle. He also had a short white cape and a white hat with a black peak that covered any chance of seeing his eyes. The man's name was Quilge Opie, and he held a small smile on his features despite facing against the well known Jushiro.

"I hope all that time at those falls will pay off." the white-haired man whispered silently as he unsheathed his katana and immediately released it into Shikai state without even calling out his command.

Once again, not far away from this was another Quincy against the other lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division. This enemy however was a man of enormous proportions, him being far larger and more muscular than any of his comrades. Though along with a dark complexion, he had very light-colored hair that was arranged into cornrows. He seemed to exhibit an almost ape-like appearance, due to him having greatly pronounced upper-canines, sharpened fingernails, and patches of dark hair along his forearms and fingers. His attire was the same as the rest of the Quincy, only his were made to fit his large size as to not rip from his slightest of movements. This man's name was Jerome Guizbatt, and he was not only fighting Rukia, but also Renji and even Shuhei.

"Talk about an animal." Renji said silently with a raised brow and light sweat drop, to which both Rukia and Shuhei looked at him with a sweat drop.

"You're not one to talk...half your zanpakuto is based on an ape." Rukia muttered with her own slightly raised brow.

"Shut up! At least I don't look like one while I use its power!" the red head called out in his defense.

"Actually...you kinda do with that green fur jacket you get for your Bankai." Shuhei added as he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Both of you shut up!" Renji yelled as he shifted his annoyed gaze at them both.

But far off from this scene, near of the what remained of the First Division was a broad, towering male, standing at almost twice the height of the average shinigami. He had dark hair that extended downward along with a chin-strap beard that was easily three inches thick. His clothes were made up of the usual uniform, though his calf-length trench coat was tied at the waist by a black belt. Which had a length of chain on either side attached to a single ring at the back. His name was Driscoll Berci, and he was raising a brow at the three people in front of him with crossed arms, Ashido, Mashiro and Chojiro.

"Try not to get in my way." Ashido said silently, this prompting Mashiro to come up close to him as she placed her hand to her ear.

"Huh? Sorry I can't hear you if you whisper!" she called out loudly, as the red-haired shinigami just looked to her with a raised brow before shaking his head.

"Never mind." he said, but received another nudge from Mashiro as she took on a deep pout.

"I still can't hear you~! Speak up~!" she all but whined out as Chojiro was behind them with his zanpakuto out, but was hardly even seen.

"I'm being ignored again." the white-haired lieutenant said silently as he hung his head down as though he were defeated.

Just outside the Twelfth however, Mayuri took a short glance to the side as he seemed to be annoyed with the enemy he was facing, him not liking at all of what he was seeing. The Quincy was a tall and rather slender individual with his head being completely bald, with a third eye seemingly tattooed at the center of his forehead. Each of his ears was encased by a circular, headphone-like covering which seemed to be surrounded by a dark-colored trim. His attire was the ordinary white uniform of a Quincy, but it did not remain that way for long as he slowly transformed into the shinigami in front of him. Which had seemed to spark a high interest within the scientist as he took on a wide grin at the Quincy named, Loyd Lloyd.

"How very interesting...so you can copy any opponent you come across? I shall enjoy dissecting you." the shinigami scientist said with his grin becoming even larger as his 'copy' had finished his transformation.

"We'll see about that." Loyd said in the exact same voice as Mayuri's, which only seemed to spur the Captain's interest even further.

Despite Komomura facing against a similar opponent in his own division, the Quincy seemed to have already transforming himself into his enemy. Though his name was Royd Lloyd, he now appeared to be an exact copy of the anamorphic wolf. This seeming to spark a bit of a primal instinct within them both as they immediately started glaring and growling loudly at one another.

Yet all the while, Jugram simply stood near a demolished building as he slowly glanced to the side with narrowed eyes as he saw his own opponent.

"I hope you'll be a better challenge than what you gave to my captain." Rangiku said with a small smirk as she took her hands away from her hips.

As Toshiro glanced to the side and noticed all of this, he turned back to Yhwack with a small smirk. "It doesn't look like any of them are going to be able to help you this time." he stated as both he and Yamamoto took a step forward.

Yet they both paused and narrowed their gaze as the Quincy seemed to just laugh lightly; "Oh? You thought I meant making it an even two-on-two?" Yhwack began as he took on a wide grin.

"Not likely. I have gained more than enough power to kill you both at once...after all..." he continued as his grin turned to a darker one.

"...who ever said I could only use Auswählen once?" the Quincy finished, causing both Toshiro's and Yamamoto's eyes to widen as the pair rushed at him instantly.

But despite them both reaching him before he could even contemplate the thought process to blink, a gigantic wave of spirit energy knocked them both back. As this happened, Toshiro saw all the billions of dark souls from Hell falling to the ground one by one.

'Damn it! He gave his powers to every soul in Hell he could find! His powers will be next to limitless now!' both Toshiro and the Head Captain thought in near unison as they weren't able to approach Yhwack from the sheer strength of the reiatsu surrounding his body.

"Now then..." Yhwack began from within the overwhelming spirit energy; "...let's begin shall we?" he finished before Yamamoto was suddenly blasted backward before either of them could react.

This caused Toshiro's eyes to widen in shock before turning his gave to the side, only to come face-to-face with Yhwack. Whom of which he wasn't able to look at for long as he was suddenly knocked back with great force. So much, that all the air in Toshiro's lungs was sucked out and half of his resurreccion shattered away as he slammed into the ground.

"I do hope you're ready for the end of the world." the Quincy said in amusement as he smirked widely at the two nearly crippled fighters on the ground below him.


	171. Chapter 171

**Chapter 171:**

-Ukitake vs Opie-

As the white-haired captain stared at his adversary, his grip upon his weapons tightened a bit and his eyes narrowed. This simply made the quincy give a small smirk in response as he brought an arm out to the side as if welcoming him.

"It's an honor to be fighting against one of the oldest and strongest captains. I'd normally be stuck on the sidelines with the recruits or such, but now I truly get to show my worth." Quilge stated as he brought his arm back in order to fix his small glasses with two of his fingers.

"Thank you very much. I hope that I make this fight good enough to not disappoint you or your higher-ups." Jushiro responded with a small smirk, yet his tone lacked his usual softness as he narrowed his eyes further.

"Oh? Well I'm certainly glad to hear it...so try not to die too quickly." the raven-haired man said silently before he suddenly appeared before his opponent with his spirit sword already drawn.

Yet just as he did, a sudden blast came right at the quincy, which emanated from Jushiro's left blade. This caused his eyes to widen from behind his glasses before he used hirenkyaku evade this attack, to which he appeared to the side. But after doing so, his eyes narrowed heavily as he could barely register Jushiro's movements of shunpoing to the other end of his previous attack before shooting it right back at Quilge.

Said quincy barely moved out of the way of this, though thanks to him before near of a pillar that was still standing, the blast simply destroyed the structure. Which had given the raven-haired man enough time to examine Jushiro, whom was just standing right where he had been for his recent attack.

"Now I see. How interesting...you certainly came prepared for this fight." Quilge began as he took on a small smirk once more.

"You shot a kido spell through your first blade and concealed it within your charms so that you would be able to surprise your opponent when they came to attack. I never knew you were able to do such a thing." he continued with a slightly raised brow.

All the while, Jushiro just gave a light smile and shrug of his shoulders; "Well...I wasn't originally, but after so long of perfecting it, I was able to achieve my goal." he stated, yet his tone made it sound as though he was referring to far more than just the technique he just used.

Something of which, Quilge had caught on to, which made his brow raise a bit higher in question. "Is that so? And what goal was it you were trying to achieve?" he asked silently.

Yet even before the shinigami could answer, the quincy had almost instantly appeared to the side of him with his blade slashing toward his neck. But Jushiro seemed to easily tilt his head to the side to avoid this before spinning around with his hands pointed toward his enemy. Though his middle finger and thumb were holding his twin blades in place, the rest of his fingers were out stretched and in a 'V' formation with his wrist placed together.

"Hado no. 63 Raikoho!" Jushiro called out quickly as he stopped his spin just as he fully faced Quilge.

Whom became wide eyed at this sudden attack, yet he quickly used hirenkyaku to escape and place some distance between the two. The quincy knowing that the shinigami's next attack would be to absorb his own kido, only to blast it at the raven-haired man with twice the speed. But just as he jumped backward, his eyes widened all over again as Jushiro was suddenly to his side and slashed him across his shoulder.

This attack knocking the quincy off his balance and causing him to tumble slightly before regaining his balance. Though upon doing so, he immediately blocked another slash heading toward his back, him shooting a glare at the shinigami as he did.

"I certainly wasn't expecting that...I actually felt that one." Quilge growled out in annoyance as he pushed Jushiro back when he spun around, him using the force of this action to accomplish this.

"I guess I can't afford to take it easy against you. I'll simply have to go all out from the start." he continued as his tone showed his frustration.

Yet Jushiro just remained silent as he actually seemed to wait for the quincy, whom sent the shinigami another glare. Though despite his expression, the white-haired captain remained perfectly still and calm, even as a great amount of reiatsu gathered around the quincy before him.

"Let me show you the power of my Quincy: Letzt Stil. Or better known as my Quincy Vollständig...Biskiel." he stated, him bringing up his right hand and removing the white glove on it.

This briefly revealed a more solid black glove that held white marking upon it along with the quincy cross in the center. But soon after his hand itself began to glow, an enormous pillar of reiatsu blasted out of him, the top even forming a quincy cross in the process. Though after the spirit energy died down, Quilge emerged from it with a fully transformed appearance, yet with the same wide grin on his features.

The quincy had gained various accessories made of pure white reishi, which had included angelic wings, boots, gauntlets on both wrists, a large holster across his chest and a halo shaped like a quincy cross. But along with all this, his own sword now seemed to be almost merged with his right hand as he brought it out to point the tip at Jushiro.

"Now it's time to end this. But be grateful that you'll look upon me in this form before you die." Quilge said silently, yet with great confidence as he suddenly stood next to the shinigami in the same instant he finished.

Though as he thrust his sword at Jushiro, said captain had side stepped to the side and sent an elbow directly into the quincy's face. This shocked Quilge greatly as he was knocked back a few yards, plus his glasses completely shattering upon impact. To which as he regained his footing and looked at the shinigami with his strangely ringed eyes, he took on a small smirk.

"I see...you knew that if I stayed in close to you, the only way you could counter my attacks would be to resort to close-ranged style of fighting. But unfortunately for you, I have also been trained in hakuda as well...so you still don't have much chance." Quilge stated as he used hirenkyaku once again to get in close to Jushiro.

Whom just remained calm and silent the whole time as he just stared at the quincy with a neutral expression. But the second he appeared near of him, the white-haired captain had suddenly tossed his blades into the air. This made Quilge's next slashing attack momentarily be delayed, yet it was all Jushiro needed to spin around the blade and send a few expert snake-like blows to his arm.

The second the shinigami made his fourth blow near Quilge's shoulder to paralyze the whole limb, he swept the quincy's legs, caught his falling weapons over his head and sliced the reishi wings clear off. Which caused the raven-haired man's eyes to widen in shock, him finally realizing how outclassed he really was. But he didn't even have time to fall to the ground before he was impaled upon one of Jushiro's blades as he stabbed it upward.

"I apologize for being short with you...but I have to help my lieutenants." was all the white-haired captain said as he brought his free blade up to be pointed at Quilge's face.

Upon doing this, the quincy felt much of his reiatsu leaving his body, this causing his eyes to widen as he saw how a stream of blue traveled through each of the charms on his zanpakuto. Jushiro immediately using this spirit energy to blast directly into the quincy's head, effectively disintegrating it before the quincy could so much as speak.

Yet after doing this, Jushiro pulled his other blade free of the dead man's body before bowing slightly. "I'm truly sorry. But I think my sensei for hakuda was far superior." he whispered before vanishing in a shunpo.

-Kaien vs Shaz-

"So...um...what's with the tattoos?" the raven-haired shinigami questioned with a light sweat drop, him just standing there with his released zanpakuto as he quickly dodged away from a group of large black knives.

"Tch...as if I would bother to tell a lowly lieutenant such as yourself." Shaz stated with a small smirk on his features as he appeared above Kaien and threw another set of his weapons.

Though the shinigami managed to jump away from this attack, he tripped a bit on nearby rubble and landed on the ground. This giving no other option than to just roll away from the knives coming right for him one after another. But even as he did this, the blades themselves either managed to cut him a bit, or miss him by mere hairs.

Yet it was for naught as by the time Kaien had pushed himself off the ground and into a fighting position once more, Shaz was already behind him. To which the shinigami immediately swung his trident around to try and catch his opponent off guard, but said quincy was no long there. But Kaien quickly found out where he went as a black knife pierced through his shoulder and made his arm so weak it couldn't hold his weapon.

"But since you're going to die...there isn't too much harm in it." Shaz said with a small shrug as could tell Kaien wouldn't be able to win no matter what with only one arm at his disposal.

Said raven-haired shinigami switched his trident to his other arm and narrowed his eyes heavily on the quincy. 'Damn...I guess I shouldn't have made any assumptions about how he would fight against me.' Kaien thought in his mind.

Though as his opponent took a few steps closer to him, the shinigami's gaze briefly shifted to the side, which made him blink a few times before smirking lightly. Yet this went unnoticed by the quincy as he had adjusted his large glasses on his face, him having a smirk on his face the whole time.

"You see this is-" Shaz began, but was cut off as Kaien had suddenly created a torrent of water around him before turning it to a thick mist.

This made the quincy raise a brow in question before chuckling lightly; "Fool...Quincy are far superior to any other being when it comes to sensing reiatsu. You cannot hide from me." Shaz stated as he looked up, him able to sense Kaien flying up into the air.

But the tattooed man never bothered to move as he just stared at the spot he knew his enemy had gone to; "If you're not going to run, then at least try to attack me! It'll be quite shameful of you to not even use a single attack!" he called out, him bringing out a set of knives from his coat pockets.

No sooner had he spoken his words a large wave of water came crashing down at Shaz, whom only saw a dark shadow through the mist. "Pathetic." was all he muttered before throwing a few of his blade at the water.

This slicing the water away from him in the shape of a quincy cross, which just made Shaz gain a slightly wider smirk. "I do hope that wasn't the best you had." he said as the water fell around him and cleared away the mist.

"Unfortunately...it kinda was." Kaien said with a sheepish smirk as he just shrugged his shoulders, despite the knife still being embedded in his right one.

"How unfortunate." the quincy said with a sigh, him briefly closing his eyes, which didn't allow him to notice the purple colored gas that was surrounding him.

But he soon did after opening his eyes, which became wide as he quickly jumped up and away from the gas. "What th-" was all he managed out before he began coughing out blood.

"Sorry...but since I obviously wouldn't have been able to beat you, I figured I'd let someone else do it for me." Kaien said as he gestured to the scene that he spotted and smirked at before.

As Shaz turned, he saw Mayuri's Bankai attacking what seemed to be another Mayuri, to which he then looked to the mist and ground his teeth. "I can't be defeated by something like this!" he growled out, him glaring up toward Kaien as he was still higher in the sky than the quincy.

"I figured that...but I also counted on the fact that you wouldn't give up. And if you knew anything about Captain Kurotsuchi's poisons, you'd know that the more you struggle...the more it'll effect you." the shinigami said as he pointed his trident to the last remnants of the mist he made.

"Which is why you were getting a double dose of it while inside my fog...so...again...sorry." he finished as Shaz completely dropped out of the air and fell to the ground paralyzed.

"Tch! Don't think you've won. I can still move my body through another means." the quincy muttered as a bright, string-like reiatsu started to form around his limbs and head, it looking like he were a puppet.

"Ransotengai!" Shaz called out as his body picked itself up without his muscles even having to move.

This made Kaien blink his eyes in shock, but then he actually took on a small smirk as he looked down at the quincy. "Now that looks tight." he complimented with a silent chuckle.

"But..." the raven-haired lieutenant continued before he blasted a torrent of water down at Shaz, whom forced his body to throw a series of knives and jump into the air toward Kaien.

Yet the shinigami had dodged away from the blades and narrowed his eyes on the quincy as he came closer to him at a great speed. But just as Shaz reached Kaien, he was stabbed through the chest by said lieutenant's trident. Which caused the quincy's eyes to widen as the reiatsu around his limbs disappeared and he went limp on the weapon.

"The brain can only process so much...especially if you have to force your body to do something at the same time. I could tell from those knives you threw just how much your strength and speed decreased." Kaien began with a silent breath.

"Even a lowly lieutenant like me could have finished you off." he concluded before pulling his trident away and let Shaz's body fall back to the ground dead.

"Well that was certainly a time and a half." Kaien said to himself before he started to fly away from the neighboring Twelfth Division.

Despite the two Mayuris moving away from him, the lingering gas was coming closer to him. "I guess I should check to see if Captain Ukitake and Rukia are finished with their fights yet." he said silently before vanishing in a shunpo.

-Mayuri vs Loyd-

"Hmph...and here I thought you would be worth dissecting! You're not able to use my Bankai or even my Shikai!" the true captain of the twelfth called out as his baby-faced monster charged toward the imposter.

Whom of which jumped away from this attack and landed easily off to the side, him gaining a wide grin and he shrugged his shoulders. "Even so...you'll tire yourself out eventually and then I'll just strike you when your down." Loyd stated in the same voice as the opponent he copied.

"What a cowardly strategy...but I guess I can't expect much from a Quincy!" Mayuri yelled as he slashed his blade forward, which once again sent his Bankai creature toward his enemy.

Yet once again, the false shinigami jumped away from the attack as his grin widened a bit. "Call it what you will...but by becoming you, I have just as much reiatsu. So judging by how much you're using to attack, and how much I am in dodging...you'll never win." Loyd said as he shunpoed to the side of Mayuri and immediately blocked a slashing blade aimed at his chest.

"Especially since your poison can't affect me anymore with my transformation." he continued before parrying the captain's zanpakuto away and jumping backward enough to dodge the Bankai crashing its body into the ground where he had been standing.

"Is that so? Well then...I'm glad I created this then." Mayuri said as he held up a vile of a strange yellow liquid.

"And what would that be?" Loyd questioned as he kept moving away from the relentless attacks of the shinigami's summoned creature.

"A special creation I made just this morning to counter any effects in case I became brainwashed." the scientist explained as he raised the vile up a bit higher as if to look at the liquid through the fires of Hell raging up in the sky.

"Of course...that implies this serum would basically kill me, since I'd rather die than be under someone else's control. So I do hope you enjoy melting apart...molecule by molecule." Mayuri finished with a large grin on his face.

"Hmm, quite the interesting invention you have there...so you intend to use that on me, do you? Well good luck trying to catch me to do so!" Loyd called as he shunpoed away and far off to the left.

"Oh but you see...I don't have worry about catching you since it's only meant to infect me. Which means that I can just spread it like a gas all across Seireitei and it'll catch you...no matter where you go." the captain said as he brought out a syringe and filled it with the liquid he held in his other hand.

Though immediately after his words, Loyd came rushing back, yet Mayuri didn't seem to pay any attention to him as he tested the syringe by spraying a tiny amount of the liquid from it. But just as the false captain came up to stab him with his blade, the shinigami simply grinned and allowed his Bankai to catch his opponent by the arm. This made the quincy's eyes widen before he simply sliced his arm off and shunpoed away from Mayuri.

"Oh~? You sacrificed your own limb in order to prevent me defeating you? How truly noble...but all for naught." the blue-haired captain said as he brought up his now empty syringe, which made the fake's eyes widen once more.

"I didn't need to inject you with this...just him." Mayuri continued as he point to his Bankai as the usual purple gas coming out of its mouth was yellow.

After seeing this, the quincy ground his teeth and started to return back to his original form. "You can't kill me with that if I'm not transformed into your body!" Loyd called out, but his expression turned to one of shock as a golden blade pierce out through his chest.

"Fool...did you really think I would have that serum with me, even if I had made such a thing?" was all the captain said as he pulled his blade out of the shocked quincy's back before decapitating him.

"Hmph...at least you'll make a good specimen for my next experiment." he muttered to himself with a wider grin.

But he then looked over to the side with a slightly raised brow, him noticing Jushiro being joined by Kaien and a few other shinigami that had won their respective battles. All of them looking on with shocked expressions as they saw the Head Captain himself being sent hard into the ground from a blow by Yhwack, yet he didn't rise up again or even opened his eyes to keep his consciousness. This had caused even Mayuri to be rather shocked, though he soon shifted his gaze toward the garganta that lead into Hueco Mundo as multiple figures came rushing through.


	172. Chapter 172

**Chapter 172:**

-Zaraki vs Masculine-

As the spiky-haired captain let out a breath, he deflected yet another one of Mask's punches that seemed boringly slow for him. But while he appeared to be lacking interest in the fight, the quincy was fully into it as he continued his monologues about justice and heroes the entire time he attacked. This making Kenpachi more and more agitated, him expecting a better fight from Mask after all of his insults and talk.

"What a bore...if you're not gonna get serious then I should just leave you to someone else." the raven-haired man said as he side-stepped away from a drop kick.

Though while Mask tumbled to the ground after his failed attempt, he jumped right back up and dusted himself off. "HA! I expected such profound words from a villain such as yourself! But you need not worry about having a good fight, as once I become serious about defeating you once and for all...you won't stand a chance!" he declared before rushing at Kenpachi with and arm outstretched for a clothesline.

Yet the second Mask would have hit Kenpachi, the quincy suddenly used hirenkyaku to get behind the shinigami and continue his attack. But the eye-patch wearing man had turned around swiftly, grabbed Mask's arm and stopped his momentum instantly. Though while the quincy blinked a few times to this in surprise of Kenpachi's deceptive speed, said shinigami was just grinning widely.

"Does this mean the 'warm up' is finally over?" the scarred man asked as his body started to gain a yellow colored aura.

Mask blinked a few more times before jumping back a few yards and placing his hands to his hips; "You don't scare me villain! I am a hero! A star! All for the sake of justice! And justice is an idea...a belief...it can never be destroyed!" he declared as he puffed his chest up.

"Tch! Shut up and fight for real or I'll just leave someone else to get rid of you." Kenpachi stated before he leapt forward and closed the gap between them almost instantly.

As soon as he had, Mask had quickly brought his arms up ad blocked the incoming slash from Kenpachi. But while the quincy had activated his blunt vein, he still had a small cut on his arms from the sheer strength of the shinigami's swing. This made Mask blink in surprised before he swiftly swung a kick right into the side of Kenpachi's head. The blow itself sent the raven-haired captain sliding off to the side a single yard, him also remaining on his feet and without so much as a bruise.

Yet it didn't stop Mask from sending a few fast punches to Kenpachi's back, which made the large captain slide forward a bit from the force. But in the end it didn't phase him at all as he just turned around to face the quincy with a grin on his features; "Huh~? Did you finally decide to come at me with more than that petty shit from before?" the raven-haired man asked as he brought his katana up for his next attack.

Which was in the form of a fast thrust at Mask's head as he charged forward, to which said quincy had to quickly dodge out of the way by tilting his body to the side. But he used this opportunity to send a strong punch into Kenpachi's stomach and blast him backward with his raw strength. Yet while the captain flew back, he stopped himself after a half-dozen yards by planting his feet firmly on the ground.

"Now this is more like it!" the spiky-haired man exclaimed as he laughed maniacally and charged toward Mask once more.

Whom had blinked a few times at this, him actually feeling a bit disturbed at fighting someone who craved battle this much. This giving his opponent the chance to give him a somewhat deep slash across his right shoulder, which started to bleed instantly. But as Kenpachi swung his blade up wildly to get in another hit, Mask quickly brought his hands up, pushed Kenpachi's downward swing to the side before sending a few punches into his enemy's chest and delivering an elbow to the top of his head. All this causing the captain to fall to the ground gasping a bit for breath as the blows to his body knocked the air from his lungs.

"Ah hah! How do you like that, villain?! I said that you wouldn't stand a chance the moment I became serious! I knew letting you get that single hit on me would lure you into a false sense of victory! A star always waits till he has the villain right where he wants him before finishing the job! And seeing as I am the greatest star among so many other brightly shining ones...it stands to reason that I would set the best example! Isn't that right James?!" Mask called out as if announcing his victory, to which he turned to the small man who currently had both the hammer and bell he had with him shoved into his mouth.

This made the quincy blink a few times before he stomped his foot, which caused the ground to briefly shake. "How dare you! You villainous brat! I will make you pay dearly for doing such injustice to a fan of the greatest star and hero of all time!" he declared as he rushed at Yachiru as she just stood innocently by the choking James.

But before Mask could even make two steps, he was stopped by a strong hand grabbing his leg. This caused him to quickly look back and become wide eyed at the sight of a brightly glowing Kenpachi as his eye patch was currently off.

"I told you not to call her a 'brat' again." the shinigami muttered as he released the quincy's leg and stood himself up with his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"That's what she is! You have taught her no morals and I refuse to allow a villain to corrupt a child any longer! And if killing her is the only option for her to pay for her crimes...then so be i-!" but Mask never got to finish as Kenpachi slashed him deeply across the chest with too great of speed for him to even react.

Immediately following the wound was a great amount of blood that splashed onto the ground and stained it a deep crimson color. This caused Mask to cover the wound with an arm to try and stop the bleeding, but it was futile as it continued to gush out. On top of his previous wounds, he began to loose blood at an alarming rate, causing the quincy to grind his teeth in pain and anger.

"Y-You...bastard..." the mask wearing man said as he glared at the shinigami shinigami, whom still had his own heavy glare directed toward him.

"I won't be defeated...so easily. I'm the greatest star...and I won't allow myself to be defeated by the likes of you!" the quincy yelled out as a huge amount of reiatsu surrounded him.

"Now witness a true hero being born! Quincy: Vollstä-!" but once again, Mask wasn't able to finish as Kenpachi had gathered up his own reiatsu to surpass the quincy's before making a last slash at his opponent.

This attack had split Mask completely down the middle as his left and right half fell away from one another before crumpling limply to the ground. To which James had let out a muffled grunt of surprise before he just seemed to disintegrate along with the hammer and bell. Afterward, Yachiru suddenly jumped over onto Kenpachi's shoulder and smiled widely.

"You got 'im Ken-chan~! You rock!" the small girl exclaimed as she smiled widely and even hugged him briefly.

"Ken-chan was so nice to stand up for me like that~! I was really happy about it~!" she called as she eventually sat down on Kenpachi's shoulder and looked down to him with a wider smile.

"So who do we go to next, Ken-chan~?" she asked, but before even giving him the chance to response she pointed off to the left.

"We should go that way! There are more quincy over there! I know it!" she stated with an assuring nod.

"Tch! Whatever." was all the captain muttered out before he rushed off in the direction the pink-haired girl gestured toward.

-Ichimaru vs Cang Du-

As the quincy continuously sent attack after attack of enormous reishi-made claws, not one of them was able to even touch Gin as he just shunpoed from one spot to another. To which Cang's normally focused expression started to become one of frustration, but he did well to hide this as his constant barrage of attacks shielded his facial features.

However, it didn't take long for the silver-haired man to go on the offensive as he leapt away from one of the claws rather than shunpoing away from it. "Ikorose, Shinso." Gin whispered out before his blade suddenly extended out and directly at the quincy.

But while Cang had used hirenkyaku to move away from this attack, he then jumped over a quick swing of the elongated sword. To which after Gin missed his second attack, he let out a disappointed huff and retracted his blade as it returned to the length of a wakizashi.

"How disappointin'...an' here I was hopin' ta get ya at least once." the silver-haired captain muttered with a near pout as he shrugged his shoulders.

"It just means that I'm gonna hafta move in closer. Though since we're both kinda longer ranged fighters...it'll just prove who's better, ne?" Gin continued as his grin widened a bit before he shunpoed a bit closer to Cang, but still kept a bit of distance as if to taunt his opponent.

But the quincy didn't flinch as he just remained stationary and appeared to wait for Gin to come to him. This making said shinigami sigh heavily as he shrugged his shoulders once more, only this time it was a bit more exaggerated.

"Jeez...you're not really much of a talker, are ya?" he muttered with disappointment in his tone once again.

Yet as Cang shifted his hand slightly attack while Gin's guard was down, his eyes widened as the shinigami's blade came rushing at him with great speed. This caused him to quickly dodge to the side as he quickly sent a reishi claw at his opponent, whom shunpoed out of the way and appeared behind him. Though the quincy had expected this as he swung his other arm back and created another claw that collided with the silver-haired man.

After a brief explosion, Cang turned himself around to look to see if Gin was still standing or even alive with a large cloud of smoke. But while he shifted his gaze from side to side, his eyes narrowed heavily when he saw no sign of the shinigami even after the smoke cleared. This made him start searching everywhere around him with heavily narrowed eyes, him not able to sense the silver-haired captain at all.

"Yare yare...that sure was a close one." Gin's voice spoke up from behind Cang, whom swiftly turned around to face him.

Yet while the quincy halfway expected the shinigami to shunpo away to keep him guessing of which direction he would attack, Gin simply stood stationary a few yards away. Which made Cang narrow his eyes a bit more in response; "You're either very confident...or you're simply insane." the raven-haired man stated silently.

These words caused Gin to let out a light chuckle as he shrugged his shoulders; "I can't say for sure." he started as his eyes opened slightly to reveal his blue orbs.

"I guess a bit of both." he finished before he brought his zanpakuto forward and pointed it at his opponent.

Though as Cang prepared for an attack, he didn't see anything happening as Gin just stood there in this pose for a few moments. But while the quincy seemed questionable about the shinigami's actions, he never allowed himself to relax for a second. This actually making the sliver-haired captain frown briefly; "How disappointin'...and here I was expectin' ya ta be cautious." he said in a dishearted tone, which had made Cang raise a brow in confusion.

Yet neither of them even blinked before Gin's blade suddenly extended far faster than it had before, to which the quincy just barely managed to dodge away from its lethal strike. The attack itself being aimed at his chest, but instead had pierced through his shoulder as the attack was next to impossible to dodge fully from the short distance.

"Oops...that one must have hurt." Gin said with a fake apologetic tone, to which he just grinned as he watched Cang bring up one hand to grab his blade while the other sent a huge reishi claw toward him.

"Shé Jìn Zhǎo!" the quincy called out in the process, him seeming to have a clear shot at his opponent as the extended blade was still in his shoulder and would have to be retracted for him to escape.

But just before Gin was engulfed, he suddenly vanished from sight, to which Cang's eyes briefly widened as the long blade he grasped to keep his opponent motionless was gone. However, he didn't bother to think on it as he swiftly turned to the silver-haired man as he appeared off to the side and simply sat down on some rubble. This making the quincy narrow his eyes in confusion and caution, to which he shifted his feet apart a bit more as if to be ready to react to another attack.

"Whataya say we just call it a draw for now? I think we could both use a bit of rest before I hafta go fight someone else." Gin said with another shrug as he loosened his grip on his zanpakuto.

Cang blinked his eyes once more in shock as both the shinigami's attitude and posture suggested that he wasn't actually going to fight anymore. This seemed to actually aggravate the quincy as his eyes heavily narrowed and both his arms had a large reishi-made claw ready to be sent out at Gin. But as the silver-haired captain watched this, he let out a sigh and brought his free hand up.

"Korose, Kamishini no Yari." he muttered silently as a bright glow could be seen on Cang's wound.

Immediately after seeing this glow, the reishi around his arms vanished as the raven-haired man's eyes widened. Yet as a huge hole suddenly appeared in his chest, which stretched far enough to his heart, he just fell limply to the ground.

"Oh my...didn't I tell ya? I muttered 'Bankai' behind that tower over there after I narrowly escaped that really powerful claw of yours." Gin said with a silently tilt of his head as if he actually expected the dead quincy to respond.

Yet he just regained his smile, stood himself up and shifted his once again closed eyes to the side. "I wonder how Rangiku is doin'." he whispered to himself before he started walking away from his previous battleground.

-Hirako vs BG9-

As the blond shunpoed around the area, his eyes were blinking many times as his android-like opponent was firing reishi bullets at him through a large, ten-barreled minigun. This making him a bit annoyed as he wasn't able to get close enough to even get in a single attack, to which he just released his zanpakuto into its shikai form.

"If nothing else...I should be able to confuse him enough so that I can get close." Shinji muttered to himself as he continued to shunpo away from the bullets.

"Er...can I even call it a 'him'?" he continued with a light sweat drop as he just shook his head and swiftly jumped over a barraged of shots coming toward him.

"If you're thinking your pathetic illusions can work on me...you're sadly mistaken." BG9 suddenly spoke up as it's very voice sounded artificial, to which it revealed another minigun on its other arm.

This made the blond's eyes widen a bit as he decided to rush his opponent, him using the brief delay in what he figured to be BG9's 'reloading' time in order to make his attack. But he was too late as the android pointed both weapons at him and started to shoot a great many reishi bullets that were next to impossible to dodge due to his forward momentum and close proximity. Though despite shunpoing away, Shinji had still taken two bullets to his left shoulder and one in his right hand, all of which were small wounds that didn't cause him to bleed very much.

As Shinji appeared off to the side, his eyes narrowed to the quincy, but then he blinked many times as he eventually smirked lightly. "Maybe...but I guess they're not needed when I have her." he said, him pointing to a spot behind BG9.

Immediately after his gesture, the android had swiftly turned around as if to block a strike, but received a katana through its back instead. "Sorry...but I can't let you hurt anyone else." Nel said silently as she placed her free hand over her blade and charged a cero.

Though it was unseen through the light of the cero, BG9's glowing eye widened a bit before his body was engulfed in the blast as Nel fired. Whom of which was wearing a similar outfit as the rest of the espada had while in Hueco Mundo. But as she looked over to Shinji, he had fallen to the ground in a dramatic manner as he brought his hand up as though on his deathbed to give his last words.

"My wonderful, beautiful and busty savior...I owe you my life!" the blond said, to which he let out a few fake coughs afterward for good measure.

While Nel walked over to him and kneeled down, she just gave him a small smile in response along with a small sweat drop. "I-It was nothing...but we really should move on to other quincy since we simply got lucky that one wasn't able to sense my approach." she said quickly as she pointed to the side rather than to take Shinji's hand into her own.

"Go on without me my green-haired goddess! I'm afraid I cannot go any further! Not with these wounds!" the blond exclaimed in an even great dramatic fashion, to which he faked a few more coughs as his raised arm was placed over his injuries as if to shield them from her view.

This just made Nel clear her throat and shrug lightly; "Well...I guess I could call Unohana over to check on you." she said with a glance to either side as if searching for the raven-haired woman.

Instantly after the mention of Retsu, Shinji jumped to his feet and cleared his throat; "What are we waiting for! We have a job to do here and we must fulfill it!" he declared, causing Nel to blink and stand to her feet as she didn't notice the slight nervousness in his tone.

"Alright...I guess we better get moving then." the green-haired woman said with another light shrug of her shoulder, to which Shinji nodded his head quickly to her.

"Agreed." he started before gesturing her to go ahead of him; "After you." he finished as Nel simply sighed and rushed on toward the nearest quincy, which was in the fourth division.

But the blond wasn't paying full attention to where they were going as he let out a silent mutter of; "Where have you been all my life?"

-Komamura vs Royd-

"Bankai! Kokujo Tengen Myo'o!" the anamorphic wolf called out as the giant summon of his Bankai rose up from thin air as red reiatsu blazed around the captain.

But as this happened, the quincy in disguise just took on a small grin as he rushed the shinigami and slashed at him before he was able to bring his Bankai to attack. This caused Komamura to block the blade with his own, to which his eyes narrowed and he let out a continuous growl. All the while, Royd just kept up his grin as he leaned forward and tried to bite his opponent.

Though as Komamura managed to dodge away from this, his legs were swept out from under him by a kick from the transformed quincy. To which the shinigami fell to the ground and was pinned down by the large armored foot of his enemy, whom despite being an exact copy, was all but glowing with a dark aura.

"Pathetic. Your biggest weakness is the fact that if someone fights against you directly while you have your Bankai active, all that strength and power goes to waste. Though even if you had figured out a way to compensate for this, I would have known since I get all the memories of those I transform into. Looks like it's all over for you." Royd said in Komamura's own voice as he raised his blade to kill the anamorphic wolf without another word.

Yet as the shinigami's eyes widened in shock, the quincy had no idea that it was from something other than himself. Royd never seeing the sudden array of blue arrows being sent down from above them, all of which exploding and creating enormous craters upon impact. But much to the transformed quincy's dismay, one of these arrows had pierced right through his back and blasted him apart.

Though Komamura managed to duck away from most of the blast, he was still knocked away from the area by the shock-wave, to which his Bankai had been knocked to the ground. All the while, Toshiro flew past the giant with great speed as he dodged away from another series of reishi arrows that Yhwach shot at him with a single hand raised.

However, in doing so, the quincy left himself open for attack from behind as the Head Captain took advantage of this. Though even as he slashed Yhwach across the back, said quincy's image just disappeared before he suddenly walked up behind said captain and grabbed him by the back of the head.

"That was quite dangerous." he said as he generated a huge arrow to blast into the back of Yamamoto's head.

Yet nothing seemed to happen as the reishi itself disbursed before it could even harm the Head Captain. "How naive!" the elder man stated before swinging around to slash at the quincy's chest.

But Yhwach was already gone as he let out a breath and swiftly dodged away from a punch from Toshiro, which had enough force to still knock a building apart seventy yards away. Though after dodging, the quincy sent a swift kick to the back of Toshiro's head, causing the white-haired captain to tumble through the air. In doing so, Yamamoto's sight of Yhwach was blurred, which gave the quincy the chance to use hirenkyaku to get behind him.

"You're wide open." the rave-haired man whispered as a reishi blade pierced through Yamamoto's stomach.

Despite this wound not being enough to kill the Head Captain, the sudden blast of reiatsu through him took him out of the fight fully. This being caused as Yhwach used his own spirit energy as an electrical current to hit Yamamoto's saketsu and hakusui to eliminate his use of any and all of his reiatsu. To which the flames covering the elder man's clothes had vanished and the temperature around the Seireitei dropped.

As Toshiro had stopped his momentum of tumbling through the air, he had only just enough time to watch the Head Captain being stabbed and his body plummeting to the ground after being kicked hard by Yhwach. But he didn't bother to stare at this for long as he just shunpoed directly up to the quincy and send a punch toward his face. Yet while Yhwach caught this blow with his bare hand, he had to use his other arm as a brace to keep himself steady.

"My my...even with all the power I've absorbed, you're still pushing me quite well." the raven-haired man said with an almost enthused tone in his voice.

Which had done nothing more than to make Toshiro's eyes narrow and grab his other katana. Though upon doing so, Yhwach smirked lightly and used hirenkyaku to put some distance between them. "About time." he started with a small smirk curling his lips.

"I've been waiting to see the power that allowed you to stay nearly at par with the form Aizen had taken." he finished just a split second before the icy captain muttered out a single word.

"Bankai."

* * *

Btw, just so no one gets confused...these fights are all happening at the same time. Some are just taking longer than others, so it's not that they're happening one after another. ;) I hope everyone is still enjoying my story...I know these fights will take a while to get through, but since they'll be the final fights of my whole story, I figured that I would spend as much time on them as possible. ^^ Anyway, I hope to see more than just a couple reviews...I always appreciate every review, so don't hold back whether it's good or bad. ;D


	173. Chapter 173

**Chapter 173**

-Kuchiki, Abarai and Hisagi vs Guizbatt-

An enormous sound wave blasted toward the three shinigami with such force that it knocked all them back a few yards. But while each of the lieutenants had kept themselves upright and on their feet, the quincy simply charged at them with his massive arms raising up to attack. This making them each blink in shock at his speed, to which they then narrowed their eyes and quickly shunpoed out of the way. Though Jerome's timing for his punches were perfect, three proved to be much faster than he expected as they each appeared around him from different sides.

This merely caused him to narrowed his eyes slightly as they shifted directly toward Renji, him seeming to view him as the most prominent threat. Said red-haired shinigami had released his shikai, jumped into the air and swung the extendable blade at his opponent. All the while, he called out his release command itself, but he was cut off right at the end when Jerome caught the blade easily and sent him hurling directly into Shuhei. Whom decided to rush at the quincy while his focus was off of him, but both he and Renji were soon sent flying off to the side as they seemed a bit shocked at how easily they were being thrown around.

Yet Rukia had flipped backward to put a bit of distance between her and the quincy, to which her eyes narrowed heavily and she brought forth both her hands as her katana was still in its sheath. "Hado no. 73: Soren Sokatsui!" the raven-haired girl called out as two blue, interweaving blasts reiatsu hurled down at Jerome.

However, said man had just let out a loud roar that created another sound wave to completely disburse the kido and send Rukia flying backward. Though even as said shinigami went, she clenched at her ears in pain, her quickly noticing that the quincy's sound wave was stronger than before. 'Does this mean that they're just going to become more and more powerful?' she thought to herself before slamming hard into the side of a building.

But after she returned to the ground, she had quickly shunpoed along with the rest of the shinigami around Jerome once more, them forming a triangle formation. To which the quincy glanced around with narrowed eyes as he even gave a strange smirk through his highly pronounced upper-canine teeth.

"Which one of you wishes to die first?" he questioned in a near growl as even his voice sounded a bit animalistic.

Though immediately following his question, all three of the shinigami leapt forward and at him at the same time as they let out battle cries. This simply making Jerome chuckle with a slight ape-like sound, to which he took in a deep breath and let out an increasingly loud roar. Which had blasted a sound wave that encompassed the whole division itself, plus sent all of the lieutenants flying off into the distance clutching at their ears and screaming from pain. This not giving them the chance to stop their fall as they had hit the ground hard, to which it knocked the wind from their lungs and left them gasping for breath.

"I guess all of you." Jerome said silently to himself as he started making his way over toward Renji with his smirk still present on his features.

Whom was the first to stand back up and bring his zanpakuto up a bit as his eyes narrowed on the quincy, despite his eyes clearly showing his nervousness and fear of his opponent. But even thought Renji could barely hear his breathing or voice over the painful ringing in her ears, he still called out; "Bankai!" and was immediately surrounded a large gust of wind that blocked all view of his body.

Yet this didn't deter Jerome from coming closer as he just continued forward, though he was quickly paused when a fast spinning weapon came flying at his head. To which he ducked quickly and narrowed his eyes slightly on Shuhei as said shinigami was also breathing heavily, plus had a small gash in his arm from hitting a piece of sharp rubble during his fall. Though despite the lieutenant's obvious pain from his teeth grinding together, he still pulled back on the chain connecting his weapons with great force. All the while, he also threw his other blade toward the quincy as to try and trap him between both of his equally fast attacks.

But once again, none of this worked as Jerome had reached out with his arms and caught both weapons, which made the lieutenant's eyes widen in shock. Though before Shuhei was even able to attempt another attack, the quincy crossed his arms to cause the chain to wrap around the lieutenant's waist. This made Jerome smirk once more as he pulled hard on the chain to send the shinigami flying at him. To which he then brought one of Shuhei's own weapons out for him to be impaled on, causing the raven-haired man's eyes to widen even more in complete terror as he couldn't get away.

Just before impact, an enormous snake-shaped head came flying out from the whirlwind around Renji, which had clamped its jaws around Jerome and carried him to the side. To which Rukia had shunpoed to Shuhei and set him free of the chain, while his weapons themselves were carried away by the quincy.

"Are you okay?" Rukia asked in concern as even she was nervous about not making it in time, to which she just recieved a light nod as Shuhei couldn't really hear her fully and just went based on the movement of her lips.

Yet they both soon looked to Jerome as he finally dropped the shikai released zanpakuto and let out a roar to free himself from the snake's grasp. Him having a rather aggravated expression on his features as he obviously didn't like being pushed back. But after his roar, Shuhei had quickly shunpoed over and picked up his weapons, which were almost directly in front of Jerome. Though as the quincy swung a fist down toward him, the raven-haired shinigami backflipped away to allow the resulting cracking of the earth to distract him long enough for the lieutenant to get out of the way. This letting the enormous man see all too late that Rukia released her zanpakuto and prepared an attack to come directly at him from only a few yards away.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren." Rukia said silently just before a huge wave of snow and ice blasted over Jerome's body, freezing him solid on the spot, shocked expression and all.

This made each of the lieutenants give a small smirk in response as they glanced to one another. "It looks like we were a match for these guys after all." Renji stated with a light grin as he placed the bone handle on his shoulder.

Though they all still had a painful ringing in their ears, they were able to hear the red-haired man's words, to which Shuhei gave him a light nod and smirk. But the raven-haired man also placed a hand over his wound as it was producing a bit too much blood, him attempting to slow the bleeding down. Yet both men soon turned to Rukia as she cleared her throat and gestured to the large wave of ice behind her.

"Maybe...but we better make sure he's out of the fight for good and won't break ou-" but she never got to finish as all of their eyes widened when the ice shattered instantly and a loud sound wave pierced their ears.

Though while the shinigami had to cover their ears to prevent their eardrums from pretty much being destroyed, they still screamed out in pain, even as they were knocked to the side by a powerful punch from Jerome. Whom let out a growl as he glared at the three flying off through the air and hitting the ground hard; "You managed to pull one over on me..." he began with an obviously irritated tone and an expression to fit.

"...it won't be happening again!" he called out before his body began to become even larger and sprout ape-like fur.

This made each of the lieutenants to become wide-eyed as they slowly got themselves up to look at their opponent, to which they quickly attempted to attack before he could finish his transformation. But Jerome simply smirked at the clear desperation in each of their faces, him then taking a huge breath and roared out with such a large sound wave that they were immediately knocked back even faster and harder than before. Though after standing back up at an even slower pace, Rukia, Renji and Shuhei widened their eyes in shock and a bit of horror as they watched Jerome charging at them with great speed.

Though as he came toward the three, they saw him taking in another deep breath, to which they brought up their guard to try and withstand the upcoming blast as they were willing to sacrifice their hearing to fight him better. Yet when the quincy didn't roar out right away, they all quickly realized that he was saving it for when he was close enough to possibly kill them with it. This causing their eyes to widen yet again and rush backward as fast as possible while keeping Jerome in front of them, but it was no use as his speed was greater than theirs.

Despite all three of them sending long ranged attack to injure or stop him, Jerome dodged away from everything. Rukia's ice and kido, Shuhei's shikai and even Renji's bankai, all of it proved to be ineffective at even slowing him down. This almost making the three think that it was hopeless as they couldn't do anything to stop the quincy, them being like a trapped animal staring at their inevitable death right in the face. But just as it seemed the quincy was about to let out his roar, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him and sliced his body completely in half. To which each of the lieutenants eyes widened a bit one last time, but then they gave small smirks as they watched a Bankai released Ichigo turn to them with a grin.

"Guess I got here just in time." the orange-haired teen said with a light shrug of his shoulders.

"As usual." Renji stated with a silent chuckle of amusement as he took on his own small grin.

-Kano, Kuna and Sasakibe vs Berci-

"No seriously...what?!" Mashiro called out from across the field as she dodged away from a long reishi arrow throw by Driscoll.

"I said 'never mind'." Ashido said with his usual silent voice despite him raising his tone so that the green-haired girl could hear.

"I can't hear you!" she whined out as she jumped away from another arrow before it exploded upon a demolished building behind her.

This serving to boost her forward as she donned her mask and sent a hard kick into her opponent's stomach before shunpoing away. Her calling out 'Mashiro kick!' in the process, despite it letting the quincy know exactly what she was about to do. Though after the attack, Driscoll gasped briefly for air before he brought his arm up and blocked a slashing attack by Ashido. Whom was sent backward after the quincy swung his limb with great power to keep the shinigami at a distance.

But even as Chojiro had brought his shikai released weapon up for his own attack, Mashiro interrupted him as she swung another kick at the quincy. "Mashiro round-house kick!" the visored called out as she made her attack.

However, the raven-haired man caught her foot and flung her to the side, to which he also used his free arm to send a long arrow directly at her with a greater speed. Though before the arrow could reach, Mashiro spun herself to the side and allowed it pass right by her before she charged at the quincy once more.

All the while, Ashido was running quickly around his opponent, him blasting multiple kido spells at him, to which Driscoll simply dodged all of them. The red-haired shinigami then had to dodge away from an arrow coming right at him, but while he managed to do so, it still grazed and burned his right leg. This causing his momentum to slow greatly, him immediately jumping away as the quincy appeared to his side with a powerful punch coming down at his head.

Yet as Mashiro came up behind Driscoll with a downward kick, she made the mistake of calling out her attack once again. This alerting the quincy and allowed him to swiftly turn around and punch her in the stomach before she could reach him. To which she was knocked backward and toward a burning building, but was stopped by Ashido as he barely managed to catch her.

"You have to stop announcing your attacks...he's caught on to your 'antics'." the red-haired shinigami said in his normal voice.

But despite his silent way of speaking, due to their proximity, Mashiro blinked a few times and poked his cheek as he had kept his gaze on the quincy. "Hey..." she began with her own rather quiet voice.

"...I finally heard you that time." she said before laughing lightly and jumping back to her feet.

"Alright then! Lets finish this guy off!" she announced as she quickly had to dodge out of the way of two long arrows coming right at her.

As Ashido watched this, he let out a sigh, then shook his head lightly and stood himself back up. "Why did I have to get stuck with the loud one?" he asked silently to himself.

"Aw~! You're all quiet again!" Mashiro complained as she glanced back at him before she shunpoed and headed directly toward the quincy.

But as she did, she had to dodge away from a few more arrows and even a strong punch which had enough force to nearly knock her off her feet without it even needing to hit her. Though once she made it in close enough, she sent an upward kick right into Driscoll's chin and lifted him off the ground a few inches. For which she took advantage of as she sent a strong spinning kick into his gut; "Mashiro back-kick!" she announced after having already finished the attack.

Yet the quincy barely seemed effected as he grabbed her foot after being kicked and pulled her up into the air to prevent her from getting away. This causing her eyes to widen from behind her mask, to which both Ashido and Chojiro attempted to save her. But this was futile as he generated an even longer arrow in his free hand, which he spun around with such great speed that both shinigami were hit by it. Which knocked them both back a few yards and just far enough away for the quincy to finish Mashiro off without interruption.

Though the visored had used her free leg to kick the quincy in his face, it did next to nothing to him, even when she laced her kick with a cero. Despite having a small burn on his cheek, Driscoll still brought Mashiro up higher and sent a punch at her head with enough force to knock her head clean off.

However, in the same instant that his fist would have made contact, a reishi arrow pierced right through his hand and lowered his arm just enough that his attack missed. But even after this occurred, another arrow shot through the quincy's other limb and forced him to drop Mashiro. Whom of which jumped away and blinked in surprised when she saw Uryu standing on the top of a spire that was still standing many yards away.

"What a shot." she muttered to herself as Driscoll immediately turned his attention to the new arrival, to which his eyes widened at the sight of his attacker being another quincy.

As his head was turned, Chojiro decided that now would be his time to attack, him charging forward with his blade at the ready. But once again he was stopped short when Uryu was suddenly on his fellow quincy's right side with his next arrow instantly going through his head. Though Ashido and Mashiro were a bit shocked at Uryu's speed, Chojiro was simply disappointed in himself that he still hadn't gotten to fight yet.

"Sorry for the interruption...but I figured I could use his shock to end the fight quickly before he could gather his senses and continue." Uryu said silently with a short shrug, his long bow disappearing.

"Na...I don't mind!" Mashiro stated with a small grin as her mask disappeared.

"It's best to end these battles quickly so we can stop as much disaster as possible." Ashido stated in agreement.

"Yeah...what they said." was all Chojiro responded with as he sniffed lightly.

-Soifon vs Basterbine-

"What's wrong?! Can't you do anything but run?!" Bambietta called out as she flew above the raven-haired captain with her Vollständig already activated.

Though as Soifon continued to run and shunpo away from the large balls of reishi dropping from he quincy's wings, she jumped high into the air and swung a kick toward Bambietta. But said woman had used her hirenkyaku to circle around the shinigami and swing one of her reishi wings at her. Yet Soifon used the force of her kick to flip herself around, allowing her to spin away from the wing and all of the reishi orbs that followed.

As the raven-haired captain flipped backward and eventually onto a gathering of spirit particles in the air, she narrowed her eyes slightly on the quincy. Whom just let out a huff and placed a hand to her hip; "Hmph...you're not half bad. But not nearly as good as I was expecting considering you're 'his' apprentice." she said, her having venom in her voice upon saying 'his'.

Despite not saying Toshiro's name, Soifon instantly knew she was referring to him in her words, to which her already narrowed eyes turned to a glare. "Say what you will about me." the shinigami began with a cold tone in her voice before she shunpoed at great speed behind Bambietta.

"But don't you dare say anything about Captain Hitsugaya." she finished with an equal chill in her words as before.

But before Soifon could make an attack, the quincy had quickly flew up a bit higher as she pushed hard off the reishi under her feet, to which she looked down to see how quickly her opponent would follow after her. But to her mild surprise, the raven-haired captain was already in front of her with the shikai release of her zanpakuto coming right toward Bambietta's chest. Yet said quincy simply held out her hand toward the gauntlet, generated a small amount of reishi and sent it forward to cause an explosion on Soifon's armor.

This knocked the shinigami captain to the side as she shielded her striking hand a bit from further damage, to which her eyes narrowed once more. Though the gauntlet did not appear to be heavily damaged, a small part of her hand that didn't have armor upon it was heavily burned. All the while, Bambietta just smirked lightly and extended her reishi wings slightly to allow more orbs to be created under them.

"You should know better than to try to hit me with anything close range...or mid-range...or for that matter long range." the quincy started before she began to laugh lightly.

"Why are you even trying at all? You have no chance against someone you can't even touch without getting blown to bits." she continued with a grin spreading on her features.

Soifon's eyes remained narrowed on her enemy, but she wasn't paying too much attention of what said woman was saying. Yet after a brief moment, she shunpoed away as Bambietta sent the reishi orbs toward her, all of which hit the ground below and blew very large holes in it. However, the raven-haired quincy's attack was far from over as she generated another dozen reishi spheres under her wings. To which she swung them all down at Soifon, whom was now back at ground level as she sped across the battlefield.

'If what I understand about her powers is true, then she might be able to use the reishi I gather anywhere as a bomb, including the ones I create under my feet while in the air. So it stands to reason that the only way to beat her is to nullify her use of reishi.' Soifon thought to herself as she flipped away quickly from another falling sphere.

But during this action, Bambietta suddenly appeared right next to her while she was in midair; "Now you're making it too easy." the quincy muttered as she blasted a large amount of her reishi wing directly into the shinigami.

This sent said captain flying off to the side and into the rubble of a building, to which she was all but buried. Yet Bambietta simply sighed as she placed a hand to her hip once again; "Well this is just boring...I guess I'll go find someone else to kill for now." she muttered to herself with a silent huff.

But as she turned to the side, she quickly stopped and turned back when she heard Soifon call out; "Shunko!" from within the rubble.

Though as the raven-haired shinigami yelled this, a huge blast of spirit energy hurled all of the debris off of her. To which she emerged with two huge swirling gales of wind around either of her arms, all the while, still having a white colored aura around her body. Which was heavily burned covering nearly her whole right side, but her clothes managed to remain somewhat intact as she stepped forward. But while a bit of blood could be seen escaping a few of her more serious burns, she never so much as flinched at the pain as her spared eyes narrowed heavily on the quincy.

All this making Bambietta blink her eyes of both shock and a bit of excitement; "Not bad...it seems you still had an ace up your sleeve." she said with her smirk curling her lips once more.

"But I'm afraid it's still not enough." she continued as she swung her arms out to either side and clenched her hands into fists.

This created dozens of reishi orbs in a large dome all around Soifon, to which the quincy's expression turned to a small grin. However, the raven-haired captain just glanced around to this calmly, but then her gaze hardened when she looked back to her opponent. Whom suddenly swung her arms across her chest to form an 'X', which had sent each of the orbs at Soifon all at once.

Immediately after the spheres collided with one another and Soifon, they formed a large ball that glowed brightly as if to signal the following explosion. Which made Bambietta's grin widen as she just turned away with victory on her side. But when the blast didn't occur when it was meant to, she quickly turned back around, which made her eyes widen when she watched all the reishi around Soifon dissipate.

"Th-That's not possible." she whispered out in shock as she didn't even notice when the shinigami captain shunpoed behind her.

"Hanki Sosai." Soifon said silently as she quickly stabbed her enemy twice in the same area with lightning-like speed.

"I didn't expect it to fully work on your reishi bombs the way it did since it's normally a technique used on kido. But since kido is created through reiatsu, I figured that it could possibly have the same effect." the raven-haired captain continued as she watched Bambietta fall to the ground.

"D-Damn it..." was all the quincy could muster as she tried to cancel out the poison with her reiatsu, but wasn't able to do so.

"It's no use. Without first removing the crest I create on the first strike, you don't have any chance of being able to survive." Soifon stated as she watched her enemy die at her feet.

"I...I won't be...defeated by something like this!" Bambietta called out as a large wave of reiatsu surged through her body.

Though while Soifon could sense that the quincy was indeed starting to push the poison out through the single wound on her body, she simply narrowed her eyes and brought back a fist. As she did, her shunko enforced punch to the side of Bambietta's head was enough to remove it from her shoulders. To which the quincy's reiatsu flare seized and her body fell limply to the ground in front of Soifon.

"You were quite a powerful opponent. If not for my improved shunko...I would have lost." the raven-haired shinigami whispered silently before her shunko itself disappeared along with her soon after.

-Otoribashi vs Najahkoop-

"D-Damn it...how didn't my Bankai work?" Rojuro muttered out through his teeth as he was laying on his back with heavy injuries all across his body.

"Fool...I might not have had as much time to examine you and your techniques for a long period of time, but it was more than enough for me to see that I could beat you in less than five minutes." NaNaNa stated with a small smirk as he looked to his wrist as if at a watch he didn't have.

"Oh look at that...it only took me two." the tan-skinning man continued with a light chuckle as he stood over the defeated visored.

Rojuro ground his teeth in frustration, but his body was unable to move as it was too heavily injured. But even as the blond captain glared daggers at the quincy, NaNaNa simple took on a grin and held out his hand as a short bow and arrow formed in it.

"So then...any last words?" the spiky-haired man asked, yet his tone made it obvious that he wouldn't give Rojuro a chance to speak.

But just before his arrow fired, a sudden cero blast slammed into the mask over his eyes, to which it shattered and heavily burned his face. This caused the quincy to scream out in pain, yet he was quickly silenced as a clawed hand pierced through his back and out through his chest. Upon seeing this happen, the blond captain shifted his gaze back to Coyote that shot the cero from one of his guns. Then he turned to the dropping body of his opponent as it revealed Grimmjow to have made the final blow, him being in his resurreccion form along with Coyote.

"Tch! I told you that I would handle this one alone." the blue-haired arrancar muttered out in annoyance before he jumped away to fight new prey.

In which he found as he noticed a heavily injured BG9 as it was trying to sneak away after it narrowly survived Nel's attack. All the while, Coyote simply helped Rojuro to his feet and leading him over to the Fourth Division.

"Sorry for being late...we had to make sure that the smaller hollows had made it through before we came." the brown-haired arrancar said silently as both he and the visored turned to the side.

Where of which they saw a massive legion of hollows pushing the thousands upon millions of dark souls all but pouring out of hell. Them even able to see Rudbornn leading them along with his own private army of his clones. But the sight didn't last long for Rojuro as he simply passed out on the spot, which made Coyote let out a heavy breath as he now had to fully carry the blond toward the Fourth.

-Muguruma vs Nakk Le Vaar-

Kensei let out a heavy breath as he sat on some rubble, him just looking down at the ground as he watched the blood dripping off the bladed knuckles from his bankai. But while he only had a few cuts and bruises on his arms and face, the same could not be said for the dead quincy near his feet. Askin was heavily bleeding with large wounds all across his body that showed that he probably just died from lack of blood.

The silver haired man stared at this scene for a few moments before his attention was quickly grasped by a huge light that shined like a second sun behind him. Yet as he looked the only thing he saw was a body flying right at him, causing him to quickly shunpo away. But he soon found that he didn't need to move as Yhwack had stopped himself before he hit the ground.

"Quite impressive Hitsugaya...your power truly is remarkable while you're in this state." the quincy said with a smirk as he looked up at said captain.

Whom was standing in the middle of the air with both his bankai and resurreccion released with heavily narrowed eyes. To which as Kensei tilted his head up to look at him, his eyes widened a bit in shock as the black and white colored aura around the icy captain created a strange effect behind him. It seeming as though the brightest day and the darkest night had combined into one, while holding the full power of both. But his main focus was on Toshiro's outward appearance, which a top of his overwhelming reiatsu made a single thought run through Kensei's mind; 'He looks like some 'savior angel' or maybe a 'demon of destruction'.'

"I guess it depends on the point of view." he muttered quietly with his eyes still a bit wide while looking at this scene.


	174. Chapter 174

**Chapter 174:**

-Kyoraku vs Bazz B-

"Burner Finger One!" the quincy called out as he continuously fired multiple beams of fire from both his pointer fingers toward the shinigami.

But while many of these blasts came close to hitting Shunsui, he kept dodging just enough to make sure he didn't sustain any injuries. Yet the whole time he moved away from the flames, the brown-haired man just kept a small smirk on his features as he moved around effortlessly. Something of which Bazz B saw and made him realize that the captain was doing it on purpose, causing his eyes to narrow and his teeth to grind in frustration.

"Tch! I bet you're patting yourself on the back for being able to keep up with such a meager technique." the quincy growled out as he eventually smirked and cracked his knuckles.

"Not at all...I was just enjoying the small peace. I don't really enjoy fighting, so I wanted to delay it as much as possible." Shunsui said before looking around the destroyed Seireitei with a heavy sigh.

"But then...considering what's happened, there isn't any chance that 'peace' will last for long." he continued before turning back to Bazz B.

Whom had used the captain's brief talk to gather reishi around his foot, to which he grinned lightly as he slammed his limb down on the ground. Immediately following this, the quincy called out; "Burning Stomp!" which was followed by a huge wave of fire coming right at Shunsui.

Said shinigami looked at these flames with narrowed eyes, but then he just took on a smirk and stabbed his blade into the ground as the fire engulfed him. This simply made Bazz B grin as he watched his attack hit his opponent, whose reiatsu vanished soon afterward. Yet the quincy raised a brow when he noticed the blade Shunsui left behind just as he was turning away to leave.

Though Bazz B couldn't sense his enemy anymore, he still remained cautious as he walked over to the weapon in the ground. But upon stepping on the shadow of this blade, another sword suddenly pierced into his back. This made the quincy's eyes widen in shock, to which he used hirenkyaku to get away from this attack before the weapon could pierce into his heart.

After he landed off to the side, Bazz B heavily glared at the darkness-covered figure that emerged from the shadow he stepped on. However, even as Shunsui became visible from this, he never turned to the quincy as he just sighed heavily and took his other blade back into his grasp.

"Well that was unfortunate...I really wanted to finish this fight quickly, but it looks like I didn't wait long enough for you to get closer." the captain said silently, him shrugging his shoulders in the progress as he finally turned to Bazz B.

Whom of which was slightly hunched over from the bleeding wound in his back, to which he slowly straightened himself out and clenched his hands into fists. "That's it...I won't let you make a fool of me! I'm just going to finish you off here and now!" he yelled out.

As he screamed these words, the quincy brought his now reishi-covered fists up in a fighting stance. To which he then started swinging his arms at a great speed toward his opponent, despite it seeming very wild. But during each punch through the air, each of his fists sent out gigantic waves of fire that soon engulfed everything within a two hundred foot radius.

"How do you like me Burner Fists?!" Bazz B called out as he looked up to Shunsui floating in the air, him moving up there not long after the barrage of flames came at him.

"Quite impressive actually. I'd have been burned to a crisp within seconds if I didn't dodge." the shinigami said with a small smirk.

"But tell me something..." Shunsui continued as he briefly closed his eyes with a wider smirk showing on his features.

"How does it work under water?" he finished silently, which made his enemy raise a brow in question.

Yet he quickly turned to the side with wide eyes as he saw Tia in her Resurreccion form with a huge ball of water over her head. Though upon seeing this, he drew back his fist to counter the water with his fire, but he never got the chance as his arm was suddenly sliced off. Which had caused his eyes to widen in shock and for him to scream out in great pain.

Him being so loud that he never heard Shunsui mutter; "Takaoni." before he shunpoed away, nor Tia call out; "Cascada!" before she sent the torrent of water down on the quincy. Whom was quickly engulfed and wasn't able to bring his other arm forward quick enough as the water's current was too strong. Yet he eventually managed to evaporate the water after using a Burner Fist, which revealed his expression to be contorted to one of complete rage.

As he sent this look to Tia above him, he drew back his fist with an even greater amount of reishi surrounding it. But just as he swung forward, his eyes widened in shock when he heard a voice behind him; "White."

This was the last thing that Bazz B heard before his body was sliced in half, it being from his right shoulder, all the way down to his right leg. Though even as his body fell to the ground, the quincy was able to see Shunsui step out from behind him with a calm and almost freezing look in his eyes. To which Bazz B died before he even hit the earth as his eyes rolled back and he let out the last bit of air in his lungs in the form of a curse.

Yet after this, Shunsui just let out a breath and eventually looked over to Tia as she joined him as if to make sure the quincy was dead. "Thank you for your help." was all the brown-haired man said as he smiled lightly and tilted his hat to her.

The arrancar raised a brow to him, yet she gave a short nod in response back as she didn't realize that the captain was scanning her body with his eyes hidden under his hat. Something of which he was soon punished for as Nanao suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hit him in the back of the head with a book.

"That is no way to treat a lady! Especially not one that just helped you win a battle!" the raven-haired lieutenant yelled as she scolded her captain, making Tia to just blink briefly in confusion.

"I was just being polite by not making it obvious." Shunsui said innocently, but was soon hit once more by Nanao, even as the blond-haired arrancar sonidoed away to assist in another fight.

"You shouldn't be doing it at all!" was all Tia had heard as she left, her almost feeling bad for Shunsui...almost.

-Kuchiki vs Äs Nödt-

"We were all informed of your 'Fear' ability by Captain Hitsugaya...there is no way you'll be able to infect anyone with it." Byakuya said silently as he dodged away from yet another series of large and small thorns being almost constantly sent at him.

"I will have one of them at least touch you...then it won't matter what he told you. Since you'll never be able to escape." Äs stated from behind his strange mask.

"It won't happen...no matter how many thorns you have. Not only is my speed far greater than yours, but my shunpo isn't my only means of protection against your 'Fear'." the captain stated before he brought his zanpakuto to the side as he skillfully dodges another set of thorns.

"Chire...Senbonzakura." Byakuya muttered silently as his blade glowed pink before it separated into a large group of cherry blossom petals.

Though as this happened, the raven-haired shinigami's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw thorns coming at him from every direction. But despite this, he remained perfectly calm and allowed the petals to fly around him swiftly as they completely destroyed the black thorns. However, the moment this happened, Äs began to laugh in a very dark and bone-chilling tone.

This made the captain narrow his eyes once more, to which he just looked at his opponent suspiciously. Yet he didn't have to wait long for an explanation as the quincy soon spoke up; "Fool! Even after what you said about not falling into fear, you went ahead and did it for me! Though it's far less direct than how I normally do it, I'm still able to infect shinigami with 'Fear' through their zanpakuto." Äs stated with a light, yet very sinister chuckle, which made Byakuya's eyes widen slightly in shock.

"And since your zanpakuto is the type that makes physical contact with both your enemy and your very own katana...you're the perfect type of prey for me." he continued as he stepped forward.

Upon his single step, the raven-haired captain's vision started to blur slightly and cause his body to sway as his balance was being thrown off. But after a brief moment, he started to see more clearly, to which he saw Rukia standing with her back to him just a few feet away. Though the second the raven-haired girl turned toward him, she had no eyes and was bleeding heavily through both sockets. This made Byakuya's own eyes to widen in shock, yet he still tried to remain calm and attempt to keep his fear under control. Yet it was for naught as visions of many people he knew and cared for appeared in his mind with their bodies mangled in the most grotesque ways possible.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking your mind apart...Kuchiki Byakuya." Äs said with another laugh as he watched said shinigami fall to his knees and his expression go from calm to one of nearly complete horror.

However, the quincy had to quickly dodge to the side when he saw a group of sakura petals flying toward him. After doing so, his eyes slightly widened in shock as he saw Byakuya's hand raised toward him as to show he still managed to attack him even in that state.

"Impossible..." Äs whispered out as his eyes narrowed on the raven-haired captain before him.

Yet soon after his single word, Byakuya then brought his hand up slightly, which sent a large gathering of petals that had fallen near of Äs' feet to rise up. This slicing a few cuts across the quincy's skin and clothes before he used hirenkyaku to escape this attack; "You're quite impressive." he muttered silently as the petals had come rushing toward him.

"But your 'last dish efforts' have gone to waste." Äs stated before he sent a fast thorn right toward an immobile Byakuya.

Though the petals of the shinigami's shikai rushed to aid his defense, they were too slow as the thorn rushed right toward the captain's head. Whom had just stared at this with narrowed eyes, but then they widened slightly as the thorn was suddenly destroyed and a figure stood next to him. This person was Ulquiorra, him being in his first Resurreccion form and had a long green lance in his right hand.

"Hitsugaya-sama ordered for me to fight against this quincy specifically because I do not feel the same emotions that humans or even shinigami do." Ulquiorra stated without so much as giving Byakuya a glance.

Whom of which had slowly stood himself up to his feet, despite his mind still being heavily strained from everything Äs' 'Fear' put him through. "I appreciate your assistance...but it's not fully needed." the proud Kuchiki said as he reformed his katana blade and swung it around to point it at the ground.

As the pale arrancar glanced over to the shinigami, he simply looked back to the quincy in front of them as said man had narrowed his eyes heavily on the pair. But then he shifted his gaze more toward Byakuya, who had dropped his weapon to the ground as it disappeared; "Bankai." he muttered out as a thousand large blades rose up from the ground beside and around his.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." after the raven-haired captain said this, all of the blades shattered into millions of sakura petals that hurled toward his opponent.

Äs himself had narrowed his eyes and brought out his hand, him using his power over fear in an attempt to cause Byakuya to hesitate slightly in his attack. But this did not succeed as the petals just continued to fly toward him, to which the quincy was soon engulfed in the flurry of sakura petals. This slicing a great many deep cuts all across the quincy's body, to which blood splashed on the ground around him. Yet even as they attacked Äs, the shinigami captain fell to a knee from his mind being flooded with horrifying images that wouldn't allow him to concentrate on the fight. This leading for the raven-haired quincy to free himself with great ease when he released his Vollständig, his very reiatsu making the sakura petals scatter everywhere.

Though even as the transformed man emerged with terrifying changes, Byakuya was too distracted by his fear to notice and Ulquiorra just stayed fully emotionless. Äs gained a halo in the shape of quincy cross, a stream of blood pouring from each of his rolled back eyes and a cloak with a line of stitches running down the middle. Though his reishi wings were barely visible, they closely resembled circles of barbwire that were simply attached to his back. The cloak he wore was very tight-fitting, but was cut short to show that his wounds had been healed and that his forearms were covered in a black substance of some kind.

But despite this, Ulquiorra simply threw his lance at the quincy, whom had quickly deflected it away with a hand that he used his blut vein on. Yet even after using this technique, his hand was still heavily burned and made it nearly unusable to do anything physical. Though soon after hearing the explosion of the lance off to the side, Byakuya had regained some sensibility, to which he just brought out a single hand and clenched it into a fist. This action causing all of the fallen sakura petals to circle around the quincy before blasting into his back with much less force than before.

Äs turned toward Byakuya with narrowed eyes of annoyance, him actually starting to bleed from the barrage of petals hitting against his back. "You're far too resilient for your own good." he muttered out, him now showing to be rather aggravated.

"Even if the arrancar is immune...you should not be able to escape your fear!" he declared as his arm raised up to bring about an enhanced form of his previous powers over fear.

Yet he never got the chance to complete this as his arm was sliced clear off, to which he quickly turned his head to Ulquiorra. Said arrancar sonidoing to his side while his attention was on his shinigami enemy, him then using his only other arm to generate hundreds of black thorns that hurled at the former espada. Though before any of them even came within a foot of him, Ulquiorra had vanished from both the quincy's sight and reiatsu-sensing spectrum. Causing said raven-haired man to look around quickly, to which his eyes widened in full shock when he saw a standing Byakuya with a huge white aura surrounding him.

"Shukei: Hakuteiken." was all the captain said silently before he suddenly flew forward after his aura had taken the shape of bird-like wings on either side of his katana that reformed in his hand.

But while Äs had gone to move away from this attack, he was soon stopped by Ulquiorra as said arrancar stabbed a lance into the ground along with part of the quincy's cloak. Though this didn't hold Äs for long, the split second it had, was more than enough for Byakuya to reach him and completely disintegrate his body with the combination of his technique and the lance exploding at the same time. This not letting the quincy scream out in pain before he was simply gone, to which Byakuya turned toward Ulquiorra, despite having a slight wobble in his step.

"As I said...your assistance wasn't 'fully' needed." was all the raven-haired captain said before both he and the arrancar vanished, them going in opposite directions.

-Matsumoto vs Haschwalth-

"Unare, Haineko." Rangiku said silently as the blade of her zanpakuto diminished and turned to ash, to which it surrounded her in a small tornado.

Though as the strawberry-blond stood there in a relaxed way, she crossed her arms under her chest and tapped her foot on the ground. "Your turn." she said calmly.

This simply made Jugram look at her with a faint smirk as he shook his head lightly; "Being 'his' lieutenant...I cannot underestimate you. Even if your rank is far lower than what would normally be necessary to fight against one of us." he stated as he brought out a large sword from his cloak.

His blade appearing to be a long-handled, cruciform broadsword that he readied in front of him with a single arm. "But considering the fact that you started the fight with your Shikai released...it means that you're questioning whether or not you can beat me." the quincy continued with his expression becoming perfectly calm.

"Oh?" Rangiku started as she tilted her head, uncrossed her arms and placed one hand to her hip.

"Well I will admit that I am wondering exactly how powerful you are. I'm not worried about defeating you at all." she continued with a small smirk on her features, which made Jugram's eyes narrow slightly on her.

"After all...I have other people to rely on if you do happen to become too much for me." the strawberry-blond stated as she glanced to the side.

"Which I guess I'm about to find out if I'll need." she finished as a stream of her ash hurled toward the quincy.

Whom had brought his sword up and slashed at the grey powder, to which it was all knocked away by the force of his swing. Though immediately following this, some ashes suddenly rose up from the ground as she left them there from her previous foot tapping. This causing Jugram to quickly jump up into the air to dodge away, but he was almost instantly met with multiple binding kido from Rangiku on the ground.

"Bakudo no. 61, Rikujokoro." the strawberry blond started as six thin, wide beams of light slammed into the quincy's midsection.

"Bakudo no. 63, Sajo Sabaku." she continued, to which a yellow rope of pure reiatsu wrapped around Jugram's upper body.

"Bakudo no. 79, Kuyo Shibari." Rangiku finished, causing eight black holes with purple outlines to appear in a circle around the quincy.

But then a ninth black hole manifested in center of Jugram's chest as the lieutenant's kido was finally finished. All this making the quincy's eyes widen somewhat from shock, him noticing that even after all the high level kido, Rangiku still hadn't become serious yet. However, she suddenly disappeared from his sight as his movements were completely restricted.

"Hado no. 91, Senju Koten Taiho." she whispered from a few yards behind the quincy, to which by the time he turned toward her, ten pink energy missiles hurled directly into his body.

Despite him being able to escape most of the blast after the binding kido was destroyed in the explosion as well, he still sustained deep burns on his right side. This made the quincy narrow his eyes slightly as he turned his eyes over to Rangiku, whom just stood there watching him the whole time.

"Looks like I still wasn't cautious enough...you are certainly beyond the level I believed you to be on." Jugram said silently, yet still in his naturally calm tone.

"I guess that means there won't be any need for me to hold back." he continued, to which the strawberry-blond smirked and readied her fists in a perfect fighting stance.

"Ready when you are." Rangiku said as both she and the quincy suddenly vanished in their respectful movements.

Though the moment they appeared exactly midway between where they were previously standing, they swung their blades together. This slightly shocked Jugram for a moment as he never noticed when the lieutenant's blade had reformed. But to his even greater surprise was the amount of force in her swing as the ground around them shook and cracked violently.

"Tch! He created another monster." the quincy muttered as he slid backward a bit from Rangiku's strength.

"I take offense to that." the strawberry-blond stated with a huff, to which she charged forward once more and slammed their weapons against one another once again.

"But I won't deny it." Rangiku added quickly before she sent her opponent backward once more, but this time it was a greater distance.

However, Jugram had stopped his momentum by landing on the side of a building and jumping back toward her. Though as he watched the lieutenant bring up her blade to guard, he suddenly vanished and appeared behind her. To which before she could turn around, he slashed at her back with great force. But this attack didn't make it to her as a great amount of ash erupted between the two fighters and blocked his blade.

This made the quincy's eyes narrow before he used hirenkyaku to dodge away from a backward slash from Rangiku. Whom gave him a small smirk as she waved her katana from side-to-side a bit; "Sorry...but just because my zanpakuto reforms its blade...doesn't mean that I still can't use the ashes it released. Or at least some of them." she stated as she looked at the swirling ash around her.

Which Jugram had noticed was indeed far thinner than it was when she first formed her shield. But the quincy just let out a silent breath and nodded his head lightly as though he came to an understanding about something.

"I see...so it looks like I'll just have to defeat you through brute force. How boring." he muttered silently, to which Rangiku narrowed her eyes slightly.

Yet she then became wide-eyed as Jugram was suddenly in front of her with his sword slashing down on her, to which both her ash and sword came up to block. But he suddenly disappeared and was quickly followed by a deep cut to the lieutenant's back. This made her flinch in pain as she looked back at where she thought Jugram to be, but he was already at her side with another swing of his blade.

Though Rangiku blocked this strike with her own blade, her ashes were sent away from the force of his strike. Despite her withstanding it easily, she then spun herself around as the quincy was using hirenkyaku to attack her from every side one after another. To which the strawberry blond was able to block and parry each swing, regardless of her rather heavily bleeding injury.

"You're doing well...I didn't believe you could keep up with my full speed." Jugram stated as his movements were indeed far faster than anything Rangiku had ever seen outside of her own captain.

Yet she eventually took on a small smirk as she shunpoed away from the ever ending barrage of attacks. The lieutenant then bringing her zanpakuto out in front of her as it began to glow a bright pinkish-white. "I suppose if you're going to use your full speed against mine...I'll have 'one-up' you and use something extra." she started with a small smirk as she looked down at Jugram.

"It's been a while since I've used this, so I hope you won't mind if I'm somewhat rusty at this." she continued before her katana rose up from her grip before literally seeming to explode into a huge raging inferno.

This blast reduced everything within a four hundred foot radius to ash, save for the two fighters themselves as they seemed completely untouched. But the moment Jugram noticed that everything surrounding him was ash, his eyes widened in shock. Which has increased when Rangiku spoke what he knew had just happened; "Bankai."

Immediately following her words, all of the ash in the area rose up and began swirling around the quincy with no means of escape. "This is my mostly unused Bankai...Moerukyofu Haineko. Though my zanpakuto is a lazy cat that rarely ever listens to me, she can still kick ass when she wants to." the strawberry-blond said with a small smirk.

But then she blinked and looked to the side when she saw the familiar face of Yoruichi, whom of which also made Jugram's eyes widen once more. Yet his new shock was the fact that the tan-skinned woman had suddenly blocked his blade with her zanpakuto, just as he was about to use his Vollständig. The quincy barely even seeing her move toward him, much less through the tornado of ash.

"Sorry for intruding Rangiku...but I heard from Toshiro that this guy can take quite a beating." the purple-haired woman began as she pushed the quincy back slightly.

"And though I'm sure that you can handle him just fine given enough time...I think it would be best not to wait for him to use his Quincy: Vollständig. So how about we go with 'over-kill'?" Yoruichi claimed as she looked up to Rangiku high above them in the heart of the tornado.

"Sure...why not? I've always wanted to see yours in action." the lieutenant said with a grin, to which Jugram brought his blade up as if to try and use his Vollständig once more.

However, he was stopped once more as his concentration was broken by the sudden gashes that appeared all across his body. This made his eyes widen as he saw how the grey powder was whipping around him at such fast speeds that he had to use his full speed just to dodge out of the way. Though he suddenly paused along with the attacks as he heard Yoruichi whisper out; "Bankai."

The immediate reaction of both Jugram and Rangiku were of pure shock as the tan-skinned woman was surrounded by a huge pillar of entirely black reiatsu. Which once cleared, showed the golden-eyed woman to be shrouded in what looked like black fire that gave off a very intimidating aura. Her hair was now out of its pony-tail and flowing around her like actual flames as her eyes seemed to glow brightly with her pupils turning to slits.

"Yami no Aijin." Yoruichi whispered out as her eyes shifted toward Jugram, whom had snapped out of the strange spell he was under.

Upon doing so he finally managed to bring his blade up in the correct manner, to which a huge pillar of white spirit energy surrounded him. Though this didn't manage to effect the ash tornado, Rangiku found that she wasn't able to get any of her ashes close enough to attack. This made her pout before turning to Yoruichi, whom stepped forward and almost into the blinding light of Jugram's reiatsu.

"Make more shadows Rangiku." was all the golden-eyed woman said, to which Rangiku just smirked with a nod and raised a hand up.

This caused a great amount of ash to cover the whole area, leaving it in near darkness, save for the pillar of light. Which was already fading away as Jugram stepped forward, but due to the lack of light, just about nothing could be seen before a gigantic wave of darkness swallowed his entire body. Though he didn't know what was going on, he actually let out a scream of pain as his body was literally devoured by the shadows Rangiku created.

To which as the cries of anguish ended, Rangiku removed the ashes and saw nothing but Yoruichi standing there with her form back to its normal state. The strawberry-blond soon resealed her own bankai and brought herself back down to ground level as she looked at Yoruichi with a questioning look.

"I still don't understand your Bankai! You don't actually need someone else to create shadows, so it's really unfair that you ask other people to do it for you!" she all but whined with a pout as both she and the purple-haired woman seemed to have ignored all the screaming the quincy had done.

"That's the whole point...no one is supposed to understand it but me. And as for asking others...it makes it easier on me since I don't use it very often." Yoruichi said with a wink before they both turned toward Toshiro's fight.

Whom had just tossed Yhwach into the ground with such strength that both the women could still feel an enormous shock wave, despite being over two hundred yards away.

-Hitsugaya vs Yhwach-

A huge crater formed right where the icy captain swung the quincy by his leg, into the ground with great force. Toshiro using the fullest of his strength in his throw as the resulting tremor caused the ground to violently shake and crack. Though the white-haired hybrid didn't feel anything from his spot in the air, the ones down on the ground felt as though a magnitude four earthquake on the Richter scale had come across the landscape.

But Toshiro didn't end his attack, a split second after throwing the raven-haired man, he blasted himself down at him with a fist surrounded by a cero. Yet the very second he was close enough to make contact, the quincy vanished with a brief smirk visible on his features. Though the icy captain seemed to be moving too fast to stop, he instantly halted his momentum and blasted his cero off to the side through a quick punch.

The second Yhwach appeared on a roof nearby, he realized all too late that he was in the direct line for the blast coming toward him. However, he still kept his small smirk as he brought his weapon up and slashed the cero apart with the blade. But the second he did this, his eyes briefly widened when he saw Toshiro flying right by him at a great speed. Though when the quincy was about to turn to give chase, his eyes became even wider as Toshiro's ice tail wrapped around his waist and pulled him forward.

Despite the quincy trying to break free, his attempts were soon cut short as Toshiro suddenly flipped around and using his tail like a whip to send him straight back into the ground. This had created another, yet small crater than before, to which the icy captain then sent two balas down at him with his icy fingers snapping quickly. Immediately after seeing this attack coming Yhwach slashed at the balas with his weapon, causing them to explode and still cause minor burns on the quincy's body.

Upon feeling the sting of these burns, Yhwach narrowed his eyes heavily and narrowed his eyes as his body took on a bright white glow. "That's it...I'm finished with you and this world. I've had my fun...and now it's time to end it all." he muttered to himself with a dark voice that was more cold than calm.

Yet just as he was about to release his Vollständig, he was suddenly slammed violently into the ground as Toshiro grabbed him by his face. This made the quincy's eyes widen for a moment as he saw a cero charging between the icy captain's hand and his own head. Though when he went to use his blade to release himself, he realized that the captain's tails were pinning his limbs down. To which Yhwach quickly released his reiatsu to begin his transformation, which was so great that it nearly knocked Toshiro away from him.

However, the white-haired hybrid just smirked lightly as he remained in place and continued to charge his cero. "I don't think so, Yhwach." he said silently as he brought his free hand to his own face.

"But you are right...it is time to end it all." the captain continued as his hollow mask appeared on his face.

"For you." was the last thing the quincy heard as just when his transformation was about to be completed, the cero fired and fully disintegrated his body.

* * *

Wow...I'm surprised I got these fights done so quickly. I know that this was a day late...but the last few chapters have been quite long and this was the longest out of them. =/ That's okay though, since it was still a lot of fun to write these. :D Btw...I know this is being said a bit last minute, but the next chapter will be the last. I hope you've all enjoyed this ride with me for the last three years...it's been a lot of fun. ^^ Till next time...for the last time. Ja Ne~!


	175. Chapter 175

**Chapter 175:**

-A few days later-

A few knocks could be heard upon the tenth division's office, which was followed by a feminine voice rather than the normal icy silent one. "Come in." Rangiku spoke with sigh.

Said strawberry-blond looking up from her captain's desk as she saw Rukia coming in with a small stake of papers. "Sorry for the intrusion Rangiku-san." the raven-haired girl said as she sat down on the sofa nearest of her fellow lieutenant.

"Sentaro and Kiyone got into another fight about Captain Ukitake and how amazing he was in his fight." Rukia continued as she placed the stack of papers on the desk before her and stretched her arms.

"It's okay Rukia-chan...we got lucky with just how quiet it is around here." Rangiku responded with a small smirk and wink as she glanced between Rukia and her own paperwork.

"I guess so." the purple-eyed girl muttered silently, her glancing to the window for a moment as a gentle breeze blew through.

"So, how do think it went?" the raven-haired girl continued with blinking and questioning eyes.

"My Captain has a way of explaining things to people, I'm sure that everything is fine." Rangiku responded with a small grin and wink toward Rukia as she placed her pen down and stretched her own arms.

"Maybe...maybe not." Yoruichi spoke up from the window to the side, her voice making it obvious she wasn't being very serious.

Though her words were brief, the tan-skinned woman had gained both of the lieutenants' attention as they turned to her. But after doing so, they watched Yoruichi swing herself into the room before sitting down on the side of Toshiro's desk. "There is every possibility things could go south and they'll end up as mortal enemies." the purple-haired shinigami continued with an overly dramatic tone as she was attempting to get a reaction out of the two.

But all this did was cause them to sweat drop a bit to her words, though it was Rangiku that spoke up first as she waved her hand in a dismissive way. "Oh please...Ishida Uryu already helped in the quincy's defeat. There is no way he could hate Captain enough to actually attack him...not that it would matter since he wouldn't be able to leave so much as a scratch." she claimed with a confident smirk.

"Exactly." Rukia added with a quick nod, but then she blinked and looked up at the ceiling for a moment; "But..."

After her after word, both Yoruichi and Rangiku turned to her with a raised brow in question, to which they listened to the raven-haired girl's next comment with their own blinking eyes. "...what if after finding out that Captain Hitsugaya is one of the reasons why his race is all gone...it'll suddenly spark his old hatred for shinigami and cause them to really become mortal enemies?!" she stated in her own overly dramatic tone as she brought up a finger to make it a point.

Yet soon after her words, all three of the women started to laugh lightly, to which it was Rangiku that spoke up in the midst of it as she waved her hand dismissively. "They're already pretty good friends...I doubt anything my Captain could say would change that. Plus now that things have gotten back to a normal pace, I can finally get that drink Captain owes me." Rangiku claimed with a grin as she glanced to the side, to which she blinked many times upon seeing Toshiro standing in the doorway.

"You realize that it was back during the Bount's invasion I promised that, right?" the white-haired captain said as he was soon joined by Yoruichi as she pushed herself off his desk.

Immediately following his words, the strawberry-blond quickly picked up her pen to pretend she was still working as she gave a sheepish smile. "Oh...Captain...I didn't know you had gotten back yet." she started with a clearing of her throat.

"I was just finishing the last of the paperwork." she said sheepishly, her gesturing to the still rather large stack of papers on her 'uncompleted' side.

This merely made Toshiro raise a brow to her in response before turning his gaze to Rukia as she was gathering her own paperwork. "You don't have to leave on my accord, you're welcome to continue working here." he said with a short nod and small smirk.

Though the raven-haired girl blinked to him for a moment, she eventually gave a returning nod in response. "Thank you Captain Hitsugaya." she said with a smirk of her own.

"Well...hopefully having you here...it might motivate my own lieutenant to work a bit more." Toshiro stated as he looked over to Rangiku as he knew she was probably working as slowly as possible to push the rest on him when he returned.

"You mean you're not staying?" the strawberry-blond whined out in a fake terror, her knowing that she would have to do the paperwork all by herself.

"No...though I will return later on, I hope you'll have half of that done by then." the icy captain said as he pointed to the unfinished stack.

Rangiku immediately gasped in fake shock as, in her opinion, there was too much for her to do, no matter how much time he gave her. Yet this suddenly changed when Toshiro let out a heavy breath and spoke up once more; "And if you do...I'll finally buy you that drink." he said silently in a near mutter.

Instantly after his words, the strawberry-blond had taken on a wide grin and started writing quickly on each of the pages. Her moving even faster that the white-haired captain himself as she had obviously received the correct motivation. This making Yoruichi giggle as she and her husband headed out of the office and eventually the tenth division itself.

"You're really quite the softie...aren't you?" the purple-haired woman said in a statement rather than a question.

Toshiro looked to her with a raised brow, yet he simply let out a heavy sigh and shrugged his shoulders. "Aren't you the one that encouraged that?" he asked as his gaze shifted to the side in an almost avoiding way.

This made Yoruichi chuckle for a moment before shrugging and taking on a small grin; "I don't know what you're talking about." was all she said at first as they continued walking through the streets of Seireitei.

"So how did he take the news?" the tan-skinned shinigami asked with a slightly tilt of her head as she looked from him to directly in front of them to watch where she was walking.

"Rather well." Toshiro started as he tilted his own head up to look at the clear blue sky.

"At first he seemed a bit indifferent toward what I was telling him, but after explaining what was happening back then, he understood. With the quincy in development of devices that could literally take away a shinigami's Bankai, the Head Captain and I had no choice but to destroy those inventions. It was just a miscalculation that we ended up also having to kill all of the quincy as well." he continued with a light sigh as he looked straight ahead before down at the ground.

"Well...being caught by a bunch of quincy just as you were leaving wasn't something that either of you were counting on, you had no choice but to kill them out of defense...especially with Yhwach." Yoruichi said as she unconsciously walked a bit closer to her husband.

"I know. I'm just glad that Ryuken had gotten away from that group before it was too late and that Masaki was never even apart of it." the white-haired captain said with a breath of relief, to which his wife nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of which...did he accept your offer?" the purple-haired woman question with blinking eyes as she looked to him.

"No...though he did consider it for a while, he feels that his place is in the World of the Living. So I decided to place Starrk as the leader of the Arrancar Division...which I'm surprised the Soul King allowed me to form as the price for letting me stay here in Seireitei." Toshiro said with a small smirk as though he was almost happy about how it turned out.

This making Yoruichi giggle lightly as she placed both hands to her hips; "Well...that's the Soul King for ya. If he can't get one person...he grants them the authority to create a separate division with the soul purpose to bridge the small alliance we've formed with hollows." she said with a small, yet amused grin as she and the icy captain finally stopped walking.

The pair being just outside of the First Division, to which Toshiro and Yoruichi shared a rather serious glance before they both opened the gate and went inside. Upon doing so, they were met by Chojiro, whom lead them into the office without any of them uttering a single word. But there were no words needed as Toshiro and Yoruichi saw the Head Captain appearing quite frail at his desk filling out his own paperwork.

"You know that I don't approve of anyone procrastinating on their responsibilities to come visit me." the elder man said, him speaking an almost decrepit voice.

Though the icy captain gave a short nod in response as he and Yoruichi stepped forward, he then spoke up in a silent tone. "I understand that...but I would like to still give you my answer before...your time comes."

After saying this, Yamamoto looked up from his work and toward the white-haired captain before him. "And what is it?" he asked in his usual demanding tone.

"Originally...I was just going to do it out of pity from you losing your shinigami powers to Yhwach's attack. As I understood it, Unohana wasn't able to do anything about your Saketsu or Hakusui and only gave you days to live in this afterlife from your sheer age." Toshiro began as he looked down at the floor.

He then let out a silent breath and shifted his gaze back to the old man, to which he gave a small smirk. "But after thinking about it...I feel that watching over Soul Society from the shadows as Kyoraku's adviser would be the best thing for me to do." he continued with a brief nod of his head.

"Though I'm still not sure about him being _your_ successor, I think that out of all of us you could have picked...you chose the right one." the icy captain said, him shrugging lightly before giving a bow to Yamamoto.

"It's been an honor Head Captain." he finished, to which Yoruichi mirrored his actions as she simply said; "A true honor."

As the elder man looked between the pair for a moment, he actually allowed his lips to curl upward in a smirk. Though it was so slight that it was nearly unnoticeable, he bowing his head slightly in return as he spoke back. "The honor was mine, Hitsugaya Toshiro...Shihoin Yoruichi."

Immediately following his words, said pair had then made their way out of the office without another glance. But after they made it out of earshot of the office, Yoruichi sniffed lightly as a tear fell from her eye. "I'm gonna miss that stubborn old man." she whispered out as she whipped away her tear.

"As will I, Yoruichi." Toshiro muttered silently as they continued out of the division as they turned to one another and watched the sun starting to reach the horizon.

Yet while they stood there watching this, neither had said a word for a long while as they simply watched how the moon slowly replaced the sun in the sky. But the moment the moon and sun were on fully opposite sides of the sky, Yoruichi had spoken up in a quiet voice as she turned her gaze over to Toshiro.

"Doesn't this scene remind you of 'that'?" she asked with a small smile on her features.

Once the white-haired captain looked to his long time friend, he gave a small nod of his head. "Yeah...the first and last light combining together for the perfect combination of day and night." he said silently as he and Yoruichi clasped their hands together.

-The wedding day, six months ago-

Brilliant white decorations were hung in various places all over the Tenth Division, some of which were even made of pure ice. Long streamers were hung along tall pillars of ice, each one having various sizes of silver-colored bells that rang softly in the cool breeze. Which had been chilled greatly due to the light frost covering the grass all across the gardens, to which a light fog developed all across the area that only reached just under the seats designated to the guests. But the main ornaments were the ice-made altar and large white arch that stood over the former and allowed the pair to be married to stand directly under it.

Though while there weren't a great many people gathered in the gardens itself, there was a whole section of shinigami captains and lieutenants, all of whom had on their usual shinigami uniforms. Those that were in the garden were the members of the Zero Division, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen and what appeared to be a large carriage. This structure having specially designed drapes that allowed for the occupant within to see out, but not for anyone to see in. Despite this however, the overwhelming presence coming from the carriage made it clearly obvious the one inside was the Soul King himself.

It being the reason for any of the other guests to come any closer as they all had to stay no less than a hundred feet away from the ceremony itself. Though it made many of them somewhat annoyed, not one of them spoke up about it as they didn't want to offend the actual Soul King, even if Hiyori came quite close to doing so. Along with her, she was joined by all of her fellow visored, almost all of the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei Thirteen, plus a number of others in watching the wedding from afar.

Though many had to squint to see what was going on, they still got the full experience as some cried tears of joy, such as Rukia, Senna, Masaki and Momo, whom all shared a tissue box among themselves. Others remained perfectly calm, those including Ashido, Hachigen, Love, Rojuro, Izuru, Chojiro, Sajin, Tetsuzaemon, Shuhei, Nemu and Lisa. All of whom, save the last two, had their minds on the wedding itself as most had never been to a wedding before. Lisa however was merely wondering which manga she should read next when she got back to the World of the Living, while Nemu was contemplating on what kind of emotions she was feeling as she pictured herself being the one getting married.

But aside from them, another group had proud or simply happy smiles upon their features, such as Retsu, Isane, Isshin, Yumichika, Ran'Tao, Go Koga and Kaien. Each letting out a content sigh at one point or another as they either found the ceremony to be beautiful or the fact that the act of getting married had its own unique beauty that made them content. The last select few of the large group that appeared to have mirroring behavior were Renji, Kenpachi and Ikkaku, all of whom didn't seem to be very interested in the whole thing as they each yawned in boredom. Yet for the red-haired shinigami, he received an elbow to the side from Rukia each and every time her did this.

However, all of the others present were able to fit into their own 'categories', Hiyori was hitting Shinji with her shoe after his comment of her never getting married from her violent personality. Kensei was sweat dropping heavily, him having to keep pushing Mashiro away, whom was claiming that she should have a wedding too and that he had to 'take responsibility'. Just to the side of much of this was Nanao hitting Shunsui over the head with a book, him making a comment that she found very inappropriate. Which had lead to the brown-haired captain to pout lightly and cover his head from the seemingly never-ending barrage of smacks. Yet while Jushiro had handed snack after snack over to Yachiru, said girl sitting in Retsu's lap, he occasionally glanced over to his two third seats as they continued to argue about who should sit closest to him.

Though the very last to stand alone in their own place among the group was Gin, his only difference being that he had his signature grin upon his features. Him also having his chair placed farthest away, but due to him being the only one to bring a set of binoculars, he would be the single person of the large gathering to see everything without having to be right in the middle of it.

But at the actual wedding itself, the Zero Division were all looking at the pair about to be wedded with various expressions of their own. Ichibei, Oetsu and Kirio all glanced to one another with wide smirks of agreement as they each seemed have known this ceremony would have happened eventually. Though Tenjiro didn't appear upset, his expression was one similar as he seemed a bit frustrated from the fact that he was the one that disagreed with the other three. All the while, Senjumaru had her head tilted down for a while before she brought it up and revealed her rather jealous expression that she couldn't have been the one to be getting married.

Though to the sides of the altar itself, there stood the three bridesmaids and the three groomsmen on opposite sides. The former group having Rangiku with her own jealous expression, yet hers was of wanting to be the one to marry her captain rather than simply getting married. But to her side was Kukaku with a slightly similar expression, her hiding it far better however and was even tapping the strawberry-blond's shoulder to calm her. Yet the last one among them was an exceedingly happy Soifon, whom was looking at the pair being wed with absolute excitement as if it was the greatest scene in history.

On the other side for the groomsmen was a widely grinning Kisuke, him having a similar expression as Ichibei, Oetsu and Kirio as he seemed to know that the wedding was inevitable. Next to him with a fully calm Byakuya, whom even had his eyes closed as if he didn't even need to watch in order to know the result, yet an occasional smirk could be seen tugging at the corners of his lips. Lastly was Tessai as he used tissue after tissue to wipe away the tears that escaped his sunglasses, which seemed a little too often as he stood there trying not to make too much sound.

All the while, the Head Captain was at the front of the altar with the smallest hints of a smile curling his lips, but never seemed to become visible as he continued on with the ceremony. Despite him being the one to be marrying the couple, he still spoke in his usual tone no matter what it was that he was saying, which lead to many wondering if he had ever done this before. Yet the pair before him didn't bother to question this as they simply stared at one another as they simply waited for Yamamoto to finish.

While Toshiro had his normal uniform, save for his dual zanpakuto, Yoruichi was wearing a golden kimono that had purple colored flowers all across it and the symbol of her clan on the back. Though not long after a soft and brief jingling of the bells around them, the Head Captain finally turned to the white-haired captain with the question that the pair were waiting for. "...for as long as you both shall live?"

A few seconds after these words, Toshiro had given a small smile as he took in a shallow breath in order to say the two words that he never realized he would be saying no less than three more times. Yet they would be the mark for the happiest days of his entire afterlife.

"I do."

* * *

This is the end my wonderful readers. I thank you all so very much for joining me on this quest and I hope to continue entertaining everyone with my future works. I would also like to give Tuli-chan an extra thank you for all of her hard work in helping me out so much in this story, without her...I never would have made it this far, so thank you Tuli-chan...I truly cherish your friendship. ^^ And to all of you...see you all in the next story. ;) Ja Ne.


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